The New Spruce Goose

Earlier this year National Geographic News reported that Airbus had announced plans for its 555 passenger Airbus A380 "superjumbo" passenger plane which sports a wing span as wide as a football field. Now the pics are finally up and the A380 looks pretty slick.

One of the things worth noting about the A380 is the fact that despite it being about 50% larger than a Boeing 747-400 the plane offers just 35% more seating. Some of this additional space will be seen in slightly (5 cm) wider seats. The way that the remainder of the space is used will be completely up to the individual airlines.

Virgin Atlantic has already announced plans to include gyms, casinos and even double beds on its fleet of six A380s. So now you'll have the option to arrive at your destination completely broke, but at least you wont be sleep deprived.

Branson had this to say to a French reporter "Since you have gaming and you have private double beds maybe there are two ways of getting lucky on a Virgin plane," well said Rich. Finally that lifelong dream of joining the mile high club seems somewhat more attainable.

I recently had the good fortune to spend 14 hours packed in like a sardine on a flight from LAX to Sydney. Despite my best efforts (which included a cocktail of sleeping pills and cheap wine) I was not able to sleep for more than 30 minutes at a time. By the time I get a chance to return to Australia I should have some more entertainment options on the marathon flight. This means both myself and the airline whom I am giving money will happy. Airbus claims to have sold 139 of these Howard Hughes size planes, could this be part of the solution to the ailing airline industry?


[Via Gridskipper]