Airbus A380 Takes to the Air
International News • April 28, 2005
The Airbus A380, the largest passenger airplane ever built, successfully took to the air in cloudless skies over the Southern French City of Toulouse yesterday, April 27, 2005. Pilots, engineers ...
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Subject: Boeing Dreamline more realistic
Posted On: April 29, 2005, 3:56 pm CDT
Posted By: Dreamliner
Comment:
I don't think I want to fly on a plane this big...Ill hold out for the Boeing Dreamliner ! Can you imaging it taking a day to get out of Heathrow airport or trying to catch a connecting flight after arriving on the A380?
The A380 proposes a challenge to existing airports. It's true that not every airport can handle the A380's enormous bulk, but the problem isn't with runways. Extensive testing showed that the weight of the plane would not cause too much extra stress on runways. In fact, the A380 uses more landing wheels than other large jets, so each wheel actually transmits less weight to the runway than some other aircraft. Most major runways are long enough for takeoff and landing procedures, though some are not quite wide enough (the A380's engines would hang over the edges slightly). Taxiways do need to be widened to accommodate such a large craft.
The bigger issue is terminal space. There just isn't enough space to park an A380 at most airport terminals. In order to smooth the process of getting such a large number of people on and off a plane, Airbus put in two entryways. Therefore, two gangways extending from the same terminal are needed. Only a few airports are equipped with this sort of setup. Even if the airport itself is built to take on large planes, the process of ticketing, checking luggage for and security screening so many people can be a logistical nightmare for airports. The A380 is aligned to serve international flights, which leaves little doubt that lines at customs and immigration will be very long for those passengers. If weather or scheduling problems forces two or more A380 to arrive somewhere at the same time, airports estimate it could take almost a day for every passenger to be processed and find their luggage. Similar problems were encountered when the 747 was first introduced.
Airbus says its focus is on linking major international hubs such as London and Hong Kong, not on reaching every major airport.
Subject: Boeing Dreamline more realistic
The A380 proposes a challenge to existing airports. It's true that not every airport can handle the A380's enormous bulk, but the problem isn't with runways. Extensive testing showed that the weight of the plane would not cause too much extra stress on runways. In fact, the A380 uses more landing wheels than other large jets, so each wheel actually transmits less weight to the runway than some other aircraft. Most major runways are long enough for takeoff and landing procedures, though some are not quite wide enough (the A380's engines would hang over the edges slightly). Taxiways do need to be widened to accommodate such a large craft.
The bigger issue is terminal space. There just isn't enough space to park an A380 at most airport terminals. In order to smooth the process of getting such a large number of people on and off a plane, Airbus put in two entryways. Therefore, two gangways extending from the same terminal are needed. Only a few airports are equipped with this sort of setup. Even if the airport itself is built to take on large planes, the process of ticketing, checking luggage for and security screening so many people can be a logistical nightmare for airports. The A380 is aligned to serve international flights, which leaves little doubt that lines at customs and immigration will be very long for those passengers. If weather or scheduling problems forces two or more A380 to arrive somewhere at the same time, airports estimate it could take almost a day for every passenger to be processed and find their luggage. Similar problems were encountered when the 747 was first introduced.
Airbus says its focus is on linking major international hubs such as London and Hong Kong, not on reaching every major airport.