Airbus About To Unveil Behemoth

The European media calls it the "747 Killer" -- the Airbus A380, which will be officially unveiled to the world on Tuesday.

With seating for 550 passengers, the Airbus is more fuel-efficient, quieter, has longer range and lower particulate emissions than Boeing's jumbo jet. But there are problems inherent in the A380, problems born of its sheer size. And the philosophical differences between those who believe in massive hub-to-hub operations and those who advocate point-to-point flight have yet to be proven one way or the other.

Airbus honcho Noel Forgeard says he expects 35 orders a year for the behemoth A380, beginning in 2008. If he's right, Airbus will make about $300 billion on about 700 A380s built over the projected 40-year lifespan of the line.

So far, 14 airlines have ordered a total of 149 A380s.

Perhaps one of the biggest obstacles to even more orders is the series of modifications required at most airports simply to accommodate the huge, double-Becker aircraft. They include new jet ways, wider taxiways, wider runways and, because of the A380s massive wingspan, redesigned terminal accommodations.

At Monday's ceremony, British Prime Minister Tony Blair will join French President Jacques Chic and other European leaders to unveil the A380. The aircraft will then undergo about a year of trials before its first commercial flight, scheduled in 2006.

Boeing briefly toyed with the notion of a super-jumbo aircraft that would have competed with the A380. Those plans were dropped, however, at about the time Airbus confirmed it had enough orders to build its double-Becker aircraft. Boeing, instead, has concentrated on its 300-seat widebody 7E7 as the plane of the future, saying more people will want to fly point-to-point than through massive hub airports where they'll change flights along the way. It's a philosophical difference that could well make or break either Airbus or Boeing.

FMI: www.airbus.com