- Start
- Apr 27, 200590% CONFIDENCEsource
The Airbus A380 Makes Its First Flight
Main competitors
- Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental · Boeing
467 passengers in a typical three-class cabin - range about 14,300-14,400 km (7,730-7,790 nmi) - four GEnx-2B engines - in service since June 2012 with Lufthansa
Source - Boeing 777-300ER · Boeing
365 seats in three classes (392 in two classes at maximum range) - range 7,370 nmi (13,650 km) - two GE90-115B engines - first delivered to Air France on 29 April 2004
Source
F-WWOW, the first of the only full-length double-deck jet airliner ever built, flew from Toulouse–Blagnac with a crew of six under chief test pilot Jacques Rosay, who said handling it was "like handling a bicycle".
- The first A380, registered F-WWOW, first flew on 27 April 2005 from Toulouse–Blagnac Airport with a crew of six headed by chief test pilot Jacques Rosay.[1]
- Rosay said flying the A380 had been "like handling a bicycle".[1]
- The aircraft was equipped with Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines and had been unveiled in Toulouse on 18 January 2005.[1]
- Airbus launched the €9.5 billion programme on 19 December 2000 to challenge the 747’s dominance of the long-haul market.[1]
- Type certification from EASA and the FAA followed on 12 December 2006; wiring difficulties delayed production by two years and nearly doubled development costs.[1]
Notable features
- It is the world’s largest passenger airliner and the only full-length double-deck jet airliner.[1]
- Airbus lists a typical three-class layout of 525 seats (10 first, 76 business and 439 economy), and the maximum certified capacity is 853 passengers in an all-economy layout.[1]
- The quadjet is powered by Engine Alliance GP7200 or Rolls-Royce Trent 900 turbofans for a range of 8,000 nmi (14,800 km), cruising typically at Mach 0.85.[1]
- It is 72.72 m long with a 79.75 m wingspan and 845 m² of wing area, and has a maximum takeoff weight of 575 t.[1]
- It was the first commercial airliner with a central wing box made of carbon-fibre reinforced plastic, and the first with a smoothly contoured wing cross-section.[1]