The good news for fans of the largest commercial passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380, as Lufthansa, the German airline has decided to reactivate its fleet of the double-decker giant.
As a direct response to growing passenger demand, Lufthansa said it was removing the planes from their long-term storage and making them ready to fly again for summer 2023.
Lufthansa still has 14 Airbus A380s, which are currently parked in Spain and France for long-term storage, it has sold six of them and is currently assessing how many of the other eight to reactivate as part of its mainline fleet.
The airline issued the following statement, "In the summer of 2023, we not only expect to have a much more reliable air transport system worldwide. We will be welcoming you back on board our Airbus A380s, too. We decided today to put the A380, which continues to enjoy great popularity, back into service at Lufthansa in summer 2023. In addition to this, we are further strengthening and modernizing our fleets with some 50 new Airbus A350, Boeing 787 and Boeing 777-9 long-haul aircraft and more than 60 new Airbus A320/321s in the next three years alone.”
Singapore Airlines and Australia’s Qantas and Korean Airlines have already started to return the four-engine giant to normal operations, ANA and Asiana Airlines are also in the process of reawakening their planes too.
The Airbus A380 is the world's largest passenger aircraft: it is 73 meters long and 24 meters high and offers a unique experience that starts with boarding which introduces passengers to superior standards of in-flight comfort. It has the world’s largest and most spacious passenger aircraft cabin stretching over its two full-length decks with widebody dimensions. With more seats than any other aircraft, the A380 offers a solution for traffic growth and airport congestion as we emerge from the pandemic.
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The total cabin surface area of the A380 is 550m2, the main deck (MD) cabin is the widest of any airliner and is 20” (51cm) wider than the Boeing 747 cabin. The upper deck (UD) cabin, the first full widebody UD cabin ever, is 71” (180cm) wider than the B747 cabin. Passengers enjoy the larger windows and cabin mood lighting as well as a clear and healthy flying environment, with the cabin is split into 15 different temperature control zones, the temperature in each can be varied between 18 and 30 degrees C. Air conditioning: 6 air inlets (compared to 4 typically) for quiet, draught-free cabin air delivery.
Other key facts…..
● Since July 2019, Emirates operates the world’s shortest scheduled A380 service, flying
a distance of 349 kilometres with a total travel time of less than one hour from Dubai to
Muscat.- Oman
● Each A380 consists of around 4 million individual components with 2.5 million part
numbers produced by 1500 companies from 30 countries around the world.
● 19.000 bolts are inserted inside the fuselage to attach each of the 3 main parts, plus
4.000 to attach both wings.
● The aircraft is certified to a max seating capacity of 853.
● A380 wing area is 845m2
. This enables the A380 to land 20 knots i.e. 35kmh slower than
a 747 at its maximum landing weight of 386 tonnes, and contributes to reduce noise
around airports.
● The span of the horizontal stabiliser is 30.4 m, this is just a bit less than the span of an
A320 wings (34.9 m).
● The volume of the three decks (including cargo/baggage hold) is 1,570 m3
, enough
space for 35 million ping-pong balls.
● The two passenger decks of the A380 have a total area of 550 m2
, the same as three
tennis courts (singles), or 1¼ basketball courts (usable floor area is 50% higher than in
the 747-4).
● 5000 light scenarios on board, using a wide choice of fluorescent and LED technology.
● The aircraft has 220 windows and 16 doors.
● During take-off the wing will flex upwards by over 4m.
● The wing span is 79.8m and the wings are swept at an angle of 33.5 degrees.
● The maximum design load on the 6-wheel body gear is 260 tonnes - equivalent to 200
VW Golfs.
● The weight of the external paint of the A380 (topcoat plus primer) is 531 kg.
● The 280,000 lb of take-off thrust across the wing is the horsepower equivalent of around
2,500 family cars (at 110 hp each).
● The engine's 116 inch (2,95 m) diameter fan blades suck in over one and a quarter tons
of air every second.
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