Airbus Unveils World’s Largest Aircraft

Airbus Industrie showed off its new baby, the A380, at a hangar in Toulouse, France, yesterday. President Jacques Chirac called it "a veritable liner of the skies," and the unveiling was “for all of us a moment of emotion and pride." At a cost of €10 billion to develop, British Prime Minister Tony Blair had better be right when he said, the A380 “would change the way we travel.” It looks like it might.

The orders have rolled in already for this plane. With a sticker price of €200 million and with 149 ordered from 13 different companies, the A380 is pushing its way to profitability. Airbus thinks there’s a market for more than 700 of these, but Boeing, maker of the 747, believes the A380 may only sell 400 or so. This still makes it a better deal than the beloved Concorde ever was.

The plane is big, able to carry 555 passengers, about 140 more than a 747 can carry, and some interior configurations could carry over 800. More importantly, it’s a newer design than the 747, meaning things like carbon fiber and fuel efficient design cuts the per passenger cost of the plane – it’ll be 20% cheaper than the 747 per passenger flown.

What is less certain to pan out is the more ambitious use of space, which Airbus will leave to the airlines to decide. Casinos, spas and nurseries have been mentioned. This sounds rather suspect, as one truly doubts coach class will have access to the spas (although, the casino idea might work -- video poker instead of TV screens might make even US Airways profitable). Virgin Airways, which has talked about a gym, cocktail lounge and beauty parlor, has suggested double beds in first class. This may not cure jet lag, but it shows a definite sensibility that an airborne spa lacks.

The craft is designed to fly 30 or 40 years, and the difficult part is deciding what air travel might look like in 2040. Right now, there is great demand for spacious long-range aircraft; at least, that’s what the order book for the A380 says. But will sub orbital travel become economically feasible in the next quarter century? If so, who would want to spend 20 hours on a London to Singapore flight, when the flight could be done in 3 hours? The very same people who still go from New York to London by ship – perhaps, the A380 has a future no matter what happens.

© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.

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