Emirates to stop flying Airbus A380s to JFK

by Jeffrey White on

Dubai-based airline Emirates, one of only two airlines in the world right now flying the new Airbus A380, is halting flights of the superjumbo to New York until the economy picks back up.

Instead, starting on June 1 Emirates will replace the A380 with smaller Boeing 777s on its daily Dubai-JFK run.

This comes seven months after Emirates made its inaugural A380 flight to JFK last August, the first carrier to operate flights on the plane. The airport has spent close to $180 million upgrading runways in anticipation that more airlines will soon be flying the world’s largest airplanes, which so far hasn’t been the case.

Emirates will continue flying an A380 on its Dubai-Bangkok and Dubai-Toronto routes.

The only other airline flying the superjumbos right now is Qantas.

A luxurious Airbus A380, as conceived by Lufthansa

by Jeffrey White on


With the economy the way it is and companies across the board cutting back on luxury perks for its executives, it’s probably a little surprising to learn that some airlines are nevertheless moving forward with plans to pimp out their orders of the much-anticipated, double-decker Airbus A380.

Back in 2007, Justin gave us this look inside an Airbus A380 model purchased by Korean Air.

Now, the folks over at Dvice gives us this look at the Airbus A380 as being conceived by German national carrier Lufthansa’s customization and decoration division, Lufthansa Technik. It is calling these renderings the Airbus A380 VIP Saloon.

This design is long on luxury — full bars, sitting rooms, huge beds, showers — and can almost feel sorry for the “poor” sods that opted for a cheaper ticket and are thus relegated to the back of the plane, where the normal seats are positioned.

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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.

French Airline signs deal for 840 passenger A380 superjumbo

by Scott Carmichael on

Airlines placing an order for new planes is normally not really newsworthy, but a memorandum of understanding signed yesterday between French airline Air Austral and Airbus for 2 A380’s is something special.

Air Austral will be the first airline to order the A380 with seating designed to its fullest capacity.

That means a whopping 840 passengers spread out between the double decks of this superjumbo. It also means the end of the dream that the A380 would only offer the finest in passenger comfort with onboard bars and casinos.

Air Austral plans to operate the 2 A380’s on their Paris-Réunion route, which they describe as “high density”.

Of course, flying a plane this big into Roland Garros airport will probably require some tweaks to the facilities, or things may become a little clogged when all 840 passengers plus crew try to make their way land side.

Air Austral actually operates a pretty impressive route network, and has scheduled flights from Réunion to Sydney, Bankok and Madagascar, to name just a few.

(Via: Airbus press release)