The Truth About The Airbus A380: Things You Didn't Know About World's First Super Jumbo

When it flew to Australia on its world-first commercial flight – 10 years ago this October – the Airbus A380 was billed as "the largest, quietest, greenest, most fuel-efficient per passenger" aircraft that had ever flown. It was capable of taking more passengers than any commercial plane before it (though licensed to take 843, commercial airlines usually settle for between 370 and 500). It could take off with the largest payload (passengers and luggage) of 63 tonnes and fly a longer distance (15,200 kilometers), with more technological back-up than any of its "Big Bird" rivals.

If the unlikely concept of the "flying elephant" began with Disney's Dumbo movie in 1941, and continued with the first "Jumbo" – Boeing's 747, which went into service in 1970 – the A380 was the world's first "Super Jumbo". It is so large (73 meters long) and with such a huge wingspan (80 meters from tip to tip), the biggest hub international airports across the world needed to be reconfigured just to cope. (Sydney Airport, for example, spent $100 million preparing for the biggest of birds.)

Australia has long been part of flight aviation history, from Lawrence Hargrave's flight in his box kite in 1894 to the epic journeys of Sir Charles "Smithy" Kingsford-Smith, Nancy-Bird Walton and astronaut Andy Thomas. Yet as the "giant white underbelly" of that equally historic double-decker Singapore Airlines flight circled over Sydney on October 24, 2007, the on-ground Sydney Morning Herald reporter noted that when SQ380 touched down – with the "first-ever double-bed suite", the "world's largest business seat" and "a few extra centimeters of knee room" for economy passengers – it would mark "the biggest milestone in civil aviation in nearly four decades".

Sure, the A380 was two years late. But plenty of airlines had placed orders. Singapore was first to fly it, but 14 other elite airlines were in the queue for 169 A380s. Qantas, with 20 on order, was the second most enthusiastic customer after Emirates (55), followed by Malaysia Airlines, Thai Airways and Etihad.

Naturally everyone expected Boeing – the Seattle-based American giant – to fight back against its European competitor. So it did, with the 787 Dreamliner, which (after its own three-year delay) took its first commercial flight from Tokyo to Hong Kong in October 2011.

Though a wide-bodied, long-haul, twin-engined jet with many of the A380's technical advances, the Dreamliner is not even a Jumbo since it "only" carries between 242 and 335 passengers, depending on the airline seat configuration. However, its long range, mid-size and fuel efficiency makes it extremely adaptable.

So, a decade later, how has the Airbus A380 fared? How has it matched up to passenger expectations? As of 2017, 13 airlines have a total of 214 A380s in service. Not one of those is American. By far the biggest A380 customer is Emirates, which has 96 in service and another 46 on order. "We are scheduled to receive our 100th A380 later this year," says Barry Brown, Emirates divisional vice-president for Australasia. "The A380 makes up more than a third of our fleet."

Singapore Airlines has 18 A380s in service, with another five "on firm order". Qantas, meanwhile, has 12 A380s, operating on flights from Melbourne and Sydney to Dubai, and on to London, as well as flights from Melbourne and Sydney to Los Angeles and from Sydney to Dallas, with seasonal services into Asia.

That initial Qantas A380 – Nancy-Bird Walton – took off from Melbourne to LA in October 2008, yet Qantas has no more A380s on order. Instead, the first of its eight Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners is due to begin service on the Melbourne to LA route in December.

Boeing says a total of 578 Dreamliners are now in service, with another 700 on order. All Nippon Airways (60), Japan Airways (34) and Qatar (30) have the most in flight.

What, if anything, went wrong with Airbus's bid for ascendancy over Boeing? In terms of engineering excellence, it remains a marvel (as was the world's only commercial supersonic aircraft, the late-lamented Concorde). Who knew its wing tips were based on the wing feathers of a steppe eagle, giving it extra lift in a tight circle upwards? Or that its 3000 square meters of fuselage is a glass reinforced aluminum laminate which can survive constant batterings from a high velocity, high altitude chicken gun?

Ultimately, though, most passengers only care about two things about a plane. How safe it is and how comfortable it is.

No A380, according to AirSafe.com, has, God willing at the time of writing, has ever crashed or been involved in a stowaway, hijack or sabotage incident. Nor has anyone ever died in suspicious circumstances aboard an A380. Famously, however, Qantas Flight 32 was forced to make an emergency landing at Changi Airport on November 4, 2010, after an uncontained engine failure. Captain Richard Champion de Crespigny became a Member of the Order of Australia for landing the plane without a single injury.

So is the A380 as pleasurable an experience as we were promised? And if it is such a technological marvel, why has it struggled to sell in the volumes Airbus predicted?

Clearly the Global Financial Crisis (which coincided with the A380's roll-out) did not help sales. But some airlines felt the essential concept was flawed. Super Jumbos rely on transporting large numbers of passengers between major hub airports like Changi, Dubai or London.

All very well, if the hub airport is in the city you want to be in. If not, you'll have to transfer to a smaller plane anyway. Increasingly, passengers prefer to fly directly to their destination – which usually involves smaller aircraft.

One of the great environmental claims for the A380 is that its ability to carry so many passengers reduces the number of flights by less-fuel-efficient aircraft (also reducing take-off and landing congestion, and easing the noise burden for people living in the flight path). Yet passengers – particularly in less price-sensitive categories such Business and First Class – tend to want a spread of departure times to suit their needs.

Still, those who have flown on the A380 are overwhelmingly in favor of the aircraft.

Emirates' Brown points out that not only does an Emirates A380 fly the second longest route in the world (from Dubai to Dallas, 12,933 kilometers), but also the shortest A380 flight (from Dubai to Doha, 379 kilometers, currently suspended for political reasons).

Economy passengers on an Emirates A380 enjoy the 13.3-inch screen (the largest in the industry for Economy) with its 2500 entertainment channels, says Brown. Meanwhile First Class passengers can unwind in a private suite, before freshening up in the shower/spa.

As for Singapore Airlines – the airline celebrating the 10th anniversary along with the A380 – what has changed since 2007?

"We pioneered suites and there are 12 on each A380," a Singapore airlines spokesman says. "However, we added Premium Economy in 2015. The 36-seat cabin is located between Suites and Economy Class, on the lower deck." The airline is planning on a major revamp in the next few months.