Aircraft

Airbus A380

Dipesh Dhital

Dipesh Dhital

— 2 min read
Airbus A380

Airbus A380 (Airbus A380) is the world’s largest wide-body passenger aircraft manufactured by Airbus. It is a four-engine, 525-seat double-decker airliner with an Engine Alliance GP7200 or Rolls-Royce Trent 900 turbofan engine and a range of 14,800 kilometres.

Airbus began related research work in 1988 and announced the project in 1990 to challenge Boeing 747 ‘s dominance in the long-haul air passenger market. Airbus proposed the A3XX project in 1994; on December 19, 2000, it invested US$ 10.7 billion to start the A380 program.

Manufacturer: Airbus
Country: Multi-national (Europe)
Price: US$445.6 million
Produced: 2003-2021

The first prototype of the Airbus A380 was unveiled on January 18, 2005 in Toulouse, France, and completed its first flight on April 27, 2005. The model obtained EASA and FAA certificate in December 2006. Problems with electrical wiring caused the project to be postponed for 2 years, and R&D expenses soared to US$20.3 billion.

Airbus A380 was first delivered to Singapore Airlines on 15 October 2007. As of 31st May 2019, a total of 237 A380s have been built.

Airbus A380 however did not reach that level of success as the company had expected. On 14 February 2019, Airbus announced that it would end the production of the Airbus A380 amid dwindling aircraft orders. The aircraft production will end by 2021.
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Airbus A380 Specifications

Crew : 2 (cockpit)
Seating: 555-853
Length: 72.72 m (238 ft 7 in)
Wingspan : 79.75 meters (261 feet 8 inches)
Height : 24.09 meters (79 feet 7 inches)
Wing area : 845 square meters
Wheelbase : 31.88 meters (104 feet 7 inches)
External body width: 7.14 meters (24 feet 5 inches)
MTOW: 575 t (1,268,000 lb)
Empty weight : 277t
Range: 14,800 km (8,000 nmi)
Cargo capacity : 84 tons
Fuel capacity : 310,000 liters (81,890 US gallons)
Cruising speed : Mach 0.85
Maximum cruising speed : Mach 0.89
Take-off distance : 2750 meters (9020 feet) 2900 meters (9500 feet)

Engine: 4x

  • Engine Alliance GP7200 (A380-861)
  • Engine Alliance GP7277 (A380-863F)
  • Rolls-Royce Trent 977/B (A380-843F)
  • Rolls-Royce Trent Trent 970/B (A380-841)
  • Rolls-Royce Trent 972/B (A380-842)

Engine thrust : 4×311 kN (70,000 lbf)
Power-to-weight ratio : 0.27

Production

The main structural components of the A380 are manufactured in France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom. In order to transport the structural components of the A380, a complex route called Itinéraire à Grand Gabarit was opened, including the formation of a fleet of ships and barges, the construction of port facilities and the construction and rebuilding of roads to meet the production needs.

Variants

A380-800
This A380 variant has a standard three-class cabin layout of 555 seats and a range of 15,000 kilometres. 2000 July 24, Emirates Airline, Singapore Airlines , Qantas , and Air France are few of the major airlines to put this aircraft variant into commercial operation.

A380-900
It’s the stretched variant with the standard cabin layout accommodating 656 seats.

A380-800F
All-cargo variant, with a payload capacity of 150 tons and flight range of 10,400 kilometers. FedEx was supposed to be the intended customer. (FedEx cancelled the order due to delay in delivery). The A380F was thus proposed but postponed and never built.

A380plus
This passenger variant was announced at the 2017 Paris Air Show and was supposed to use a bifurcated winglet design. (Never entered the production stage).

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