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5/24 |
2006/3/29-30 [Transportation/Airplane] UID:42516 Activity:moderate |
3/28 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4858484.stm Airbus A380 passed crucial tests and approved as a 853-person jet. Go superior French communist engineering! \_ Communist or not, I am just looking forward to the day when it takes 2 hours just to board the plane! \_ Multiple boarding passages. It's already done at a lot of airports. -John \_ I don't know... In some Asia airport, it takes a bit more than a hour to board 747. I don't know if multiple boading passage would be able cut the boading time down to, let say 30 min \_ It's interesting that you mention Asia--a colleague of my girlfriend's is the daughter of the CEO of Thai Airways; according to her, a lot of Asian outfits (Thai, Singapore, Emirates off the top of my head) only use the shiniest new planes for Asian routes, because European and American travellers are more used to crappy old stuff. I can imagine the same happening with airports; many of the cramped, overcrowded airports you get in Europe and the US wouldn't be capable of multiple boarding entries, but many of the newer ones I've seen have bigger waiting areas, room for at least 2 tunnels, and generally more allowance for greater planeloads. There's also a divergence in how airports are viewed--many airlines seem to be betting on smaller planes going to less-cenral airports directly, rather than the traditional model of feeder->hub flights. Maybe this will take strain off some of the current big hub airports that can handle the A380, and let them adapt their terminals for fewer big planes. -John |
5/24 |
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news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4858484.stm Scenes from the drill European and US air safety authorities have approved last weekend's evacuation test of the Airbus A380 super-jumbo, the aeroplane-maker has confirmed. Approval from the European Aviation and Safety Agency and the US Federal Aviation Administration confirms the plane's maximum 853-person capacity. During the A380's evacuation test in Germany, one man broke his leg and another 32 people had minor injuries. To date, 159 of the twin-deck planes have been ordered by 16 airlines. A380 maiden flight in pictures According to the set regulations, the test was performed in complete darkness, using only half of the 16 exists on the A380. Charles Champion, head of the A380 programme at Airbus, said the approval of the test was a "major milestone" on the plane's way to gaining its certification for public use. "This is an exceptional result and a remarkable success for Airbus," he said. "I would like to thank all participants, the crew and all teams who worked for months on this exercise. Realistic passenger mix To make the drill as realistic as possible, the volunteers represented a broad-cross section of the population in terms of age and sex. About 40% of those taking part were women, while 35% had to be over the age of 50. Three life-size dolls were carried on board to represent children under two years old. The first A380s are due to go into service with Singapore Airlines at the end of this year. |