AIRBUS A380
Manufacturer Airbus
Maiden flight 27 April 2005
Primary user Singapore Airlines
Produced 2002 – present
Number built 12 as of January 2008
Program cost €12 ($17.1) billion[1]
Unit cost $319.2 million[1]
The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, four-engine airliner manufactured by the European corporation Airbus, an EADS
subsidiary. The largest passenger airliner in the world, the A380 made its maiden flight on 27 April 2005 from
Toulouse, France, and made its first commercial flight on 25 October 2007 from Singapore to Sydney with Singapore
Airlines. The aircraft was known as the Airbus A3XX during much of its development phase, but the nickname
Superjumbo has since become associated with it.
The A380's upper deck extends along the entire length of the fuselage. This allows for a cabin with 50% more floor
space than the next largest airliner, the Boeing 747-400, and provides seating for 525 people in standard
three-class configuration or up to 853 people in full economy class configuration. The A380 is offered in passenger
and freighter versions. The A380-800, the passenger model, is the largest passenger airliner in the world,
superseding the Boeing 747, but has a shorter fuselage than the Airbus A340-600 which is Airbus' next biggest
passenger aeroplane. The A380-800F, the freighter model, is offered as one of the largest freight aircraft, with a
listed payload capacity exceeded only by the Antonov An-225. The A380-800 has a design range of 15,200 kilometres
(8,200 nmi), sufficient to fly from New York to Hong Kong for example, and a cruising speed of Mach 0.85 (about 900
km/h or 560 mph at cruise altitude).
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