Airbus A 380 visits India

Dear (s)                                                Wonder the winged marvel

Air travel in India has soared in the past five years as almost a dozen new airlines  have been launched to serve demand in the fast-expanding economy. Very interesting day in the Indian Aviation history.  On  Sunday, May 6th 2007 the world's largest passenger aircraft Airbus A380 powered by four Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines, landed at the Capital's Indira Gandhi International Airport at around 10.45 am for the first time in India. The Airbus A380, which has been generating enormous interest around the globe and the aviation industry and is regarded as the future of aviation, has come in the run up to the Kingfisher Airlines second anniversary celebrations.

Kingfisher Airlines which completes two immensely successful years of
operations on May 9 is the first and the only airline from India to sign up for the Airbus A380 and has 10 aircraft on order with five firm orders and further options for five more aircraft. The first delivery is expected in 2011.

                                                                              the interiors
Here is some info on Airbus A 380: this is the world's largest airliner, easily eclipsing Boeing's 747. It's the largest passenger jet ever built -- so huge that airports have to be redesigned to accommodate it. It can pack in more passengers and cargo than any other commercial airliner, yet its designers claim it will actually increase efficiency, use less fuel and generate less noise. Airbus has spent an estimated $13 billion on the development of the A380. The price for a single plane is listed at $285 million.

The Airbus A380 manufactured by Airbus S.A.S. is a double-decker, four engined airliner capable of flying 800 passengers in a high density format or 555 passengers in a typical three-class configuration. Its wingspan stretches nearly the length of a football field—50 feet (15 meters) wider than any commercial plane in the air.

Here are the technical specs :
Weight:
A380-800 - Operating empty 275,000kg (606,000lb), max takeoff 548,000kg (1,208,000lb). A380-800HGW - Max takeoff 560,000kg (1,235,000lb).
Performance:
A380-800 - Max cruising speed M 0.88. Long range cruising speed M 0.85. Range 15,100km (8,150nm). Service ceiling FL430. A380-800HGW - same.
Dimensions:
A380-800 Wing span 79.8m (261ft 10in), length 73m (239ft 6in). Height 24,1 m (79ft 1in)
Powerplants:
A380-800 - Four 302kN (67,890lb) thrust class Rolls-Royce Trent 900 or Engine Alliance (General Electric-Pratt & Whitney) GP-7200 turbofans. A380-800HGW - Four 311kN (69,915lb) Trent 900s or GP-7200s.

What enthuses a Marine Insurer ?

In a first step, the front and rear sections of the fuselage were loaded on an Airbus RORO ship, in Hamburg, northern Germany, whence they were shipped to the United Kingdom. There the huge wings, which are manufactured at Filton in Bristol and Broughton in north Wales, are transported by barge to Mostyn docks, where the ship added them to its cargo. In Saint-Nazaire, western France, the ship traded the fuselage sections from Hamburg for larger, assembled sections, some of which included the nose. The ship unloaded  in Bordeaux. Afterwards, the ship picked up the belly and tail sections in Cadiz, southern Spain, and delivered them to Bordeaux.

From there, the A380 parts were transported by barge to Langon, and by  road to Toulouse, where the A380s are assembled before being flown to Hamburg  were furnished and painted. And here are some photos depicting how the parts were transported to be arranged as a plane (on a truck, on road and passing the river bridge)

With regards
S. Sampathkumar.

PS: something circulated in May 2007 – photo credit : airliner.net.