In the history of civil aviation, there have been many different aircraft models. However, their history is radically different: some liners, which could not even be the most successful in some characteristics, transport passengers by air for decades, while others, on the contrary, being very successful, are not able to boast of a long way in aeronautics. This is exactly what happened with the A380 aircraft, which are the largest on the planet: even with their record size and excellent technical component, they, having appeared not so long ago, will begin to leave the vanguard of civil aviation this year.
The era of large transcontinental airliners was started by the famous Boeing 747, which began to be produced in 1969. In the following decades, it was this model that kept the title of the flagship of the market, and, in addition, it also made intercontinental flights massive due to the cheapness of tickets. While the Boeing 747 was risky, it paid off completely.
The peak of the development of the passenger air transportation market fell on the beginning of the nineties. For example, during that period, there was a rapid surge in the popularity of transport hub systems. It was then that the giant of civil aviation, Airbus Corporation, decided to create the largest passenger airliner on the planet, which would successfully fulfill all the requirements of the changed market.
The result of long and careful work was the launch of production of the huge A380 double-decker airliner. Experts believe that the model boasts the best performance and structural details that an Airbus could ever create. The aircraft designers did not stop at only one passenger car. So, initially the A380 was designed with the potential for the development of the A380-800F transport modification. True, it was these plans that reduced the fuel efficiency of the passenger liner.
Interesting fact: specialists from the Airbus Engineering Center in Moscow were also involved in the work on the aircraft's cargo modification, where they performed a significant amount of work on the design of the fuselage.
A number of interesting elements and technologies were used to create the Airbus A380. For example, four Engine Alliance GP7000 engines are capable of operating on a mixture of aviation kerosene with GTL, which is obtained from natural gas. The cruising speed of the aircraft is 900 km / h, and the maximum distance over which it is capable of flying is 15,200 kilometers.
But for piloting this two-story colossus, only two pilots are required, and its cockpit is as close as possible in appearance to other aircraft models of the Airbus concern. This makes the training process much easier for pilots to learn. On average, the A380 can carry 450-500 passengers, and if you install exclusively economy class, you can increase the aircraft's capacity to more than 800 people. The total cost of each airliner is at least $ 488 million, and a total of 272 aircraft were produced.
However, the problems that ultimately ended the production of the largest passenger liners on the planet appeared, in fact, during the assembly phase. Even then, they began to assume that the project was likely to be unprofitable. And all because during the time while the A380 was being developed, the situation on the air transportation market began to change again.
So, airlines began to pay attention to medium-haul liners, and even operate twin-engine aircraft at long distances. Another drawback is considered to be not the highest level of passenger comfort that a huge car can provide. The fact is that the process of loading and unloading baggage and other cargo on such large planes takes a significant amount of time, and passengers sometimes have to spend a lot of time and effort to get their belongings back.
All these moments ultimately led to the fact that the A380-800 era on the assembly line was short-lived. Already at the beginning of the new year, 2021, it was announced that soon the last airliners of this model would be delivered to customers, and the production itself would stop.
However, experts believe that this may not be the complete end of the history of the largest passenger aircraft in the world. They do not exclude the possibility that the market will again turn its needs for the operation of just such aircraft, which means that their production can be resumed. Still, the capabilities of the A380 are so far unique in their kind, and no aircraft has yet been able to replicate them.
Do you want to know what is the further fate of airliners that will never fly again? Then read: The last shelter: how they deal with decommissioned planes, where they are taken