Airbus A380

Airbus A380

The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, wide-body, four-engine jet airliner. It is the world's largest passenger airliner; many airports have upgraded their facilities to accommodate it because of its size. Initially named Airbus A3XX, Airbus designed the aircraft to challenge Boeing's monopoly in the large-aircraft market; the A380 made its first flight on 27 April 2005 and began commercial service in October 2007 with Singapore Airlines.

The A380's upper deck extends along the entire length of the fuselage, with a width equivalent to a wide-body aircraft. This allows for an A380-800's cabin with 478 square metres (5,145.1 sq ft) of floor space; 49% more floor space than the next-largest airliner, the Boeing 747-8, and provides seating for 525 people in a typical three-class configuration or up to 853 people in all-economy class configurations. The A380-800 has a design range of 15,700 kilometres (8,500 nmi; 9,800 mi), sufficient to fly from New York to Hong Kong, and a cruising speed of Mach 0.85 (about 900 km/h or 560 mph at cruising altitude).



Aircraft Information

Role	Wide-body, double-deck jet airliner National origin	Multi-national [1] Manufacturer	Airbus First flight	27 April 2005 Introduction	25 October 2007 with Singapore Airlines Status	In production, In service Primary users	Emirates Singapore Airlines Qantas Lufthansa See Operators section for others Produced	2004–present Number built	101 as of March 2013[2] Unit cost	US$389.9 million[3] (approx. €300 million or GB£252 million)