When I heard about the Airbus A380 for the first time, I was a bit sceptical. Are airlines willing to use a plane of this size, with an enormous fuel consumption, in these days of rising fuel prices? Isn’t it better to schedule two flights on a day, with smaller planes? Boeing, on the other side, is focusing on fuel efficient airplanes, like the Dreamliner, isn’t that a better strategy?

I was wrong..

According to the latest sales statistics, Virgin Atlantic, British Airways, Qantas and a lot of other airlines seem to be interested in using the Airbus A380 on their routes. This airplane has so much space, that these airlines can set up the plane with all kind of luxury facilities, like showers, sofa lounges, self-service bars for economy class, and private suites. Obviously, the plane will be used on long haul flights, and that’s just were the passengers need facilities like that.

But what about the water for the showers, 1 litre of water weights 1 kilo, so even if the showers are only available for first class passengers, how many extra kilograms will it cost to carry all the water on board?

After all I think, that as long as the airline is able to fill up the A380 with passengers, it might be profitable. Flying with a half-full aircraft isn’t profitable anyway, but especially not with a plane of this size.

Singapore Airlines Economy Class

I’ve seen a lot of photos and videos of this airplane in the last couple of months. It’s amazing, I call it a revolution in flight history, like the Boeing 747 was back in the days. And I’m wondering, what’s the next step for the aviation industry? Even bigger planes, or small, fuel efficient planes?