By Dani Alonso
So, it seems it is already a fact. The new Airbus accomplished its first flight at the end of October with Singapore Airlines and it was a complete success. The way to reach this objective has not been easy, but after more than 1 year delay a couple of wings have been given to this giant to fly to paradise.
Looking at a single photo of the airplane can be an amazing experience, but if you are not able to appreciate size in images, let me tell you that this massive airplane reaches the high of a 7-storey building and is able to carry up to 853 passengers. Give wings to that little bird and let it cross the sky. Sounds like a tremendous scandal for all the poor real birds on the way? Well, according to Airbus, this is absolutely false, as they are proud to have built the most quiet and fuel-efficient passenger jet ever. If they say so...
After all, it seems this heavy apartments block has hit the target. The orders for it have increased and even the Saudi prince is said to be about to buy this plane for himself. I wonder what kind of parties is he planning to organize in there, but sure he will need some people to fill the space. All this is very good news, as the competition from Boeing has not been far away. With their new Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the old rival set a high standard and the guys in Airbus couldn't allow themselves a failure.
Lucky the ones in Orlando, that have seen for first time (and possibly the only time) a giant like the A380 to land in the south-eastern zone. Anyway, the big baby is coming back to France, to be next to his Daddy Airbus.
One of the most recent stories on this topic, is the sex ban on board of the plane, at least for Singapore Airlines. It seems that interiors provide with some luxury rooms for the most privileged customers, where everything is set to provide with a romantic atmosphere on board. But, when the time comes that champagne reaches the brain, the no-sex-policy will apply and will probably frustrate some passionate couples. I just hope they don't place internal cameras to check the strict accomplishment of the rules.
As a final note, the most recent news are speaking about another version of the A380 that will include place for 900 seats! Is this going to be the low cost one? Possibly not, but Emirates, their biggest consumer, have already said that they want this new creature and even encouraged Airbus to build some to get 1000 passengers inside. The only problem they see with that is that probably the airport installations will not be prepared to deal with that amount of passengers for one single flight!
Dani Alonso
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