Modifications Cost $842 Million -- How Many Airports Can Do
That?
What's it take to make one of the
world's busiest airports ready for the world's biggest commercial
passenger plane?
About $842 million. Just ask the folks who run Heathrow in
London.
"The A380 will be an important aircraft for Heathrow," said the
operator of London's Heathrow Airport, the BAA, says on its
website. "Its extra capacity will make efficient use of our two
busy runways and will make it attractive to airlines operating in
busy airport environments such as Heathrow."
BAA officials say the Airbus A380, which will be officially
unveiled to the world on Tuesday, will bring an additional 10
million passengers a year to Heathrow -- without the addition of
one single flight. The first A380 is expected to grace the runways
at Heathrow in the Spring of 2006.
"It is the biggest plane in the world, it means that the mile
cost per seat comes down and therefore it just makes Virgin
Atlantic that much more competitive," Virgin Atlantic chief Sir
Richard Branson told BBC television.
So far, only two US carriers have ordered A380s -- FedEx and
UPS. Still, anticipating more orders and international carriers'
desires to fly the A380 into the US, several domestic airports are
either contemplating accommodations for the behemoth or have
already started building them.
At the fore is Miami International Airport, which is already
improving four terminals to accommodate the A380. The improvements
will allow for onloading and offloading passengers on two different
levels.
"We have prestigious routes and this is an international hub
airport," MIA Assistant Director for Operations Bruce Drum told the
South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "Basically, we're ready today to
accommodate it." Drum says MIA expects three foreign carriers --
Lufthansa, Air France and Virgin Atlantic, to begin flying A380s
into his airport by 2008.
San Francisco's SFO and Los Angeles' LAX are also working on
accommodating the super jumbo jet. But some airports have no such
plans.
"With the wingspan on that thing, you'd have to build new
taxiways for it," said Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International
Airport spokesman Jim Reynolds.
"We don't plan on making changes to
accept the plane for the sake of being on standby, or an alternate
airport," Palm Beach airport spokeswoman Lisa De La Rionda told the
Sun-Sentinel.
Indeed, there are concerns among US airport operators that the
A380 will simply be too much to handle.
"With a 555-passenger load, it's fairly obvious we're talking
multiples of the usual security processes to get people on board,
as well as with checkpoints, baggage screening and cargo," aviation
security consultant David Forbes told the Fort Lauderdale
paper.
One more thing that could hamper A380 sales in the US: Money.
Each of the super jumbos costs about $405 million. With US airlines
scrambling just to stay out of bankruptcy court and eliminate a
huge surplus of seats, the market for A380s on this side of the
world may be limited for some time to come.
"We're aware of this aircraft, but we're currently focused on
our financial situation," Martha Pantin, spokeswoman for American
Airlines, told the Sun-Sentinel.
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