Countdown to the A380

In less than two months, Singapore Airlines will be the first to accomplish an event over a decade in the making. On Thursday October 25 Singapore Airlines will launch the first ever commercial flight of the Airbus A380. This event will mark a milestone in aviation history for the reason that this is the largest commercial jet ever to go into service. The route of flight for the superjumbo is from Singapore to Sydney, Australia and a returning flight to Singapore the next day. Although this is a spectacular celebration of commercial aviation, Airbus experienced many troubles such as deadline requirements that cost the industry millions of dollars and the loss of many major clients.

Airbus Industries began development on the A380 in the early 1990’s to compete with Boeing’s 747 jumbo jet. The design officially came out in 1994 as the Airbus A3XX with a twin deck configuration. A few years later the Airbus A380 design was released to the public that included a 500 seat capacity with much more comfortable seats and more floor space. Using the most advanced technologies, the A380 is also designed to have 10-15% more range, lower fuel burn and emissions, and less noise. Metal cutting for the first A380 component occurred on January 23, 2002, at Nantes in France, and in 2002 more than 6000 people were working on A380 development. The world watched on January 18, 2005, as the first Airbus A380 was officially revealed in an exuberant ceremony. The first flight of the A380 occurred later that year in March, and Airbus estimated that the first commercial flight would be one year later in 2006.

Airbus hit a bump in the road when production was pushed back by a year. The delays were mostly attributed to the more than 300 miles of wiring inside the aircraft. Weight was also an issue for the aircraft because it was reported that it was almost 5.5 tons heavier than intended. Weight reduction designs had to go into effect to make the superjumbo airworthy. In 2005 Airbus announced to all its airline customers that there would be a six month delay, and a year later they announced there would be further delays up to six months. This caused an exponential drop in Airbus’ stock. In October 2006 the largest delay occurred when Airbus announced that the first delivery to Singapore Airlines wouldn’t occur until October 2007.

Now we are at the eve to the departure date of the largest passenger jet ever imaginable. The tickets for the first flight have gone to auction where a percentage of the money collected will go to charities. All eyes will be watching to see how exactly this will affect the airline industry. Boeing has already begun to counter Airbus’ effort to reclaim top spot in the skies by releasing plans for the 787 Dreamliner this year. It is unknown who will come out on top in the next five years but it is certain that the A380 will change air travel forever.