Home | maiden flight is today in france, weather and technical problems permitting.
personally i don't see the use for it. the 747 is already capable, if operators really want to squeeze people inside, of carrying 500 passengers. what is airbus hoping to achieve with that monster plane beats me.
so far the project is more than a billion euros over budget and airbus needs to sell at least 250 to break even. they only have 150 commitments for now.
These will mostly be used in Asian markets with large populations. Personally, I wouldn't want to fly in one of these simply because it will take forever to get in and out, and to wait for the baggage. Plus I always fly non-stop, unless there just isn't any other choice, and at least in N. America, this is the prefference for most people according to several polls I read about.
Interestingly enough, about 1/3 of this plane was designed in the U.S., including the whole wing assembly and the engines.
the engines are rolls royce. aren't they built in britain?
Nope. It's Pratt and Whitney and GE: http://www.pratt-whitney.com/prod_comm_gp7000.asp
actually it's an optional engine. today's flight will be powered by 4 rolls royce trent. btw take off is scheduled for 8.30 GMT 3.30 EST. 50,000 people are expected to attend the launch flight. airliners.net should have some very good pics.
the first flight has just finished , it's a success.
4 hours of flight , no major problem.
long life to the Airbus A-380
yep remarkable flight, quite an achievement for europe. it's all hype though. airbus is still 100 planes behind to make any profit off this plane. plus, let's not mention all the costs airports around the world will have to spend to upgrade their facilities for the A380. boeing, on the other hand, already have about 250 orders for its 787 and it can use existing facilities.
The A380, the so-called jewel in Airbus’s crown, is now running six months behind schedule and may not fly at the Paris Air Show but sit whale-like on the ground as a static display. UAE Airlines, Qantas and Virgin Air are rightfully and contractually demanding so much compensation for the delay, that it will raise the cost of building a A380 by as much as twenty percent. The customer couldn’t case less how much money Airbus eats.
Up until now – the A380 has sold less than half of what’s needed to reach the break-even point, let alone make a profit.
Aaron Gellman, a professor of management and specialist in transportation studies at Northwestern University, blames Airbus' current problems on the decision to build the A380, a hugely expensive project he and most financial analysts believe will never make a profit.
Gellman, who has consulted for Boeing and authored the 1990 U.S. government report that first attacked Airbus' use of state subsidies, compares the A380 to the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France.
They can't close it down and they can't make any money running it.
Richard Aboulafia, a U.S. industry analyst with The Teal Group and co-author with Gellman of a critical analysis of the A380's economics, sees Airbus in trouble but hardly out of the game. He believes the key to Airbus success in Paris in still the A350.
The problem with the A350 as a competitor to the 787 is simple – it needs direct EUtopian subsidies or it can’t compete.
Boeing says it has just entered the case with the WTO, and the EU as countered with it’s own long standing complaint that Boeing gets indirect subsidies as a military contractor.
Problem is, Boeing has seen the future and began to prepare about 10 years ago for that eventuality (that is if the EU argument at the WTO holds water) to break up the company and separate military contracts with the commercial aircraft. Meanwhile Airbus will never fly without the direct subsidies.
8 US congressman are preparing a bill to create and match the subsidy - dollar for dollar in case the WTO rules that it’s legal (which most people believe are in fact, illegal).
Did Boeing set up Airbus? Five years ago, Boeing said is was going to replace the 747 with a much largest aircraft – Airbus followed with A380 – then suddenly Boeing dropped the superjumbo plan and announced it’s vision for the future: That most passengers will prefer direct flights with smaller jets over the hub system that uses jets that packs 800+ passengers per flight.
Airbus is stuck with a beautiful aircraft which cost the EUtopian tax payer €10 Billion and now no one is really buying in sufficient numbers.
Can you eat a jewel with catchup?
Last edited by Illuminatus; 06-12-2005 at 12:14 PM.
FedEx is the first cargo customer for A380. We'll see how well they'll like loading and unloading these.
It is rumored that initially they were interested in Soviet/Ukranian An-225 cargo plane. It's the largest in the world, and was initially designed to trasport the Soviet space shuttle inside the cargo hold area. But there were some disagreements over whether the duct tape used in various structural constructs qualifies as an advanced composite material. And they say, it was the labor unions that eventually broke the deal by making an issue of the AC system (center top on the picture) being insufficient for the six-person crew.
http://img253.echo.cx/img253/2226/1896603ir.jpg
It always takes forever to get in and out of any plane.Originally Posted by KettleWhistle
Even in 7-seaters. I still can't believe how exhaustingly stupid some people become in aircrafts - and even more so at the baggage queue. I prefer non-stop, too. Many intercontinental connections make stop overs i.e. at London-Heatrow, though - I HATE Heatrow! It has the biggest time-gaps between connecting flights I ever had. The domectic and the international departure gates are placed at the opposing ends of the airport. Travellers are being transfered around the whole area by bus, following the baggage-caddies. The curved roadside is littered with suitcases. I saw that myself at least twice.
Boarding delays caused by dumb persons who can't just walk into the aisle, put their bag into the compartments and sit down without a complicated choreography are my least worries.
I think you can get 200 hrs fractional ownership in a Gulstream V for as little as $57,000.
Sounds much like the NYC airport system. As a general rule I try to avoid most of the large international airports. I've never been to Heatrow, but Frankfurt is the one I intend to avoid. It's much easier to go to Eastern Europe via Budapest or Reykjavic, or to Israel via Milan, which is actually cheaper and faster than the direct El-Al flights.
[.. Singapore Airlines chief Chew Choon Seng is furious with Airbus over a delay in delivering its giant A380 airliners and could sue the European aircraft maker for damages, he said in an interview to appear next week.
He told the Germany weekly Focus On Saturday that the first double-decker planes would not be delivered to SIA, a launch customer for the aircraft, until November next year, eight months later than originally promised.
"Airbus took some time to acknowledge the delay in the timetable for the A380's entry into service," Chew said, adding, "I would have expected more sincerity." (from EUtopeans? BWAHAHAhahah....)
Chew said SIA would now be focussing on Boeing rather than Airbus, given that SIA would now be receiving 19 Boeing 777-300ER airliners before the A380s, instead of after. ..]
http://sg.biz.yahoo.com/050806/1/3u1d9.html
With the breakeven approaching the 400 "must sell aircraft" point - there will DEFINITELY be NO profit in Airbust after this.
Blame Boeing for doing a "fake" when it let Airbus compete alone in this market segment.
I don't know what Chew is upset about - It's August, no one works in France anyways, let alone do any work on the A380. The French would rather let thousands upon thousands of it senior citizens die from the heat in the summer then work to care for them.
What the heck is Chew expecting?
sigh......
Well I must admit the A380 is a world premiere. Like the Concorde was sometime back.
Boing has failed to build new exciting planes. As for Airbus they have already succeed to launch their double deck plane. I thnk it is an historical step in the aero industry.
I just hope new A380 will not end like the Concorde
The Concorde was always a prestige-object. It was loud and dirty, thirsty and too small. Supersonic fights were impossible over inhabitated land. Lightyears from any toughts about break-even, 180° opposing even that direction. The fuel and the maintenance costs were always a pain the *** of the budget people.Well I must admit the A380 is a world premiere. Like the Concorde was sometime back.
Boing has failed to build new exciting planes. As for Airbus they have already succeed to launch their double deck plane. I thnk it is an historical step in the aero industry.
I just hope new A380 will not end like the Concorde
France an UK gave up all plans to build a supersonic successor.
The A380 is just a next step in commercial passenger transportation and Boeing will come up with a 747-successor anytime soon.
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