The A380 seen fl ying over Broughton,

where the w ings are built

A 380

Although the development of the A3XX series

was only formally announced in 1994, it had

been on various draw ing boards since back in

1988, initially as part of a top secret Ultra High

Capacity Airliner project designed to break

the dominance of the might y Boeing 747.

During its complex genesis it went through

phases of being a joint Ver y Large Commercial

Transport (VLCT) study w ith Boeing and a

revolutionary ‘fl ying wing’ design before

assuming the oval double-deck form it boasts

today. This was fi nally agreed upon because it

was deemed to provide more passenger

volume than a traditional single-deck design

as prov ing more cost effective than the VLCT

study and Boeing’s brand new 787.

Built in 16 manufacturing sites across

Europe, constructing the A380 is a logistical

nightmare. The front and rear f uselage

sections have to be shipped from Hamburg to

the UK while the w ings are built in Bristol and

Broughton and transported by barge to

Mostyn. Meanwhile, the belly and tail

sections are built in Cádiz and then taken to

Bordeau x. Eventually all these parts must be

transported by barge, road and rail to

Toulouse where the aircraft is pieced together.

A long the way, roads need to be w idened,

cargo ships refi tted and barges specially built

to accommodate the parts. The fi nished

aircraft must then be fl own back to Hamburg

for painting and any other fi nishing touches.

It’s not just logistics that have proven

problematic. The A380’s development

coincided fi rst w ith a fi nancial crisis in the Far

East and more recently the global economic

dow nturn, affecting both development cost

and potential markets. Originally scheduled

to take eight years and $8.8 billion to develop,

it has so far cost an estimated $15 billion, w ith

development of the freight version, the A380-

800F, fi rst postponed and then suspended.

Meanwhile the break-even point for the

passenger version, the A380-800, has risen

from 270 to over 420 units, of which 200 have

been ordered and around 20 delivered, most

recently to the Saudi A rabian airline, Saudia.

The A380-800 made its maiden fl ight on 27

April 2005 from Toulouse and its fi rst

commercial fl ight from Singapore to Sydney

on 25 October 2007.

Developing

the A380

The two-storey

cabins can hold

up to 853

passengers

The lu x urious interior

can make you forget

you’re in a plane!

Airbus A380

Weight (empty): 610,700lbs

Length: 73m (240ft)

Wingspan: 79.75m (261.8ft)

Maximum number of

passengers: 853 (currently

confi gured for a max 555)

Max speed (at cruise

altitude): 945km/h, 587mph,

510 knots

Maximum payload : 90,800kg

(200,000lbs)

The statistics...

DID YOU KNOW? The A380 can fly non-stop from New York to Hong Kong