The World's Largest Passenger Plane

The Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger airplane made its maiden voyage from Singapore to Sydney, Australia on October 25th, amidst much fanfare. While the plane has done some test flights around the world, this was the first scheduled flight, with paying passengers, operated by Singapore Airlines.

The double decker A380, with a wingspan the size of a football pitch, can accommodate more than 850 passengers, and has four engines, 220 windows and 16 passenger doors. If all the seats were removed, the inside has enough space to fit 8 racquetball courts.

In addition, the A380 is one of the most fuel efficient and quietest planes in the world today. It consumes less than 3 litres (less than one gallon), of fuel per customer over 100km, a rate comparable to that of an economical car. That is quite amazing given its size.

The passengers, whose tickets ranged from $560 to as much as $100,380, came from all over the world and all walks of life. They included some millionaires, an 80-year old British grandmother, families with infants and even a 90-year old Chinese man, who came with a nurse, in case, the excitement got too much for him.

While the economy seats have much more legroom and the business class seats are the largest of any other airline, it is the first class that is the most exciting. They are designed as private suites complete with doors, full-sized beds and a full-screen TV. All passengers on this inaugural flight agreed that it was an amazing experience; well worth the money they had paid!

sources: airbus.com, wikipedia.org