A380-it may not become in post 911 world the travellers ‘dream plane,’Airbus finally produces an Air bus! as the world's biggest airliner, the European Airbus A380, flew for the first time on Wednesday in a new challenge to U.S. rival Boeing Co. in the battle for the global aviation market. The double-decker A380, designed to carry 555 passengers but with room for more than 800, touched down smoothly almost four hours after soaring into sunny skies on its maiden flight above Airbus headquarters near Toulouse in southern France.
"We always thought it would fly because that's what airplanes do," the tongue in cheek remark by Boeing Chief Executive James Bell may have some hidden frustration as he said how pleased he was with the flight test and congratulated Airbus.
"And we also thought our bet on the mid-range market was a better bet and we think our orders traffic is sustaining that, so we're 2 and 0," (Air India and Air Canada 13 bn$) he said referring to two big orders Boeing announced this week.
Like the Concorde, Europeans are well ahead of the time as far as 'size' is concerned last time it was the 'speed', sometime to be number one is not important in speed size, a commercial products needs to meet the test of customers habits, likes and fears.
Long run success is based on these vital issues! this big one will have one huge inefficiency that on filling up or say boarding, it would lead to hours delay if a single passenger lounges around overfilled with beer in a huge terminal, the chances that one out 550 passenger delay the flight increase considerably with every passenger over 280 number. Loading and unloading does become a huge task, so is the delay possibilities with one passenger missing on board means taking out the entire baggage of the 550; may be new technology of baggage screening and passenger screening will be parcelled with each plane but how many international airports are able to take it, may be 15 have the capacity, but doe the passengers across the Atlantic have the will! That is the second issue..
This aircraft was conceived pre- 911 days and in my opinion present day situation of the world does not allows for safety reasons a huge mass of passenger onboard a single flight, it attracts ‘as largest’ far too much attraction, 550 passengers on world largest planes makes a huge story and that was not a concern pre 911 days now it is within the industry and within subconscious of the passenger.
To make it profitable they have to sell 500 to break even they need 250, although Europeans for sake of global economic prowess showdown can spare a lot a change to turn the enterprise but so many bland facts are arrayed against this plane that one needs to really sit and watch how this story unfolds over next decade.
To achieve that magic number they will have to make big splashes, the bigger the splashes as the ‘world largest’ the greater are danger from fringe lunatics. WTC was born with this unholy curse of the criminals, nothing in this present day and age signal as jugular of our economic existence and vital to connectivity. Unfortunately this new plane attracts far too great attraction, on one hand we take pride in technological breakthrough of man to fly 550 of them in a machine where even on turn of the century doubts were cast on one man flying machine.
It will not take off profitably; may be a great carrier, but 747 already well tested and well mixed up in the crowd of planes without any special designation as the world largest does the job far comfortably without any additional requirements to invest on ground facilities. Unless this plane become a big attraction with cross Atlantic passengers and I believe for the aforementioned reasons a lot of security conscious passengers would avoid this plane, it may not become in post 911 world the travellers ‘dream plane,’
Changes in attitudes kill a lot of products, I would like to say that this jet commercially will not be profitable, it carries a big baggage of huge massive investments, new security environment and associated delays on a ‘signal miss’ all lethal for a successful flying machine.. We wish best of luck to Airbus and pray that our concerns will never come true, the Airbus must have gone through all this better than layman!
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