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[goodcow]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=sto...6/ap_on_bi_ge/airbus_a380_s_debut_7&printer=1

By LAURENCE FROST and LAURENT LEMEL, Associated Press Writers

PARIS - Airbus, which has delivered more airplanes than Boeing for the second year in a row, is about to unveil another No. 1: the world's largest passenger jet.

The A380, a four-aisle, four-engine, double-decker "superjumbo," will roll onto the tarmac Tuesday at Airbus headquarters in southern France, in a lavish ceremony attended by EU leaders and thousands of guests.

Sales have beat expectations so far, and most of the technical problems that have dogged the program have been resolved, at a price.

But the real sighs of relief won't be heard in Toulouse until later — sometime before March 31, Airbus says — when the A380 hauls its 280-metric ton (308-ton) frame aloft.

That's when the plane's engineers will begin to find out whether their gargantuan offspring lives up to the performance promises, as the first test-flight data streams in.

In a standard three-class cabin configuration, the A380 will carry 555 passengers — one-third more than the plane it is designed to displace, the Boeing 747.

On a full tank, it will also carry them 5 percent further than Boeing's longest-range jumbo, Airbus claims, producing costs per passenger that are up to one-fifth below its rival's.

Meeting these targets has been "no picnic," Airbus CEO Noel Forgeard acknowledged Wednesday, when he also confirmed that the A380 is both over budget and slightly overweight.

Forgeard said the plane will weigh in about 1 percent heavier than its target of 277 metric tons (305 tons) but stressed it will still deliver on promised fuel efficiency and other guarantees, since the internal benchmark was deliberately overambitious.

He said the program's $1.9 billion overspend — 18 percent of its $10.7 billion overall budget at current exchange rates — would likely be trimmed by a renewed cost-cutting drive.

The struggle to meet weight targets accounts for much of the overspending, Airbus officials say. Jean-Claude Schoepf, head of the A380 final assembly line, said the problem became a headache early on.

"We found there was too much mass," Schoepf said. "We had to work pretty hard to get back to the specifications we'd committed ourselves to with our clients."

Parts went back to the drawing board to be meticulously pared down, without sacrificing strength. More carbon composites were introduced — for example, in the horizontal struts that support the two cabin floors and hold the fuselage in shape.

By using chromate-free paint, engineers got the outer paintwork down to about 350 kilograms (770 pounds), Schoepf said. "That's compared to 550 kilograms (1,210 pounds) for a plane of this size using other paints."

At the giant hangar where Schoepf and his 1,500 engineers and support staff work, wings, nose cones and fuselage sections arrive by road convoys after being transported by barges from Bordeaux, western France, where they come in from Airbus facilities in Spain, Britain, Germany and elsewhere in France.

By 2008, Schoepf plans to hire another 1,000 staff to boost the production rate to one A380 per week.

Airbus has 139 firm A380 orders from 13 airlines and freight companies, worth $39 billion before any discounts on the plane's $280 million list price. A new 747 costs up to $211 million before discounts.

The backlog will rise when UPS Inc. finalizes a deal to acquire 10 of the A380's freighter versions, with options on 10 more.

The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co., which owns 80 percent of Airbus, says the A380 program will break even at about 250 sales.

Over the next 20 years, Airbus sees global demand for 1,250 A380-size behemoths to shuttle passengers between the world's largest airports, which serve as connecting hubs for flights to less busy destinations.

More than half the new superjumbos will fly between just 10 major airports, Airbus forecasts, mainly in Asia. Singapore Airlines Ltd. is scheduled to become the first carrier to operate the A380, in the second half of 2006.

Chicago-based Boeing Co., like Airbus, expects overall air passenger traffic to increase threefold over the next two decades. But Boeing forecasts only "a few hundred" sales of very large planes, as travelers reject stopovers in favor of direct service aboard smaller long-range jets — like its fuel-efficient 7E7 Dreamliner, due to enter service in 2008.

"The data shows unquestionably that passengers, when they can, want to fly from wherever they are to wherever they're going, without having to connect in a hub," said Boeing spokesman Todd Blecher. "The A380 is flying into the headwind of reality."

But Boeing, which delivered 285 planes in 2004 to Airbus' 320, is hedging its bets. It announced plans last year for a larger, 450-seat 747, despite having dismissed the case for a bigger plane since Airbus began discussing the concept in 1991. A launch decision is expected in mid-2005.

Whichever way the wind blows in Toulouse on Tuesday, the A380 seems certain to become a milestone in civil aviation history alongside the 747 and Concorde. Unlike the supersonic Concorde, however, whose claim to fame was how fast it crossed the Atlantic, this latest fruit of European aerospace cooperation will ultimately be judged on how fast it makes money.

 

[rs7k]

Beautiful.

 

[Funky Papa]

Now, that's BIG

 

[Littleberu]

It's 840, and not 555.

 

[gofreak]

Nice.

There's a fair bit of extra space on it. They're talking about putting things like bars, nurseries, small shops etc. on them, to change the experience of long haul flight.

I read that it can actually hold up to ~840 if carriers choose to use all the space for economy class seating.

edit:

This pic makes me wish they'd make planes all-white with no unsightly branding etc. Looks very apple

 

[tedtropy]

Alright, who knocked up that airplane?

 

[B'z-chan]

Holy shit i heard about this thing about a year ago, but just seeing the pictures my freaking god that thing is bigger than those military cargo planes. Thats just too big, just hope it has good security.

 

[Doth Togo]

Terrorism would have a field day with that ride.

 

[Iceman]

Terrorism would have a field day with that ride.

up until they discovered the casino, bar and strip joint on level 3.

 

[B'z-chan]

up until they discovered the casino, bar and strip joint on level 3.

:lol :lol :lol good one but what about the porno shop on level one i dont think they would even get to level 3 mind you 2 or 3 =P

 

[Smiles and Cries]

555 is a little low for that big ass plane... I swear I will never fly in one that big OMG

talk about 800 people dying at once

 

[Smiles and Cries]

up until they discovered the casino, bar and strip joint on level 3.

Don't give P-DIDDY any ideas

before The Badboy Airbus shows up in his next video

 

[gofreak]

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2005-01-18-branson-a380_x.htm

Branson boasts of mile-high pleasures on Airbus superjumbos

TOULOUSE, France (AFP) — The new Airbus superjumbo unveiled Tuesday will bring unprecedented amenities to the skies, including gambling tables and full-size double beds, Virgin Atlantic's Richard Branson said.

"So alongside our casinos, you'll have at least two ways to get lucky on our flights," Branson joked as he attended the unveiling of the Airbus A380 in Toulouse, southwestern France. (Related story: Airbus shows off new 'superjumbo' jet)

The head of Britain's Virgin airline said his company would use the extra space on the A380 to pamper passengers rather than squeeze in many more seats.

Each of the six superjumbos Virgin has ordered will take "around 500 passengers" — 84 more than a Boeing 747 — but would also boast extras aimed at beating the boredom felt in long-distance travel.

Apart from the casinos and beds, the planes will also feature beauty parlors, bars and even a gym "so our passengers can stretch and work out," he said.

A good sign - I was worried they'd just try and squeeze as many passengers as possible onto these things to make their money back. But I guess they're going to go for the higher-end market, initially, and charge a fortune for a ticket. Sounds like aviation's Titanic (without the disaster presumably)..

edit: more detail on Virgin's plans here: http://money.cnn.com/2005/01/18/news/international/virgin_airbus.reut/index.htm. 35 private double beds per plane, and the gym & casino will be available to economy and business class passengers.

edit 2: also, speculation here that tickets for these planes will be cheaper than 747s:

Carbon fibre components and fuel-efficient technology also mean the the cost per passenger should be up to 20 percent less than on a 747, raising the possibility of cheaper tickets.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/BUSINESS/01/18/airbus.380/index.html

 

[gofreak]

Some interior shots from airbus.com (these may just be proposed interiors - it's up to the airlines how they'll fit them out). The links below each are to larger versions.

http://www.airbus.com/MultimediaElements/2337.jpg

http://www.airbus.com/MultimediaElements/55.jpg

http://www.airbus.com/MultimediaElements/2338.jpg

Teh future. I approve.

edit - More concept stuff here, including 360 views:

http://www.airbus.com/product/a380_comfort.asp

Also, a promo ad here: http://www.airbus.com/video/media/advertising/a380.mpg

And yes, I'd also like to see what the stats are in terms of economy class seating space for this thing. It's all very well having the above kinda stuff for business and first class, but if you stick a common lounge in for economy, how to you regulate who gets to use it? there'd be a rush to get into it all the time..(maybe they'd have a ticketing system, or limited time per passenger in the lounges etc.)

 

[Saturnman]

All I ask is for more leg room in economy class. For some of us, having our knees bent all the time while crossing the Atlantic/Pacific is painful.