Virtual Tour of Airbus A380

The Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger plane, successfully landed in two U.S. airports in New York and Los Angeles on Monday. One was carrying 550 people. The other had only a crew onboard. And both attracted worldwide attention.

The plane is so big and so expensive, the company that makes it staged the flights to prove it can actually deliver its promised product on time.

Airbus experienced a two-year delay in actually getting the vehicle to market, and wiped out $6.61 billion of its forecast profits in the process.

It was an expensive lesson, costing 10,000 jobs and forcing the closure of six of its European plants.

But while it's sold 160 of the giant jets to 15 countries worldwide, so far no major carrier in North America has taken a flyer on the massive machine.

And with competitor Boeing said to be working on its own version of a big rig, Airbus is looking to get a foothold while it still has the early lead.

So what is it like inside this jumbo-est of jumbo jets?

Here's a look as provided by Airbus itself.

The basics

The plane is 239-foot-long, has wing spans the size of a football field, seats up to 550 passengers (or more than 800 if it's only built for economy class), holds 309,987 litres of fuel, cruises at 900 kilometres an hour and flies some 8,000 nautical miles.

Depending on how it's configured, each vehicle costs about US$300 million.

Leg room

With the danger of blood clots on long haul flights becoming increasingly important and comfort onboard increasingly becoming a thing of the past, the plane's creators wanted to concentrate on making room for passengers to stretch out.

It claims the top part of its double decker aircraft is 190 centimetres wider than any of its competitors, while the main deck boasts an extra 20 centimetres of space.

The cheap seats are slightly bigger, too, measuring 2.5-3.8 centimetres more in economy class.

Because of its size, the aisles are wider so when you have to take that bathroom break you won't have to squeeze by anyone.

Overall, the average A380 has fewer rows of seats and more floor space spread over two floors.

The manufacturer claims it used eight different mock-ups and asked 1,200 men and women around the world billed as 'frequent travellers' what they wanted to see in a plane. One of the major complaints was a lack of leg room.

Atmosphere

This is a little harder to judge, because a lot depends on the specific plane and what's ordered in it. There's the usual entertainment systems available on board.

But for those who want to go all out, there's said to be room for a bar, a beauty parlour and even stores on board, so you could literally go shopping as you fly from one destination to another.

Also possible for those willing to spend the money: a gym, a casino and double beds for when you get tired of it all.

Most planes won't have these amenities of course. And chances are you wouldn't be able to afford the ticket if they did.

Lighting

It's an old complaint about planes that the light is either too bright and shines right in your face or too dull and you can't quite see anything. Airbus promises its monster plane has mood lighting that automatically adjusts for time of day. It also says its windows are bigger so you can enjoy the view a lot better.

Fuel consumption

This one's based totally on comparisons that may be tough to imagine. The plane is said to consume about four litres of fuel per passenger for every 130 kilometres it flies. Airbus claims given its size and the number of people onboard, it's actually as fuel efficient as a filling up an "economical family car."

And you thought your gas bill was high.

The noise

Another big airline complaint is the noise you hear both inside the plane and when you're listening to it fly overhead. It's one of the things that killed the Concorde.

Airbus says its plane is much quieter than others of smaller size, causing less disruption for those onboard and in the neighbourhoods it flies over.

"Although it's the largest commercial airline in the sky, it's quiet and fuel efficient, claims Paul Haney of Los Angeles World Airports. "That means less noise and lower emissions."

Overhead luggage

The bane of many passengers' existence. Getting that carry-on stuffed into the little space with everyone else's bags is never fun. The A380 can be designed so there's more space - or the upper bins can be removed entirely to create the sense of even more room.

Getting on and off

Forget David Spade and his contemptuous 'bye bye'. Because the plane is so massive, Airbus claims it has more entrance and exit points, allowing passengers to get on and off the vehicle faster. That's supposed to mean the plane can be turned around faster at an airport, allowing more flights to take off sooner.

Click here for original Story on CityNews.com

Take a virtual tour inside A380 on Airbus.com

(Source: Airbus, Google News, Citynews)
-Mumbaikar