Airbus A380: Celebrating 20 years of the Big Bird

20 years ago, the Airbus A380 took to the skies for the first time and completed its first flight ever. Until today the icon continues to inspire aviation today and remains unsurpassed in many respects.

For a passenger aircraft, it had a short but glorious run: the Airbus A380 debuted in 2007, and the last one left its production facility in Hamburg-Finkenwerder just 14 years later in December 2021. The aircraft was intended to cover the expected high volume of flights when it entered service, but demand for the four-engine aircraft fell short of expectations.

The pandemic and the resulting slump in air traffic exiled the giant A380 to parking lots in deserts; common wisdom said it was doomed. But the common wisdom was wrong: in fall 2021, the number of people traveling rose so sharply that several airlines pressed their A380 fleets back into service as the ideal solution to an urgent problem. The result was an unexpected renaissance for the superjumbo.

And its story doesn’t seem to be over yet: the new British airline Global Airlines plans to operate a fleet made up solely of A380s that are currently not in service. The “gentle giant” continues to delight passengers and aviation enthusiasts to this day with its size and comfort.

Facts and figures

• As the world’s largest passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380 features impressive dimensions: a wingspan of 261.8 feet, a length of 238.5 feet, and a height of 79.1 feet. This makes it as long as two blue whales and as tall as five giraffes. During takeoff, the wings flex upward more than four meters.

• The four-engine widebody aircraft is also the first in the world with two full-length passenger decks. These offer a total area of 5,920 square feet—roughly the same as three tennis courts. Its double-decker design offers space for 545 passengers in a standard four-class configuration, making it particularly attractive for busy long-haul routes. In a single-class configuration, there would even be space for 853 passengers.

• Each A380 consists of around four million individual parts, which are manufactured by 1,500 companies in 30 countries.

• To date, 251 A380s have been delivered to 14 customers. The largest customer is Emirates, which operates 116 of the jumbo jets.

• With a range of up to 9,320 miles at full passenger capacity, the A380 is ideal for some of the longest nonstop flights in the world.
• Since entering service, the A380 has completed more than 800,000 flights and carried more than 300 million passengers.

• In the A380, Airbus introduced its Brake-to-Vacate technology, which enables flight crews to control their approach and landing more efficiently by selecting the optimum runway exit in advance. As a result, runway occupancy can be reduced by up to 30 percent, significantly increasing the number of aircraft that can be handled at airports around the world. This technology has also been integrated into the A350 aircraft.
• Airbus has already carried out several test flights with the A380 and 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel. For its ZEROe demonstrator program, the company plans to test hydrogen technologies over the next few years. Serving as demonstrator is the Airbus A380 MSN1, the very first A380 to roll off the production line.

MTU's involvement

• MTU is involved in the GP7000 engine, which is developed, produced, and distributed through the Engine Alliance—a joint venture between GE Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney—and is used in the long-haul sector.
• This engine combines the strengths of two of the most successful widebody engine programs in aviation history: the GE90 and PW4000 families. The GP7000 is characterized by low fuel consumption, low weight, and reduced noise emissions.
• In this development program, MTU is working closely with its partners GE, Pratt & Whitney, and Safran Aircraft Engines. MTU has specific areas of responsibility: For Pratt & Whitney’s share, MTU is responsible for developing and manufacturing the low-pressure turbine.
• For GE’s share, MTU is in charge of developing and manufacturing the turbine center frame and for producing components for the high-pressure turbine. In addition, as part of Pratt & Whitney’s share, MTU has entered into an aftermarket agreement to provide repair services for the low-pressure turbine at its Munich site.
• The first flight with the GP7200 engines took place on August 24, 2006.