18th January: Airbus A380

On this date in 2005 the Airbus A380, the world's largest commercial jet, was unveiled at a ceremony in Toulouse, France.

1. It is the world's largest passenger airliner, but it is not, in fact, the world's largest aeroplane. That distinction goes to a Russian cargo plane called the Antonov An-225.
2. So how big is an A380? 72.72 m (238 ft 7 in) long (as long as two blue whales), 24.1m (79ft) high, 80 meters wide and weighs approximately 590 tons. Each engine is as long as a Mercedes C-series car. It's the first passenger plane to have two decks along its full length, giving it 550 square metres (5,920 sq ft) of cabin space. It can carry 525 people in a typical three-class configuration, but if the airline wanted to pack everybody in cattle class, it could carry 853 people. More than 3600 litres of paint is required to paint the exterior of the aircraft.
3. Each plane costs US$432.6 million to build. They are made up of 4 million individual components, produced by 1500 companies, in 30 different countries, including 8000 bolts to attach the three main parts of the aircraft. Some of the structural components are so big that specialised means of road and water transport had to be devised to get them from the factories in France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom to the assembly plant in Toulouse, France.
4. If all the wiring in the A380 is laid end to end, it will stretch from Edinburgh to London – 320 miles.
5. Because it is so huge, the airports it visits have had to upgrade their facilities, like gate sizes, to accommodate it. There are only 20 runways in the world long and wide enough for these huge beasts to use. While runways may have needed to be lengthened and widened, it wasn't deemed necessary to reinforce them - even though the A380s are heavier, they have more wheels (22) than other aircraft, spreading the extra weight out.
6. In October 2016, there were 198 A380s in service, primarily with the the airlines Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa and Qantas.
7. The shortest route these planes operate on, as of December 2016, is a flight from Dubai International Airport to Doha-Hamad, although it's not the shortest route these planes have ever operated. In 2010, Air France briefly used it for the Paris-Charles de Gaulle to London-Heathrow route (344 km or 214 miles). The longest A380 route — the third longest non-stop commercial flight in the world — is Qantas' service from Sydney International Airport to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, which is 13,804 kilometres (8,577 mi).
8. The maximum speed an A380 can reach is Mach 0.96 (640 mph). Its cruising speed is Mach 0.85 (561 mph; 903 km/h). It can fly at a height of 43,000 feet. It can hold 81,900 gallons of fuel weighing 560 tons. However, it burns 17% less fuel than other large planes and has lower emission than any other aircraft. For this reason, Airbus nicknamed it the "gentle giant", but this wasn't the nickname that captured the imagination - in the minds of the public, it's the "superjumbo".
9. In spite of its size, the first test pilot, Jacques Rosay, said flying the A380 had been "like handling a Bicycle".
10. Flying one as a passenger is intended to be a better experience, too. The cabin interior is 50% quieter than other aircraft and it has a higher pressurisation and more space. The windows and overhead bins are larger, and there's more headroom. For those who can afford to travel first class, facilities have included beds, sofa lounges, bars, an electronic art gallery and even a shower spa.

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