1. Easy on the Gas

It’s big, but not a gas-guzzler. Calculated per passenger, Lufthansa’s A380s get 69 miles per gallon. The airplane holds 81,890 gallons, meaning that more than a third of what the plane weighs on takeoff—560 tons—is the weight of the fuel.

2. Rolls-Royce Engines

The four Rolls-Royce engines of the A380 are the length of a Mercedes C-series sedan and four times as heavy. The internal temperature of the engine in operation is 3100 fahrenheit degrees.

3. Big Wings

The A380’s wings are the biggest ever created, 2,775 square feet in size and fully 54 percent larger than the wings of a Boeing 747.

4. Smooth Takeoff

During takeoff, the A380’s wings practically flap, as the tips flex upwards as much as 13 feet.

5. European Made

The A380 is a pan-European product. The engines and wings are produced in England, parts of the fuselage and the tail in Germany and Spain. Airbus test engineer Fernando Alonso describes the airplane as “a symbol of Europe.” When complete, these airplane sections are shipped by land, air, and sea for final assembly in France.

6. Exclusive Airports

Twenty airports in the world are handling A380 service, meaning that they have long enough runways, wide enough taxiways, and 78,000 square feet available at the boarding gate where the plane can be parked. Airports also need special equipment to handle passengers and cargo, and sometimes even baggage conveyor belts must be lengthened since 500 to 800 passengers means a lot of luggage.

7. More Computer than Machine

The A380 is flown by two pilots. “Actually, there’s no difference between flying 30 passengers and 526,” says Harald Tschira, a Lufthansa first officer. “This airplane is very easy to control, despite its weight, and the handling characteristics are more like a short-range airplane.” The pilots can nap in a sleeping compartment located behind the cockpit on long-haul flights while a second crew provides backup.

8. 21 Attendants

Twenty-one flight attendants are assigned to the Lufthansa A380, working in five galleys and using a separate computer system dedicated to cabin activities. They have their own rest compartment with eight beds located below the galley at the rear of the airplane.

9. Seat with a View

From individual video monitors at each seat, passengers can watch the progress of the flight from cameras mounted below the cabin and on the airplane’s tail.

10. Maximum Range

The A380-800 has a design range of 8,500 nautical miles (15,700 km), sufficient to fly nonstop from Dallas to Sydney, and a cruising speed of Mach 0.85 (about 900 km/h, 560 mph or 490 kn at cruising altitude).

Other important facts 

The A380 is 15 tonnes lighter than it would be if made entirely of metal.

• The 4400m2 surface of the A380 is covered in three layers of paint weighing around 500kg.
• During take-off the A380 wing will flex upwards by over 4m.
• The air in the A380 cabin is changed every two minutes, and the temperature can be selected between 18 and 30 degrees.
• An A380 takes off or lands every three minutes
• 8000 bolts are used to attach the three main parts of the aircraft. In total an A380 comprises of 4 million individual components, produced by 1500 companies, in 30 different countries.
• The A380 is a low-noise aircraft and uses light-weight and environment-friendly components. This aircraft also has lowest emission than any other aircraft.
• The aircraft is designed for 140,000 flying hours.
•  If all the wiring in the A380 is laid end to end, it will stretch from Edinburgh to London – 320 miles.
•  More than 3600 liters of paint is required to paint the exterior of the aircraft.
• The giant plane flies at 43,000 feet, with maximum speed of 640 miles/hour.
•  The A380 is 24.1 meters high, 80 meters wide, and 72.7 meters long, equivalent to 2 blue whales length. The plane weighs approximately 590 tons.
•  The wings of the plane are 54% larger than the wings of a Boeing 747 aircraft.
•  The giant plane has enough space to carry approximately 3000 suitcases and 525 passengers.
•  The A380 holds 81900 gallons of fuel weighing 560 tons.  It burns 17% less fuel than other large airplanes. It consumes 4 liter of fuel in 100km per passenger.
• Only few runways in the world are now fully capable of handling A380 aircrafts. Others are not long or wide enough or not technically equipped for A380.
•  Airbus on the other hand has gone big, so big in fact that it produced the world’s largest passenger plane, the A380. The A380 has 478 square meters of usable cabin space, making it 40 percent larger than the next largest passenger plane, the Boeing 747 

 

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