What was it like to fly on the A380?

news.bbc.co.uk ^ | 10/25/2007 | Laurence Watts

[WesternCulture]

As my taxi pulled up at Changi airport, I knew this was going to be a special day - the day of the first A380 commercial flight was finally here.

The airport had long been adorned with banners and posters declaring Singapore "A380 ready" and anticipating the flight.

[Rummenigge]

When it costs your company more then it saves...

as I said the last existing concord connections had frequent flyers on them and these guys are no more...

[longtermmemmory]

airbus is not in the business of making airplanes or even transportation.

Airbus is in the “make work” business. IF they make more jobs for people that is all that counts.

[Comstock1]

While US citizen is acceptable, the correct term is American. There is no other country called America. Yes, there are two continents that contain the name America, but when referring to someone from their continent of origin the correct term would be either North or South American.

Sorry, but this has become a sore point with me lately.

As to the hybrid government/business projects, it isn’t that it is any harder to do here, but it goes against the way business is typically done here. While very common in Europe, these partnerships are, to a certain extent, antithetical to the American way of business. To many it is seen as not only a tremendous overstretch of the government into private enterprise, but also a tremendous opportunity for graft and corruption. Beyond that, the government is usually viewed as just not very good at business.

However, the tremendous costs involved in building rail on such a large scale makes unlikely that many American corporations would be likely to try and tackle such a challenge. In fact most of the companies that are involved in the early stages of these projects are either European or a limited partnership between a European country.

I’m certainly not a business historian. I’m sure that there are probably many examples of cooperative projects that have worked out well, I’m just not aware of many.

[GregH]

Already airlines(other than American ones) have made orders and have plans for A380 and airports have been adjustments to cater for A380. American airlines are as usual left behind and play catch up. The demand for A380 would be in long haul international routes where passengers would expect extra comfort and willing to pay for it.

[Soliton]

The Boeing plane didn’t look as cool as the Lockheed plane.

[Squawk 8888]

Most airlines would prefer the flexibility of mid-sized aircraft for international routes, as they can easily be transitioned between routes

True. Air Canada never had more than nine 747s in their fleet but they have dozens of 767s and a large number of A330s and A340s.

[Mr. Quarterpanel]

Fencing off the track and getting rid of the level crossings are the killers.

One Word:

Monorail

[null and void]

[smonk]

---That’s why I think they’ll sell more of the cargo version than the passenger version.---

---

airbus announced that there would be massive delays in the cargo version when resources were reallocated to the passenger version. when that happened, USPS and FedEx cancelled their substantial order, and now there is doubt as to whether there will be a cargo version of the A380 at all.

[WesternCulture]

“you could not name a single one.”

- More or less anyone with at least average intelligence and ability to use the internet can find thousands of examples of French technological and scientific breakthroughs that have been made during the last decades. Have you tried but failed, or what’s the problem?

“The United States of America is the most advanced technological nation on the planet”.

- Naturally, “the most advanced technological nation on the planet” can mean a lot of things.

I’ll give you some reasons why I, personally, hesitate to use this expression about the US;

- In general, Scandinavians, Germans and Japanese strike me as being more technology interested than Americans.

- A nation like Canada enjoys a greater stock of scientists and engineers per capita than the U.S. Canada also produces a greater annual flow of newly graduated scientists and engineers.

- Sweden has more nuclear power per capita, a more technology intensive health care, better built houses and spends more on R&D per capita than the US. Furthermore, Swedes drive more technologically advanced cars and have a better access to things like broadband and digital TV (ALL households in Sweden have digital tv, the analog net has been switched off completely). In many fields of ICT, Stockholm is clearly ahead of Silicon Valley. Large parts of our common digital future is today created in Stockholm sooner than in the Bay Area. Despite the fact that Sweden lacks oil and Swedes work less than Americans, Swedish wages are higher, which is explained by the fact that Swedish companies are immensely successful, which in its turn is due to their outstanding technological competence - no country can compete with Swedes in the field of making profits from technological know-how (even if there naturally are several countries which are home to larger numbers of profitable, technology based multinationals than Sweden).

However, I admit that there also exists a lot of good arguments for calling the US the most technologically advanced nation on Earth. What definition you find to be the most correct one of “the most technologically advanced nation” probably depends on what country you’re from. I like the US a lot, but as a patriotic Swede it’s natural for me to view Sweden as the best and most advanced country in the world, even if there are aspects of Sweden that I don’t like (99% of all our politicians is one such example).

[AFreeBird]

I think A380 will be a success in the long term, the exponential growth of Air travel and along with a increasingly sophisticated passenger requirement will drive the demand.

Somehow, I don't think being herded into a flying cattle car with 800 other passengers is a desire, let alone a requirement, of the sophisticated air passenger.

$0.02

[WesternCulture]

“I have the feeling that something is going to change...

I see a large bridge in your future.”

Yes, let’s get on with the Fehmarn Belt Bridge! It will definitely create closer ties between Scandinavia and the European continent.

One central aspect of this is the many good arguments that exist for achieving stronger connections between the greater Hamburg area and Copenhagen-Malmö. These two regions are already very dynamic. Better integrated, they could both become even more successful and such a development would, naturally, gain both Scandinavia and Germany.

Grüsse aus Göteborg!

[bmwcyle]

Mach .9, it is one of the best ever.

[Clemenza]

The demand for A380 would be in long haul international routes where passengers would expect extra comfort and willing to pay for it.

Limited market. Reminds me of the "piano lounges" that lasted all of one year in the PanAm 747s before they were torn out for more seats.

Flying is, for better or worse, a form of public transit, and is viewed as such by both the business and pleasure markets. People want to get to their destinations on time without any headaches, nothing more, nothing less. This is especially true for American travelers, but increasingly true of European and Asian travelers as well.

(Disclosure: Clemenza has worked as a contractor for both Boeing and Airbus).

[jveritas]

The US is leading the world in technology, the vast majority of new inventions and technological breakthroughs are made in the US and that is a fact not a point of debate. The problem with you Europeans is that you suffer from a complex of inferiority visa as vis the US and you always delude yourself that you are better when in reality you have little contribution to world events on any level when compared to the US.

[Comstock1]

Somewhat along those lines, I would love to see a bridge over the Bering Strait connecting Russia and the US. The ability to get in a car and drive from New York to London has been a dream for a long time.

[AFreeBird]

Would you say “US citizens” is a better expression than “US Americans”?

Probably. But, while all of the western hemisphere is considered the "Americas"; when one speaks of "Americans", by virtue of being the only country in the west with America in the name, the US is the country that is implied.

So, simply calling us Americans is acceptable usage.

[WesternCulture]

“the vast majority of new inventions and technological breakthroughs are made in the US”

- I sincerly doubt that. What’s your source?

The US leads the world in many important fields of technology, but so do Europe. No single European country has more of researchers, scientists, hi-tech companies and so on, but this fact doesn’t mean that US completely dominates the world of technology and science.

Just have a look at the large amount of European technology based companies on the Forbes Global 2000 list or check out the large numbers of European Nobel prize laurates, you’ll find out Europe isn’t exactly dwarfed by the US in these departments.

http://www.forbes.com/2007/03/29/forbes-global-2000-biz-07forbes2000-cz_sd_0329global_land.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_laureates_by_country

Some Europeans and Americans suffer from inferiority complexes towards the other side of the Atlantic Ocean and that might be a problem to them as individuals, but in general I fail to see a “problem”. To a large extent it’s a matter of a sound will to compete.

Some Americans seem to believe that most Europeans a) hate the US and b) wishes to compete with the US on all levels. In fact, few such Europeans exist. The Europeans who hate the US are usually people who don’t care much for, or even oppose, all sorts of military and technological competition and progress whatsoever.

[WesternCulture]

“Somewhat along those lines, I would love to see a bridge over the Bering Strait connecting Russia and the US. The ability to get in a car and drive from New York to London has been a dream for a long time.”

- Sounds like a great driving experience!

I’d say this way of connecting London and New York also is very appealing:

http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/engineering/transatlantictunnel/interactive/interactive.html

Hope it becomes reality one day!

[ArrogantBustard]

The ability to get in a car and drive from New York to London has been a dream for a long time.

Unfortunately, you wouldn't (quite) make it. The Chunnel is train only. At Calais, your car goes on a car car, and you go in a passenger car. You get reunited with your car in Dover. Don't forget to drive on the wrong side of the road.