Airbus A380 Super-Jumbo
Airbus Industries, the world's largest plane maker, today will unveil its 800-seat A380, a 12 billion-euro (US$16 billion) wager that airlines will order giant aircraft to ferry passengers between major airports over the next 20 years.
The A380 will surpass Boeing Co's 35-year-old 747 as the world's largest passenger plane and is meant to help the Toulouse, France-based plane maker maintain its lead in sales and deliveries over Chicago-based Boeing, said Airbus Chief Executive Noel Forgeard on January 12. Boeing has no plan for a competing aircraft.
Airbus said on December 15 it expects to receive demand for 1,250 planes that can each seat at least 400 passengers and 398 freighters through 2024. It aims to get contracts for 700 of those aircraft and says the A380 will break even with 250 orders. Boeing, by contrast, estimates demand for about a third of the large planes.
At this time Airbus has 149 orders and commitments from 14 airlines for the A380, which is due to make its first test flight in March or April, according to Airbus chief Noel Forgeard.
The double-decker A380 plane has a wingspan of 80 metres (262 feet). It is 73 metres long and weighs as much as 569 tons when fully loaded for takeoff. It will have a range of 8,000 nautical miles (14,820 kilometres) compared with 7,600 nautical miles for the Boeing 747-400.
The A380 will surpass Boeing Co's 35-year-old 747 as the world's largest passenger plane and is meant to help the Toulouse, France-based plane maker maintain its lead in sales and deliveries over Chicago-based Boeing, said Airbus Chief Executive Noel Forgeard on January 12. Boeing has no plan for a competing aircraft.
Airbus said on December 15 it expects to receive demand for 1,250 planes that can each seat at least 400 passengers and 398 freighters through 2024. It aims to get contracts for 700 of those aircraft and says the A380 will break even with 250 orders. Boeing, by contrast, estimates demand for about a third of the large planes.
At this time Airbus has 149 orders and commitments from 14 airlines for the A380, which is due to make its first test flight in March or April, according to Airbus chief Noel Forgeard.
The double-decker A380 plane has a wingspan of 80 metres (262 feet). It is 73 metres long and weighs as much as 569 tons when fully loaded for takeoff. It will have a range of 8,000 nautical miles (14,820 kilometres) compared with 7,600 nautical miles for the Boeing 747-400.
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