Airbus A

B

uilt in France, Germany, Spain and the UK and

assembled in Toulouse, the A380 is a truly pan-

European project. It is an attempt not just to

revolutionise long haul fl ying but aircraft design and

construction itself. From the carbon fi bre reinforced

plastic that makes up roughly 25 per cent of the

structure, to its unique w ide-body f uselage, the A380

has been designed to set new standards, so much so

that even major airports like Heathrow will need a

multi-million pound refi t before they will be able to

handle it. With an operating range of 15,200km

(enoug h to fl y non-stop from New York to Hong Kong)

and a cruising speed of Mach 0.85 (around 560mph),

the A380 will open up new routes and possibilities

for international travel, but the real breakthrough is

in its sheer size and ambition.

Whichever way you look at it, the A irbus A380 is

massive. With a wingspan of nearly 262 feet (that’s

1 ¾ football pitches) and a maximum takeoff weight

of 1.2 million points, it affords 50 per cent more fl oor

space than its nearest rivals. The A380 has many

potential confi gurations, from its maximum

passenger capacity of 853 passengers to the current

layout of 555 passengers in three classes, which is

still signifi cantly more than the 416 that can be

carried by the current long-haul frontrunner, the

Boeing 747-400.

But what about claims that this long-haul

behemoth is actually environmentally friendly,

something many green campaigners maintain is a

contradiction in terms? A s always, there is truth on

both sides. As one of only a handful of commercial

aircraft to adhere to stringent ISO 14001 corporate

certifi cation, the A380 is at the forefront of

environmental aircraft design. With 33 per cent

more seats than a 747-400, it carries more passengers

while consuming less than three litres of fuel per

passenger over 100km, roughly equivalent to a

family car and 17 per cent less than a 747. Meanwhile

the high-effi ciency engines developed by Rolls-

Royce, General Electric and Pratt & Whitney produce

only about 75g of CO 2 per passenger kilometre, which

is also less than a 747 (although Boeing would

maintain not less than its own planned successor,

the 787 ‘Dreamliner’). On the other hand, those

fi gures are dependent on fl ying at near maximum

capacit y, which few of the A380’s initial buyers are

expecting for several years.

Meanwhile, environmentalists argue that the

combination of the millions of passengers who have

already used the A380, the commercial pressure to

fi ll all those extra seats and the airport congestion

and urbanisation caused, merely compounds the

environmental damage created by any expansion in

long haul fl y ing. Either way, people are going to be

discussing the pros and cons of this aerial

juggernaut for decades to come.

At around $300 million each, it’s the largest and most

expensive passenger plane in the world. Yet the Airbus

A380 is also supposed to be the most fuel effi cient, noise

reducing and eco-friendly people carrier in its class

At the controls of the world’s

largest jet

The Rolls-Royce manufactured

engines w ill keep the A380 in the sk y

AIR