The plane
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.
Actually, on the terrorist issue I'd rather be flying one of these then on a 747. The new Airbus is going to be one of the few planes flying that has a double-door system on it's cockpit- basically it's like an airlock, where only the inner or outer door can be open at any one time, not both. This provides a far higher degree of safety hijack-wise, and ensures that a terrorist can't rush the cockpit when stewardesses are bringing drinks to the pilots etc. The A380's the only plane that has this as standard, although El Al have fitted it on many of their planes as well I believe.
Imagine the flight attendent having to say "buh bye" 850 times.
I have a lot of respect for European engineers. I don't have any for European economists. If this plane is a bust, it'll be because of economics (same as the Concorde).
The craft will weigh more than 1.2 million pounds fully loaded.
The new plane is so much larger than any other craft that most airports face possible design changes to accommodate it.
If major airports are slow to support the new plane, airlines may hesitate to buy more A380s. Airbus says it needs to sell 250 planes to break even; some analysts believe the company must sell 325 to cover its investment.
ROFL = Rolling on floor laughing
LOL = Laughing Out Loud
Boeing hates M-D and purposely squashes anything that originated here because of their snotty attitudes.
Yes, the BWB is a revolutionary aircraft in the same sense as the B747. No, Boeing Commercial Aircraft Group will NEVER build it because they didn't develop the idea.
I would like to know how they plan to justify the expense.
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I don't think that is their priority. Their priority is "one-upping" the U.S. They need this (if you can really call it that) to justify the existence of the EU, which in itself is going to be an increasingly difficult challenge.
Air traffic carriers are already deferring to smaller, more efficient and less costly aircraft on major long routes. I hope these Euro-whiners choke on it.
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Oh look at them up there with their bad haircuts and ugly Euroweenie ties. Ugh, how I truly detest them.
This thing will be a boondoggle.
I sure hope they have designed a tail that does not fall off..........
Super sized airframes are only good for freight. The Boeing people believe and have confirmed that even the 747 frame is too large to operate efficiently.
Just think of the liability taken on with over 500 passengers. The excessive boarding time and lack of airports that can accept this thing. And, the few emergency airfields that could land this hunk of European junk.
What goes up, must come down.
35 yeas ago? LOL.
They damn sure better hope that monster doesn't hit an iceberg.
I believe the crashes were caused by metal fatigue which caused the fuselage on the Comet to crack.
Do they have to make them bigger so that crowds of their people can vacation in the US at bargain prices? I can't imagine too many Americans climbing abord one of those monsters. I can no longer afford to go to London to see family. Another thing: how would you like to be in the boarding line of a plane that holds 800 + bods?
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