Long haul air travel may never be the same again with the unveiling (and they needed a pretty big veil, let me tell you) of Air Bus’s A380 a double decker "superjumbo" jet with a 262 foot wing-span.
Just think…a huge plane…Twice the number of people to give stale snacks to…twice the number of people on one plane whose luggage can be lost or mangled. It will provide so many opportunities for air travel as we know it.
According to ABC News:
Airbus is betting its newfound status as the world’s leading jet maker on the "superjumbo" that has a 262-foot wingspan, a tail as tall as a seven-story building and which cost $13 billion to develop.
French President Jacques Chirac, as well as the leaders of Britain, Germany and Spain Airbus’ other three government backers and CEOs from the 14 airlines and freight transporters that have so far ordered the A380 attended the elaborate ceremony at company headquarters in Toulouse, southern France.
Chirac called the A380 "a veritable liner of the skies" and said its debut "is for all of us a moment of emotion and pride."
The launch of the A380 seemed certain to become a milestone in civil aviation history alongside the 747 and Concorde. Unlike the supersonic Concorde, however, whose claim to fame was how fast it crossed the Atlantic, this latest fruit of European aerospace cooperation will ultimately be judged on how fast it makes money.
Airbus has already taken 149 orders for the $280 million plane, "which for a plane of this size that has not yet flown is an extraordinary commercial performance," Airbus CEO Noel Forgeard said.
Airbus says companies have options on dozens more and that the program will break even after 250 sales an objective it hopes to reach within three years.
In all, the company expects to sell 700-750 aircraft; "It’s a plane that will fly for 30 to 40 years," Forgeard said.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.