Airbus A380 passenger Jet at Farnborough airshow in 2010
The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, wide-body, four-engine jet airliner manufactured by the European corporation Airbus, a subsidiary of EADS. It is the world's largest passenger airliner. Many airports had to modify and improve their facilities to accommodate it. Designed to challenge Boeing's monopoly in the large-aircraft market, the A380 made its maiden flight on 27 April 2005 and entered initial commercial service in October 2007 with Singapore Airlines. The A380's upper deck extends along the entire length of the fuselage, with a width equivalent to a wide-body aircraft. This allows for an A380-800's cabin with 478 square metres (5, sq ft) of floor space; 49% more floor space than the current next-largest airliner, the Boeing 747-400 with 321 square metres (3, sq ft), and provides seating for 525 people in a typical three-class configuration or up to 853 people in all-economy class configurations. The A380-800 has a design range of 15,400 kilometres (8,300 nmi; 9,600 mi), sufficient to fly from New York to Hong Kong for example, and a cruising speed of Mach (about 900 km/h or 560 mph at cruising altitude). As of November 2011 there had been 238 firm orders for the A380, of which 67 have been delivered.
Size: 5010px × 3450px
Location: Farnborough, Hampshire UK
Photo credit: © Niall Ferguson / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 2010, a380, airbus, aircraft, airshow, farnborough, jet, passenger
