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AIRBUS LAUNCHES A380 SUPER JUMBO

Success at last! At its meeting on Tuesday 19 December in Toulouse, the supervisory board of Airbus Industrie gave the go-ahead for the programme to build the largest commercial passenger plane in the world, the A3XX (now A380). Four days earlier the British airline, Virgin Atlantic Airways, had placed a firm order for six aircraft, bringing the number of orders up to the critical figure of 50 which the supervisory board had previously said would be necessary before it could formally approve the programme launch.

This means that the biggest civilian aviation project of all times is finally to get under way. According to the latest estimates, development of the super jumbo will devour around 12.1 billion euros. Airbus is aiming for a maiden flight in December 2004, with certification to be complete within only a year, so that the first aircraft should enter service in the first quarter of 2006.

Now that the programme has been launched, the A3XX has changed its name. As of now it is called the Airbus A380. This number was chosen on the one hand to demonstrate the technology leap between today's generation of passenger aircraft and the A380, while on the other hand according to the company the number 8 is also a symbol for the multi-deck layout of the new ultra-large aircraft.

The A380 finally marks the end of Boeing's 30-year long monopoly. The Boeing 747 is a success story of the first order. The advent of the jumbo jet at the beginning of the 1970s revolutionised air transport. The A380 will do the same today. According to information provided by Airbus, it will offer between 481 and 656 passenger seats. Compared with the Boeing 747-400, the A380 will have almost 50% more cabin space available, but only 35% more seats. As a result, passenger comfort will be significantly improved compared with today's airliners. The configuration options include on-board lounges, duty-free shops and fitness rooms. But whether they are actually taken up by the airlines or whether the extra space is simply used to fit in more passengers will become apparent in the near future. All the same, Sir Richard Branson, founder and chief executive officer of Virgin Atlantic Airways, commented significantly, "I am particularly pleased about the options which this new aircraft will offer us. The A380 gives us the opportunity to offer our passengers a completely new form of flying."

With 555 passengers on board, the A380 will be able to fly 14,400km, further than any other airliner today. This puts it in a position to make inroads into the profitable trans-Pacific market.

Final assembly and completion of the new ultra-large aircraft are to be split between Toulouse and Hamburg-Finkenwerder. The new project will be setting a new direction as regards employment policy. In Hamburg alone a total of 4,000 new jobs will be created, if one includes external suppliers as well as EADS Airbus itself.

World-wide airline demand for aircraft in the A380 size over the next 20 years is estimated by Airbus Industrie at 1,500 aircraft. Even if the A380 currently has no rival, realistically Airbus does not expect to be able to retain a monopoly in aircraft of this size over 30 years. They are therefore assuming that their market share will be 50%, and this they are determined to win. This would still make it a profitable venture, as the programme is expected to reach break-even point after the 250th A380 has been sold.

From page 6 of FLUG REVUE 2/2001