Government leaders and airline chiefs join 4,500 guests to greet unveiling of world's largest airliner in Toulouse
Airbus marked the unveiling of the world's largest airliner with an extravagant ceremony at its Toulouse headquarters last week attended by 4,500 guests that included the government leaders of the four Airbus partner countries - France, Germany, Spain and the UK.
The 18 January event, which also witnessed the unveiling of the manufacturer's new livery, uniquely brought together the heads and senior executives of all 14 of the A380's launch customers to celebrate the birth of the aircraft that will soon become their flagship.
Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, chairman of the largest A380 customer Emirates, said that "the continued constraints on traffic rights and the availability of landing slots mean that the A380 is a key element in Emirates' future growth". Singapore Airlines will be the first airline to put the A380 into service, in the middle of next year. Its chief executive, Chew Choon Seng, said that the name A380 was fitting: "Thirty-eight in Chinese is auspicious as it sounds like the words for growth and prosperity."
Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon confirmed the airline will put the A380 into service in October 2006 on services to Los Angeles and described the giant as "another step in conquering the tyranny of distance for Qantas". Air France president Jean-Cyril Spinetta said the A380 was "proof that collaboration between airlines and an aircraft manufacturer can be a success".
International Lease Finance chairman Steve Udvar-Hazy described the day as "the beginning of a new era in civil aviation", while Lufthansa chairman Wolfgang Mayrhuber said that the A380's "higher comfort, lower costs and emissions means it is good for our customers, shareholders and the environment". Virgin Atlantic chairman Sir Richard Branson congratulated "Europe's engineers for pushing the frontiers" and talked of offering gyms, casinos and private double beds on his A380s.
FedEx Express chairman and chief executive Fred Smith predicted that the A380 "will have very far reaching effects on world trade", while fellow package hauler boss John Beystehener, chief executive of UPS Airlines, described the aircraft as "an engineering feat of grand proportions".
| A380 customer service-entry plans | |||
| Carrier | EIS* | Seats* | Early destinations/markets |
| Singapore Airlines | Q2 2006 | <480 | London, Sydney |
| Qantas | Oct 2006 | 501** | Los Angeles (from Sydney and Melbourne) |
| Emirates | Nov 2006 | 489/517/644*** | TBA (London is prime candidate) |
| Air France | April 2007 | 538 | New York and Montreal with Beijing and Tokyo in year two |
| Etihad Airways | 2007 | TBA | TBA |
| Malaysia Airlines | 2007 | TBA | TBA |
| Lufthansa | Late 2007 | c550 | North Atlantic, Asia |
| Korean Air | Late 2007 | TBA | TBA |
| Virgin Atlantic | Feb 2008 | c500 | NewYork, Los Angeles, Sydney, Tokyo |
| FedEx Express | 2008 | Cargo | Asia, Europe |
| Thai International | 2008 | TBA | Asia, Australia, Europe |
| Qatar Airways | 2009 | <490 | TBA |
| UPS | 2009 | Cargo | China |
Notes: EIS = entry into service; TBA = to be announced
*All seating is three-class apart from Emirates 644, which is two-class.
**Nine first, 80 business and 449 economy
***489 = three-class long range; 517 = three-class medium range; 644 = two-class
for routes such as those to India and Thailand
MAX KINGSLEY-JONES / TOULOUSE PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARK WAGNER / AVIATION-IMAGES.COM
Source: Flight International
