Boeing releases snazzy new 747-800 interiors

by Grant Martin on

Development of Boeing‘s 747-800, heralded as a direct competitor to the A380 has been underway for several years now. The super jumbo jet will feature many of the same engineering marvels that the 787 will, including swept wings, cut engine nacelles and similar cockpit controls, and will some day be the largest commercial airplane built in the western hemisphere.

So far, however, nobody has seen concepts of the interior. What new concepts from the 787 will be carried over? What new exciting upgrades will passengers of the 748 be amazed by?

Well, that mostly depends on the carrier that purchases the aircraft. Yes, seat quality, color, spacing and class is all determined by the airline, so don’t go blaming Boeing for your 3″ of leg room on your next transoceanic flight.

What Boeing has done, however, is released conceptual drawings of several 748 interiors, including a special “VIP” aircraft that is decked out to the nines. In several of the renderings that you can see at The Sydney Morning Herald, features like spiral staircases, a dining area and even a library are prevalent. Wouldn’t that be nice?

The passenger version of 747-800 is slated for delivery in 2011 with Lufthansa as the first customer. Don’t forget your reading glasses.

Next upgrade for the A380: Bunk Beds?

by Grant Martin on

With so much space in the Airbus A380, there really is no limit on what you can design and build into the aircraft. Sure, you’re going to want to cram as many people as possible into Economy seating, but in Business and First Class, you can let the extravagancies seep in. Emirates’ version has showers. Singapore’s has double beds. Lufthansa envisions an aircraft with conference rooms and bedrooms. You get the idea.

The next upgrade? Bunk beds. As the airline industry tries to carve out a Premium Economy market, one concept that Airbus is exploring is the possibility of using stacked beds to utilize space better while still offering a lie flat experience. The beds would be smaller than a premium lie-flat seat, but would cost a fraction of the price.

Airbus is still toying with the concept of integrating the beds, so it may be some time before you’re able to bunk up with your best mate on the way out to Australia, but if the idea pans out, we’ll be the first to test drive it.

Showering at 43,000 feet

by Annie Scott on


When we heard that you can shower on the Emirates A380, we were fascinated. The Sydney Morning Herald just published a first-hand account of the showers.

Never before has a commercial airplane bathroom been equipped with a shower, and we’re okay with that. I mean, what, are we gonna share a communal shower with all the sketchy looking people in coach? With us? This isn’t a hostel in Berlin!

The SMH reporter Sarah Maguire headed into the “shower spa” and chose from the lotions and potions on display, stripped naked, and “got to it” — but the door wouldn’t shut and the water wouldn’t turn on, so she stepped out in a towel to ask for assistance. Embarrassing!

She was directed to try the other shower spa down the way, and had to sheepishly traipse through the “first class social area” half-naked to get there. This lead her to imagine even worse nightmares, like sliding down the emergency chute wet in a towel.

Maguire bravely made it to the other side, and said this of the shower spa:

“… it was warm and lovely and had commendable pressure. While the time limit is five minutes, you can spend 30 minutes in the bathroom, which is stocked with Timeless Spa products developed for Emirates by the German brand Babor. Two dedicated staff also service the shower area.”

The Emirates A380 flight from Sydney to Auckland is approximately three hours and first class, shower-eligible seats start at $2,028 Australian. The shower would probably be more useful on a longer flight, but we have to say, that’s pretty affordable for this novel luxury! Thrillseekers, add this to your list.

[via Sydney Morning Herald]

Airbus A380 is a big plane and a big pain in the behind

by Scott Carmichael on

The Airbus A380 has been in service for over 16 months and a total of 13 of these monsters have been delivered to airlines around the world.

One of those airlines is Qantas, who use the plane on their Sydney-Los Angeles route.

Of course, a plane this big offers some major logistical challenges to designers, but the airports they visit get their fair share of hassles too.

Los Angeles airport has had to make special arrangements for the superjumbo, including shutting down service roads and halting other aircraft on taxiways when the plane is being positioned. The wingspan of the A380 is so big that it actually intrudes on the safety zone on either side of the tarmac.

When the A380 is ready for takeoff, air traffic controllers make sure their tower is fully staffed, and the plane receives priority over any other traffic. The plane is so big, that when it prepares to take off in bad weather, the tower tries to let it get airborne as soon as possible to prevent its jumbo size from blocking radio transmissions from airport towers.

Still, despite the hassles, the plane is a blessing for an airport suffering from the global decline in air traffic – LAX has lost 650 flights a day, and since airports make money off planes and passengers, having a superjumbo visit your airport is a sure way to make up for some of those losses.

(Via: LA Times Online)

Airbus A380 to become the new Air Force One?

by Scott Carmichael on

Airbus, the European aircraft manufacturer and largest competitor to Boeing, is reportedly working on an offer to provide the President with their A380 super jumbo to replace the outdated fleet of VC-25’s currently being used.

Of course, the whole thing is probably a great way to generate some PR for Airbus, as I don’t think there is a chance in hell that the United States would fly our president around the world in a European built plane (not that there is anything wrong with the A380!).

There are other reasons why I don’t think President Obama would ever pick Airbus to replace Air Force One – Boeing has its headquarters in his home state of Illinois.

Still, the article does point out several reasons why the A380 would be a great choice for the new presidential carrier – emissions are about 25% lower than the 747, despite being a whopping 50% larger. It also produces 50% less cabin noise.

Still, if the new administration is seriously looking to spend $700 Million for these 2 new planes, they’d better do it soon, before you know it, there won’t be any cash left to spend on luxury items like this. Lets just hope that they are not looking at the A380 sardine can version recently purchased by this French Airline.

The press claim this A380 would become the new “Air Obama” but failed to realize that the Air Force won’t be needing the new jet till 2017, long after Obama ends his one or two terms. By then, the current Air Force One fleet will be 30 years old.