The Airbus A380 is the world’s largest passenger airliner, a wide-body aircraft manufactured by Airbus. The first prototype was unveiled in Toulouse on 18 January 2005, with its first flight on 27 April 2005. The full-length double-deck aircraft has a typical seating capacity of 525, though it is certified for up to 853 passengers. I simply love Airbus planes – particularly A350 & A380 and has been very closely following since the project inception in 2000s to demo flights in 2005 / 2006 when it visited Shanghai among other cities in the world to first flight between Singapore – Sydney in 2007 and till now. I also closley followed the Airbus factories in Hamburg & Tianjin. Im very sad that production of A380 would cease in 2021

AIRBUS A380 : PASSENGER PROVISIONS

 

10 across economy class seating

 

Emirates business class

 

Etihad The Residence Apartment with bedroom, living room and an en-suite shower room on Airbus A380-800

• The A380-800’s cabin has 550 square metres (5920 sq ft) of usable floor space 40% more than the next largest airliner, the Boeing 747-8
• The cabin has features to reduce traveller fatigue such as a quieter interior and higher pressurisation than previous generations of aircraft ; the A380 is pressurised to the equivalent altitude of 1520 m (5000 ft) up to 12000 m (39,000 ft)
• It has 50% less cabin noise, 50% more cabin area and volume, larger windows, bigger overhead bins, and 60 cm (2.0 ft) extra headroom versus the 747-400
• Seating options range from 3-room 12 m² (130 sq ft) “residence” in first class to 11-across in economy
• A380 economy seats are up to 48 cm (19 in) wide in a 10-abreast configuration – compared with the 10-abreast configuration on the 747-400 that typically has seats 44.5 cm (17.5 in) wide
• On other aircraft, economy seats range from 41.5 to 52.3 cm (16.3 to 20.6 in) in width
• The A380’s upper and lower decks are connected by two stairways, fore and aft, wide enough to accommodate two passengers side-by-side; this cabin arrangement allows multiple seat configurations
• The maximum certified carrying capacity is 853 passengers in an all-economy-class layout, Airbus lists the “typical” three-class layout as accommodating 525 passengers, with 10 first, 76 business, and 439 economy class seats
• Airline configurations range from Korean Air’s 407 passengers to Emirates’ two-class 615 seats and average around 480–490 seats
• The Air Austral’s proposed 840 passenger layout has not come to fruition
• The A380’s interior illumination system uses bulbless LEDs in the cabin, cockpit, and cargo decks
• The LEDs in the cabin can be altered to create an ambience simulating daylight, night, or intermediate levels
• On the outside of the aircraft, HID lighting is used for brighter illumination
• Airbus’s publicity has stressed the comfort and space of the A380 cabin and advertised onboard relaxation areas such as bars, beauty salons, duty-free shops, and restaurants
• Proposed amenities resembled those installed on earlier airliners, particularly 1970s wide-body jets which largely gave way to regular seats for more passenger capacity
• Airbus has acknowledged that some cabin proposals were unlikely to be installed and that it was ultimately the airlines’ decision how to configure the interior
• Industry analysts suggested that implementing customisation has slowed the production speeds, and raised costs
• Due to delivery delays, Singapore Airlines and Air France debuted their seat designs on different aircraft prior to the A380

 

Bar on an Emirates A380

 

Emirates first class shower

• Initial operators typically configured their A380s for three-class service, while adding extra features for passengers in premium cabins
• Launch customer Singapore Airlines introduced partly enclosed first class suites on its A380s in 2007, each featuring a leather seat with a separate bed; center suites could be joined to create a double bed
• A year later, Qantas debuted a new first class seat-bed and a sofa lounge at the front of the upper deck on its A380s and in 2009 Air France unveiled an upper deck electronic art gallery
• In late 2008, Emirates introduced “shower spas” in first class on its A380s allowing each first class passenger five minutes of hot water drawing on 2.5 tonnes of water although only 60% of it was used
• Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways also have a bar lounge and seating area on the upper deck, while Etihad has enclosed areas for two people each
• In addition to lounge areas, some A380 operators have installed amenities consistent with other aircraft in their respective fleets, including self-serve snack bars premium economy sections and redesigned business class seating
• The Hamburg Aircraft Interiors Expo in April 2015 saw the presentation of an 11-seat row economy cabin for the A380
• Airbus is reacting to a changing economy; the recession which began in 2008 saw a drop in market percentage of first class and business seats to six percent and an increase in budget economy travellers
• Among other causes is the reluctance of employers to pay for executives to travel in First or Business Class
• Airbus’ chief of cabin marketing, Ingo Wuggestzer, told Aviation Week and Space Technology that the standard three class cabin no longer reflected market conditions
• The 11 seat row on the A380 is accompanied by similar options on other widebodies: nine across on the Airbus A330 and ten across on the A350