Well, it's here, it's big and it's beautiful, in a plus-size kind of way. The question remains, will the Airbus A380, which was rolled out in a splashy ceremony on Tuesday, take off? The practical answer to that question will come in March with the first test flight. Click on Read More to read the whole story.
But as airlines all over the world retrench in a pitched battle with cut-rate upstarts, pundits wonder if the Clipper-like service possible on the double-decker behemoth is a thing of the past, and some planners wonder if the ability of airports to accommodate the aircraft (and its passengers) is yet a thing of the future. But Tuesday was a day for a remarkable first, and skepticism was brushed aside in the giddiness that accompanies such an occasion. British Prime Minister Tony Blair termed the A380 an example of European cooperation at its best (components are built in 15 plants in four countries) and hailed it as the greatest aviation development (notwithstanding Concorde) since the Boeing 747.
...Luxury Touted, Economy Predicted
Of course, the biggest cheerleader for the super jumbo is Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic has ordered six. Branson is keeping the hype alive by announcing that the Virgin planes will have on-board casinos and even suites with double beds. "Maybe now there will be two ways of getting lucky on a Virgin plane," Branson quipped to reporters. Although Virgin and some others will undoubtedly include some bells and whistles for their well-heeled passengers, the more cynical among aviation consultants liken the A380 to the modern incarnation of a troop train. Henry Harteveldt, vice president of Forrester Research, told Wired News that the world has been promised staterooms and theaters in the sky once before -- with the launch of the Boeing 747 in 1969. "None of that happened," he said. "Airplanes are designed for one of two things, either freight or passengers." Despite the size of the plane, economy class will still be economy class, with seats about an inch wider than the current average. And while the marketers portray the A380 winging with style and grace on romantic transcontinental odysseys, some see it plying the busiest mid-length U.S. routes crammed with up to 800 budget-conscious passengers. Make sure you get a seat near an exit...
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