Yesterday, San Francisco International Airport saw their first passenger carrying Airbus A380 arrive, operated by Lufthansa. Once all the passengers were able to de-plane and the aircraft was cleaned up (this was the first time that the SFO based cleaning crew cleaned up an A380), media and guests were able to take an inside look at one of Lufthansa’s seven Airbus A380’s.
I was excited, since this was my first time actually inside an A380. I had only seen one previously from the tarmac and of course I have viewed lots of photos, but there is nothing like getting inside the world’s largest commercial airliner.
The economy class seats on Lufthansa's A380 look slick and are pretty comfy to boot.
Due to the A380’s size, there are three jetways options that passengers can board. Two are located on the bottom deck and one goes to the top. The tour started on the bottom where all 420 economy seats are located. Even though the bottom deck is long, but it doesn’t feel it, since it is broken up into individual sections. Every seat has their own in-flight entertainment system, adjustable headrest and ample legroom. Sitting in the seat, I was plenty comfortable for the three minutes I was there. Not too sure how my 6’1″, 250lbs frame would handle 11 hours if I had someone sitting next to me.
All the Business Class seats can be found on the upper deck of the A380.
On a longer flight, I would prefer to head up top where you can find 98 Business Class and eight First Class seats. One of the first things I noticed were all the seats on the aircraft were cloth. In most Business and First Class areas, one is more likely to find leather. This didn’t make the seats any less comfortable and most likely would reduce sliding when converted into a bed.
While on the upper deck, I took a look at the Airbus A380's massive wing.
While up on the second deck, I had a chance to sit down and take a look out the window. The Airbus A380 has one frek’n big wing. These large wings have 54% more surface area over a Boeing 747-400 and you can tell.
The new Lufthansa First Class has ample room and a large screen. I could easily burn 11 hours happily in this section.
The new Lufthansa First Class on the A380 was quite impressive. Each person has their own area, with large screen and fold down bed. The walls were covered in suede (or fake suede) and extra sound deadening is used to keep the sound to a minimum. The First Class cabin also has access to two very large lavatories. We are talking full sitting couch and vanity. If you ever wanted to join the mile-high club, this would be the place to do it — even all that extra sound deadening might help. From forks to roses, Lufthansa’s catering crew loads on 40,000 items for just the First Class passengers alone (yes, 40,000). That just goes to show the level of service that flying First Class provides.
This is one of the lavatories in the First Class section. Can anyone say Mile High Club?
One thing you will find missing in the first class section are overhead bins — they are missing. Instead each seat has a storage area where passengers can store their belongings. This really adds a sense of upward space and makes the First Class cabin that much more comfortable. Even though the Business and First Class areas are what you might expect, it just doesn’t feel as exclusive on the top deck of the A380 versus the smaller top deck of the Boeing 747-400.
This is the first time I have seen three jet ways be used to de-plane an aircraft.
Although the A380 looks impressive pulling up to the gate, it is missing some of the grace that the Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental has in my opinion. The Airbus A380’s job is not to win any beauty contests, but to provide airlines with an economical way to move a lot of people in style and it does just that. After my tour of an A380 I am super pumped to get a ride in one and hope to write up a trip report soon.
For those of you who have flown in an Airbus A380 what have been your impressions?
Lufthansa's Airbus A380 (D-AIMD) gets a water salute when arriving to San Francisco on May 10th.
Today was a beautiful day to fly down to San Francisco (SFO) to greet the Lufthansa’s first Airbus A380 passenger flight from Frankfurt, Germany to SFO.
The Airbus A380 is the largest passenger airliner made and it’s closest competitor will be the Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental, when it makes it to the market. I have been able to catch a glimpse of a Qantas Airbus A380 while in LAX, but this was my first time to get up close and personal. I do not think the A380 is as majestic as the Boeing 747, but she is very impressive for sure.
The event is a big deal for the airline and the city. San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee has officially declared May 10, 2011, as “Lufthansa German Airlines Day.” Pretty cool when an airline gets an official city day. I am not sure it really means anything, but still neat.
The airport had to make very little updates to prepare for the A380, since the International Terminal was designed with the A380 in mind and it fit with no problems.
Lufthansa already has taken delivery of seven A380’s with an additional 15 on order.
As part of the event, we got a tour of the interior of the A380 and I will be posting that story tomorrow.
The second Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental (named RC021) took to the skies on April 26th and Boeing has just release their official video.
This 747-8I is special, since it will be the first Intercontinental to actually enter passenger service and will be delivered to Lufthansa Airlines. The first (RC001), which first took off on March 20th, will be going to a private buyer.
As reported earlier, even though this Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental will be going to Lufthansa, it does not have the full livery since the aircraft is going through flight testing. However, I have heard rumors that a full liveried Lufthansa Boeing 747-8I might be coming out of the paint hangar sometime this summer.
Yesterday was a big day for Lufthansa and the Airbus A380. The airline started its first scheduled flight of the A380 to the United States. The flight from Frankfurt to New York’s JFK is the fourth Airbus A380 route for the airline, after Tokyo, Beijing and Johannesburg.
’œIn early 2007, Lufthansa and Airbus jointly landed the first Airbus A380 on U.S. soil, here in New York during a route-proving flight to North America. Now we are returning with scheduled A380 flight operation. New York is one of the most important markets for Lufthansa, so it was imperative for us to launch transatlantic flights on our flagship aircraft to this U.S. gateway,’ said Jens Bischof, Vice President The Americas for Lufthansa. ’œWe are proud to offer New Yorkers the option to experience this amazing aircraft, combined with Lufthansa’s award-winning service, thus taking the flying experience in all three classes to a whole new level,’ Bischof continued.
Although this is the first Lufthansa Airbus A380 flight to the US, this won’t be the last. The airline has already announced their plans to fly from Frankfurt to San Fransisco starting on May 10, 2011. According to ATI and Flight Global, the airline states the recent issues with the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines will not affect the delivery schedule of the A380. The airline plans to increase their A380 fleet to eight by mid-summer.
With increasing the number of A380’s and being the first customer of the Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental, Lufthansa is quickly working on having one of the best aircraft fleets in the world.
Currently there aren’t too many Airbus A380 flights to and from the US. Dan Jones with the site Route Watch, walked me through the current flights:
JFK in New York:
Emirates from Dubai (DXB) as UAE201 daily
Lufthansa from Frankfurt (FRA) as DLH400 not daily, only A380-800 on Mon and Fri after March 27
Air France from Paris (CDG) as AFR006 not daily, Tue and Wed are 777-300ER (77W)
Korean to be 3x weekly starting in August going to daily in September as KAL81
LAX in Los Angeles:
Qantas from Sydney (SYD) as QFA11 daily
Singapore starting March 27 will upgrade SIA11 SIN-NRT-LAX to the A380
The first Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental caught outside in the natural light after being pulled out of the factory.
Hot damn! That was a big shocker. I was wondering what the livery of the first Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental would look like and I wasn’t guessing orange. I thought maybe the standard livery, the light livery, Lufthansa’s colors, Boeing Business Jet or possibly even Air Force One. I think the choice surprised everyone. Boeing is calling it the “Sunrise Livery.” Kudos to Boeing for being able to keep this cat in the bag for so long.
The event today was quite the scene. Great speakers, music and lighting. Although, the smoke and lights made photography a little tricky.
I have to say the color choice is gorgeous. I don’t think the real beauty comes out in the photos. The paint is metallic, so up close it really sparkles. So why orange right? Directly from Boeing: “The airplane unveiled today is painted in a new Sunrise livery of red-orange that only will appear on the first 747-8 Intercontinental and is a significant departure from Boeing’s standard blue. The new color palette honors many key Boeing customers whose cultures recognize these colors as symbols of prosperity and good luck.” Either way, she is one beautiful airplane and I cannot wait to see her fly.
As of now, the first flight is scheduled for Spring 2011. Since the Boeing 747-8 Freighter has been going through so many different flight tests, the additional tests for the 747-8 Intercontinental won’t be as intensive. This aircraft (N6067E) will be painted in the Sunrise Boeing livery during flight tests. It then will be painted to the customer’s livery before delivery. Of course, there is still no word who the owner of the first aircraft will be. There were representatives from Lufthansa and Korean Air present at the ceremony. Currently Lufthansa has 20 orders for the 747-8I and Korean Air has five.
UPDATE 5:00pm:
Just got to watch as the first 747-8I was pulled out of the factory and parked at the fuel dock. It was very nice seeing it in the natural light and I think these photos better represent what the aircraft looks like in person. During the event people were talking about the livering having red and that was difficult to see. Outside, you could clearly see the red and orange on the body and near-neon orange of the tail. It is one long plane and beautiful plane. Boeing just tweeted one from the ground that looks great and I added seven more photos…
