The Big Mother of the Sky – The Airbus’s A380

Ever heard about Feodor Vassilyev!!! Records claim that she lived from 1707 – 1782. A lady from Shuya, a municipal town in, Russia. The looming fact being that, ‘Madam Feodor’ holds the world record for giving birth to 69 children in 27 confinements, and that stands with 16 pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets. An unblemished world record till date.

This fact indeed is not so amusing to me for the modest reason; we are living in a world where man made mothers takes care of larger number of children in a single confinement.

The American think-tanks came up with an idea of an Ultra-High-Capacity Airliner (UHCA), the Boeing 747 (B747-100) an iconic airplane since its induction in 1969. The birth of B747-100 created a new era with a seating capacity of 539 passengers and a cruising speed of over 950 kilometers per hour. Airports around the world had to refurbish their infrastructure with extended runways and bigger hangers to accommodate this big flying machine. Moreover the B747 made international travel to look like domestic travel with its non-stop range of over 9000 kilometers in full capacity.

The versatile design of the massive machine gave Boeing the confidence to increase capacity and endurance. Boeing confidently developed the B747-400 with an approved seating capacity of 660 passengers and a non-stop strength to fly over 12000 kilometres. This showcased the American success for Boeing being able to eventually sell over 700 of these biggies.

Eyeing the biggie, a team of engineers from Airbus, the European Aeronautic and Defence Systems (EDAS) stepped out in 1988 to dethrone Boeing’s UHCA and replace it with VLCT (Very Large Commercial Transport). Airbus funded by Germany, France, Spain and the United Kingdom wanted to overthrow the Boeing and make a mark on the European Continent.

Airbus wanted a Big Mother to triumph over the rival Boeing 747.

Airbus Planned to shape-up and furnish a super jumbo, that can carry the maximum number of passengers over-powering the B747 max capacity of 660 souls. The design plan took years, and the four custodian countries of Airbus pumped in billions of Euros just with a modest intent to counter bout the American giants.

In the summer of 2004, the giant pieces of the mega-structured mother was shipped from Hamburg, Germany to Toulouse, France. Ships were Custom built to carry the gigantic pieces of the forward and rear plane’s fuselage. A 1.35 million square-foot assembly hall for the world’s largest commercial airliner had already exhausted the custodians with multibillion Euros.

The fuselage arrived into Toulouse followed with 200 German mechanics to sprout life into the Big Mother. Hundreds of kilometres of copper and aluminum electrical cables that needs to be installed through the airframe and floor panels to make the mother deliver was painstaking. The mechanics started to instill veins and arteries that would connect to the heart and brain of this big mother to cruise through the skies. Miscalculation as the veins and arteries would not neither reach the heart nor the brain for the Big Mother to deliver. The delay in production knocked the production of the massive flying passenger liner.

Delays and miscalculation never bothered the committed Airbus engineers to create the Big Mother. With lot of resources, time and struggle, Airbus rolled out the Master-Piece, it to 530 kilometres of wires that connected the big piece together. The Big Mother was to cruise over our skies with a gifted capability to carry 853 passengers and with a total take-off ability of 560 tons.

Yes!!! The Big Mother of the Sky – The Airbus’s A380. The world’s largest passenger airliner.

Otherwise eminently known as the super jumbo. She carries the maximum souls with an impeccable safety record in its 12 years of active service. She took to the skies on 27th April 2007 from its paternity ward in Toulouse, France. The A30 triumphed over the B747 with 50% more floor space and 35% more seating capacity and with larger room for all the seats.

This big mother entered service and the first A380 was handed over to Singapore Airlines in 15th October 2007 with the Singapore airlines livery. Singapore Airlines had already announced the first flight for 25th October 2007. Though the aircraft is certified for 853 passengers, Singapore Airlines opted for 471 seats – 12 First class suites, 60 Business Class and 399 Economy class. All the 471 seats onboard were purchased through an auction for charity.

The firm orders of 251 Airbus A380, placed by 14 airliners around the globe with different seating variants ranging from 379 by Singapore Airlines to 615 opted by Emirates. The Dubai based Emirates opted for a huge 123 of the flying giant. The proud owners of the A380’s opted for passenger amenities and royal comfort rather than increased seating capacity.

• Etihad Airways – the Abu Dhabi based airline opted for 9 apartment residence accommodating 2 passengers with private bedroom and bathroom, the aircraft is fitted with shower, lounges and prayer rooms.

• Air France – has an Electronic art gallery, self-service bar and changing room. Emirates – Services bar and lounge, self-service bar and shower.

• Korean Air – apart from the bars and lounges, they have a duty free shop.

• Singapore Airlines – 2 double beds can be created by combining.

• Qatar Airways, Qantas and Thai Airways – Services bars and lounge.

In the 13 years of its service, the big mother has confined over 190 million babies in the form of passengers, cuddled them, fed them, bathed them and ensured they all have reached their destination with utmost satisfaction and fulfilment. Flying on the A380 has given those lucky passengers to board this super giant a different feel of pleasure and excitement.

The sad part is that, Airbus wanted to sell around 1200 of this big mother, but only could manage about 251 of which 234 have been delivered. A single piece was sold for US dollar 465 million and Airbus had to make a hear-breaking decision to cease production as airlines around the world never wanted to take the risk of selling over 600 seats. It costs the airline 26000 US dollars to fly for an hour compared to 11000 US dollar for the other long range aircrafts.

The coming generation is surely going to miss the motherly love and affection of this BIG MOTHER!!!

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Prepared by

Sunil Fasih

Faculty

Kairos Institute, Thodupuzha