Emirates Airbus A380 taken out of service by a catering truck

by Scott Carmichael on

Of all the things that can disable a $300 million plane – a broken catering truck has to be one of the more embarrassing.

Sadly, this is the fate of Emirates A6-EDE, the seventeenth Airbus A380, delivered to the airline in April of 2009.

During a routine catering delivery at Toronto airport, the scissor lift on the truck broke, smashing the truck body onto the wing of the jet.

The plane has been taken out of service while repairs are made to the damaged wing. No passengers were on the aircraft at the time and the exact extent of the damage has not yet been determined, but repairs are estimated to take several weeks. For more photos of the incident, head on over to Cargolaw.com.

Thankfully for Emirates, they have another 89 Airbus A380’s in operation or on order.

Inside the Emirates A380 First Class shower

by Scott Carmichael on

Last week, I wrote how smelly passengers are among the most annoying people to be sitting next to on a flight. For passengers in First Class on Emirates flights serviced by their Airbus A380, body odor can be a thing of the past (and I don’t mean though copious amounts of Drakar Noir).

The Emirates Airbus A380 is the first commercial plane in the world to feature full shower facilities. Passengers in First Class can request the use of the shower, and are allotted 30 minutes of privacy, along with 5 minutes of water.

The shower facility is massive when compared to most bathrooms in the skies, and the room is thoroughly cleaned between each visit. In fact, this flying shower has more features than most of us have at home, including a flat panel TV and several integrated closets and hangers.

This photo was taken inside the shower cubicle. You can clearly see the water timer to the left of the shower head, which should help prevent you from a nasty surprise when your 5 minutes are up.

A beautifully arranged sink area with a marble counter top and a real faucet, unlike the crappy faucets us commoners get on most flights. Other amenities include a hair dryer and of course various toiletries.

I’m not an aviation specialist, but I can imagine the design hassles involved in carrying enough water for all these showers are immense. Still, when you are paying upwards of $4000 for the pleasure, a little luxury goes a long way.

Many thanks to Flyertalk member Flyingfox for granting us permission to use his fantastic photos.