Airbus unveils A380, world's biggest airliner

14 airlines place orders for a-380s

Posing the most serious threat ever to Boeing, "next-generation" passenger aircraft A380 was unveiled today by Airbus Industrie at a high-tech event that brought heads of several European nations together at the Jean-Luc Lagadere Final Assembly Line Hall here.

Over 5,000 people, including British Prime Minister Tony Blair, French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, watched Airbus unwrapping an aircraft that experts felt would redefine flying across the globe.

The A380 has cost Airbus euro 12 billion to develop, including euro 1.45 billion in cost overruns. Fourteen airlines have already placed orders worth $40 billion for 149 A380s. The list of buyers, however, does not include any Indian carrier.

The world's first full-length twin-deck aircraft can accommodate 555 passengers and can fly 15,000 kms non-stop. In full economy configuration, the number of seats can be as high as 900. The three-deck freighter version of the aircraft, the A380F, will be able to carry 152 tonnes of cargo over a distance of up to 10,400 kms.

FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp, said it will be the first to take delivery of the A380F in August 2008 and the first to deploy the plane in service for its global customers.

"This aircraft makes great economic sense to carriers around the globe," Noel Foregerad, president and CEO of Airbus, said. The aircraft will be pressed into service in 2006 by Singapore Airlines. The largest order of 45 A380s has been placed by the Emirates.

The aircraft is 80 feet high and its wing-span is so wide that it can park as many as 70 cars. At 560 tonnes, the A380 is about five tonnes heavier than what was originally planned.

Nicknamed "Noel's Ark", the A380 is a serious threat to Boeing. Foregerad said the cost per seat per mile for the aircraft is 15 per cent less than that of Boeing 747-400.

The A380, which has been positioned as the answer to busy airport schedules and limited landing and parking lots across airports, consumes less than three litres of fuel per passenger over 100 kms.

Airbus believes that with passenger traffic expected to increase by over 5 per cent every year over the next 20 years, the large A380 is the ideal choice for all carriers.

The huge aircraft could be bad news for Air-India. With Singapore Airlines, Ethihad, Emirates and Thai Airways expected to start A 380 services from hubs like Dubai and Singapore, using feeder services from India, the market share of Air-India could further deplete.

In fact, none of the Indian carriers has placed an order for A 380 and the aircraft is not included in the shopping list of Air India or Indian Airlines.

It will take really long before any airline can operate an A 380 from an Indian city as none of them is equipped to handle an aircraft of this size. The Indian airports will have to be upgraded and longer runways made to operate an A 380.

The writer is in Toulouse at the hospitality of EADS.