16 Little Known Facts About The Airbus A380

1) The A380 is the world's largest passenger airliner by a lot. It can carry 113 more passengers than the 747-400 in a typical seating configuration.

2) It's called the A380 because the cross-section of the fuselage looks like the number "8".

3) The airports it lands at are specially equipped to handle its 1.3 million pounds and 261 foot wingspan. It takes a lot of concrete to hold up that much weight.

4) The A380's first flight was just over 10 years ago, on April 27th, 2005.

5) The A380 has nearly 6,000 square feet of usable floor space between its two decks.

6) That's over 40% more floor than the 747-8.

7) Typical seating for three classes is 525, but in a one class seating configuration, the A380 can hold as many as 853 passengers.

8) That's the equivalent of over 17 CRJ-200s.

9) Emirates is the largest A380 operator, with 67 aircraft, and 140 on order.

10) During evacuation testing, 853 passengers and 20 crew needed to exit the aircraft in less than 90 seconds. They accomplished the evacuation in 78 seconds, with 8 of the 16 exits blocked.

11) Each aircraft has more than 330 miles of wiring.

12) Singapore Airlines was the first A380 operator, making their first flight in 2007. The airline claims the A380 burns 20% less fuel per passenger than their 747 fleet.

13) The jet was initially designed without thrust reversers, but reversers were added in late stages of development to the inboard engines.

14) The outboard engines don't have reversers, because they can kick up debris near the edges of the runway.

15) The optimal wingspan for the A380 is 300 feet, but due to airport restrictions, its wingspan is a mere 261 feet, 8 inches wide.

16) Many experts think the A380 is too big, and not practical in airline travel today. But for now, production continues for the biggest passenger jet in the sky.

Source 

This article was previously published on UAE Moments.To see the original article, click here