Posted on 01/18/2005 7:23:13 AM PST by highimpact
Tuesday January 18, 10:44 PM Airbus unveils its superjumbo, European leaders hail lead over US
Airbus unveiled the world's biggest passenger jet in a glitzy ceremony in which the leaders of France, Britain, Germany and Spain hailed Europe's victory over the United States as the new king of the commercial skies.
The huge A380 superjumbo, which can carry up to 840 people on its two full decks, supersedes the ageing 747 by US rival Boeing as the biggest civilian aircraft ever made.
When it is put into service early next year, it will become the flagship of many airline fleets and offer unprecedented amenities on long-haul services, including, in some cases, gyms, bedrooms and bars.
For the countries which backed the 10.7-billion-euro (14-billion-dollar) development cost, the plane stood as a prominent symbol of European cooperation.
"Good old Europe has made this possible," German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder told a packed hall in Airbus's headquarters in Toulouse, southwest France.
That was a barely-veiled barb recalling the US dismissal of France, Germany and other EU states in 2003 as "Old Europe" because of their opposition to the war on Iraq.
Noel Forgeard, the French head of Airbus, made similar hints in his presentation of the A380 during a spectacle featuring computer graphics, atmospheric theme music and swirling colours.
"The European states -- so easily accused of weakness -- backed this fantastic challenge 35 years ago and have believed in the A380," he said.
The hubris on display was reinforced by recent figures showing that, for the second year running, Airbus has outsold Boeing and now holds some 57 percent of the world market for passenger aircraft.
The company, a majority owned subsidiary of the listed European Aerospace and Defence Company (with 20 percent in the hands of Britain's BAE Systems), forecasts that the A380 will extend that lead.
Thirteen airlines have already placed firm orders for 139 of the planes. Airbus calculates that by 2008 it will reach the break-even point of 250 A380s sold, and from that point it will turn out 35 of the aircraft per year to rising profits.
The catalogue price of the huge machine -- boasting a wingspan of 80 metres (262 feet), overall length of 73 metres (239 feet), height of 24 metres (79 feet) and maximum take-off weight of 560 tonnes -- is between 263 and 286 million dollars, though discounts are frequently applied.
French President Jacques Chirac called the project a "big success" and said: "We can, and we must, go further on this path of European construction so essential for growth and employment."
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the plane was "the culmination of many years of hard work" and congratulated the workers across Europe who made it happen.
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Europe was "unstoppable" when it pooled its efforts.
The plane, Zapatero said, "has turned this historic moment into a moment in which cooperation and globalisation are giving rise to more peace and justice."
The four EU leaders later lunched together, leaving industry VIPS to get close to the huge white plane sitting in its hangar.
Airline executives at the presentation were superlative in their praise, even though the A380 has yet to undergo test flights scheduled for March or April.
Richard Branson, the head of Britain's Virgin Atlantic, said his airline would pamper passengers on the six A380s ordered by including gyms, beauty parlours, bars -- and even casinos and double beds.
The last two features meant "you'll have at least two ways to get lucky on our flights," Branson joked.
The biggest buyer of the new plane is the Emirates airline, which has ordered 43. "The A380 will be the future of air travel," its chairman, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, said.
Airbus's success with the A380 is raising hackles at Boeing, which has won relatively little interest in its own new offering, a long-range mid-size plane called the 7E7 Dreamliner.
A bruising dispute over state subsidies between Boeing and Airbus is currently the subject of tense negotiations which, if they fail at the end of a three-month deadline, will blow up into a full-blown arbitration case at the World Trade Organisation.
These people have such a horrible inferiority complex. They remind me of 14 yo girls making fun of each other due to lack of self esteem.
I pray not, but this sounds a lot like "Titanic"-speak.
840 passengers???
They must start boarding that thing 1 1/2 hours before the flight.
How would you like to be at the luggage claim with 839 other passengers looking for your bags?
How would you like having to rush to make a connection and being in the last row in this monster?
All the hullabaloo somehow reminds me of the TITANIC. IMO, it's not such a great idea to have nearly 1000 people in the air on one vessel.
Well, at least the Euro-Weasels have something to be proud of again. Maybe it'll reduce their whining and moaning.
And how will this help their ailing economies since most carriers aren't looking for bigger planes just cheaper ones?
Let's what happens in 5 years...When Europe is broke...
It's an airplane! It carries people!!!, it even flies! Wow! Whoo Hoo!!! Yipee!!, boy those Euro leaders sure are something aint they?
Wait until on of these planes(God Forbid) drops out of the sky.
I'm sure they said all the same things when the Concorde came out.
Boeing had this plane on their drawing boards when the 747 STARTED services. i recall reading the article about it. they chose not to persue it due in part to the vast amount of fuel it would take to make it fly - i.e. unprofitability.
What a bunch of sour grapes.
That´s exactly what I fear. What, if one of these crashs? 500+ deads. Big time for terrorists and insurance companies.
All I can say about this is Mazel Tov. Unfortunately they will not be able to land this plane in the US because of reconfiguring of terminals.
All I can say about this is Mazel Tov. Unfortunately they will not be able to land this plane in the US because of reconfiguring of terminals.
Seems like carriers will need to change their operation. Rather than having a daily flght looks like they'd have to switch to bi-weekly.
Sounds like a terrorist's wet dream if you ask me.
Paint a hakenkreuz on the tail and start flying it. We'll see how good euroengineers are.
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