Airbus 380 has finally flown
 

See http://tinyurl.com/2tcp23

I'm entered into a contest for tickets for a380 flight from Montreal to Paris next month. Fingers and toes crossed.

I liked in the article how there were so many reporters standing in the isles interviewing people the flight attendants had trouble walking the isles, and upstairs they had a bar.

Most U.S. airlines just leave the "fasten seatbelt" sign on for most of the flight to avoid these problems.

plane could be a white elephant - one reason sales have been so dismal:

Called the last metal passenger plane newer planes like Boeing Dreamliner are using a non-metal substance signficantly lighter and thus more economic to fly

Only three airports in US are equipped to great the A 380 - concrete just can't support the weight in many and there are few if any docking facilities available to serve it (deplaning on the runway?)

Dreamliner appears much better in many regards, etc.

AirBust 380 - novel plane but?

I smell a flop... could be good on very highly travelled routes, but beyond that it will lack the flexibility that airlines get with larger fleets of smaller planes.

Add in the cost of airport modifications and you're going to have a plane that will always have a very limited market.

That said, it's not competing against the Dreamliner (which is a MUCH smaller plane). It's really competing against the 747 (especially the new -8I version)... which still continues to be the mainstay of the longhaul large jet fleet.

It scacely matters how many US airports are equipped for this plane.

Only 3 US airports (JFK, LAX and SFO) have the traffic to support big planes. The airports with really heavy high-volume intercontinental traffic are mostly in Western Europe and East Asia (See map at http://www.economist.com/business/di...ory_id=9944806)

Big planes just aren't intended to be flown on routes like ATL-ORD. It's Heathrow to Hong Kong where the benefits arise.

But still the sales so far for the plane have been a flop over expectations

could be the new Concorde

I frankly think it was designed with the Chinese market in mind, which won't be ripe for another 5 years.

I can also imagine it being used in the Middle East during the haj season.

I know some germophobes who have a problem with sleeping in hotel beds. Those people will have a BIG problem with staying in one of those 2-person "suites" on the plane.

The Dreamliner is going to be the Squeezeliner because the U.S. airlines that purchase it are going to configure the seating nine across instead of the intended 8. That means 17.5 inches of width for a long flight. Nothing like rubbing shoulders with strangers.

The A380 is eight across in economy, or 2, 4, 2 seating which I find more comfortable.

But I suppose there are airlines that would rather fly two 787's instead of one A380 to the same location each day. This way if the two planes are only 2/3 full, you can put everyone on one plane and "bump" the rest. And then blame it on a threat of rain.

The A380 has 3-4-3 coach seating on lower level and 2-4-2 on the top, at least on SQ.