Airbus A380 facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Airbus A380
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380
Role	Wide-Body Double-Deck Jet airliner
National origin	Multi-country origin
Manufacturer	Airbus
First flight	27 April 2005
Introduction	25 October 2007
Status	No longer produced but used by airlines
Primary users	Singapore Airlines Emirates Qantas Lufthansa
Produced	2004-2021
Number built	272 (March 2021)
Unit cost	US$350M

A Qatar Airways A380, registered A7-APA.

The Airbus A380 prototype lands in France.

The Airbus A380 is a huge airplane made by Airbus. It has four engines and two full decks for passengers. People often call it the "Superjumbo jet" because it's the biggest passenger plane in the world. It's even bigger than the famous Boeing 747! But, there was an even larger cargo plane called the Antonov An-225, which had six engines.

The A380 can carry a lot of people, up to 850! But most airlines set it up for about 525 passengers. This giant plane weighs over 550 tonnes. It uses four powerful engines, either Rolls-Royce Trent 900s or Engine Alliance GP7000s. The GP7000 engines are made by General Electric and Pratt & Whitney. The very last A380 was built in 2021 and went to Emirates.

Airlines That Ordered the A380

A Qantas Airbus A380 at Melbourne Airport.

Many airlines from all over the world ordered the A380-800. About 20 different airlines placed orders for hundreds of these planes. Even a prince from Saudi Arabia ordered one! A company called ILFC, which rents airplanes to other airlines, also ordered 10.

Emirates Airlines, from the United Arab Emirates, has the most A380s. They ordered 123 of them! Singapore Airlines was the first airline to receive an A380. It flew to Sydney, Australia, on October 25, 2007. Singapore Airlines now has 19 A380s.

Other airlines that ordered the A380 include:

• Qantas (from Australia, with 12 planes)
• Air France (used to have 10)
• China Southern Airlines
• Lufthansa (the German airline, with 8 planes)
• Kingfisher Airlines (from India)
• Korean Air (from South Korea)
• Thai Airways

An Emirates A380.

• Malaysia Airlines
• British Airways
• Qatar Airways
• Etihad Airways (also from the United Arab Emirates)
• Virgin Atlantic (from the United Kingdom)
• Air Austral (from France)

More than 200 A380s have been delivered to airlines. This includes 15 planes in 2017 and 12 in 2018.

A380 Incidents and Safety

The Airbus A380 has had a very good safety record. There has only been one major incident, and thankfully, no one was hurt.

• On November 4, 2010, Qantas Flight 32 was flying from Singapore. One of its engines had a problem and caused some damage to the plane. The pilots safely turned the plane around and landed it back in Singapore. Parts of the plane fell onto an island in Indonesia, but no one on the ground was injured either. Investigations found that the engine, a Rolls-Royce Trent 900, had an oil leak that led to the problem. After this, other Trent 900 engines were checked and some were replaced. All A380s had to go through special checks before flying to make sure this wouldn't happen again. This shows how important safety is in aviation!

Images for kids

• 

  A380 components on a barge

• 

  The first completed A380 at the "A380 Reveal" event in Toulouse, France, 18 January 2005

• 

  Flight test engineer's station on the lower deck of A380 F-WWOW

• 

  Bare cabin for flight tests with water tanks as ballast

• 

  A Singapore Airlines A380 taking off from Sydney Airport

• 

  The characteristic ovoid fuselage

• 

  Engine Alliance GP7200 engine waiting for installation

• 

  Planform view showing moderate wing aspect ratio and the undercarriage

• 

  Composite photo of a structural loading test on the left wing box

• 

  A380 flight deck

• 

  A380 20-wheel main landing gear

• 

  Ten-abreast old economy class seating on the main deck on an Emirates A380

• 

  Aircraft ground handling with separate jetways for the main and upper decks, and ground support equipment on a Qatar Airways A380

• 

  Wingtip vortex left behind from an Emirates A380

• 

  The A380F, a cargo variant of the A380, was proposed but postponed after 2005 and never built.

• 

  The winglet (mockup) on the A380plus

• 

  Singapore Airlines, Qantas, and Emirates A380 tails at Heathrow Airport

• 

  China Southern A380 taking off from Beijing Capital Airport

• 

  Hi Fly A380 at the 2018 Farnborough Airshow

• 

  Co-branding with Airbus branding along with customer airlines' logos on an A380 fuselage during MAKS, an air show, 2011

• 

  One of the three different A380 ANA 'Flying Honu' liveries (Honu: sea turtle)

• 

  Emirates is the largest A380 operator, with 121 of the aircraft delivered as of 31 October  2021 (2021 -10-31)^[update], with Airbus' final two units delivered in December 2021

• 

  Etihad Airways' first Airbus A380 taking off from London Heathrow for Abu Dhabi

• 

  Side view of an Emirates A380

• 

  Emirates A380's old business class

• 

  Etihad Airways A380's The Residence Suite

• 

  Emirates A380's Onboard Lounge and Bar

• 

  Emirates A380's Shower and Spa

See also

In Spanish: Airbus A380 para niños