Airbus A380

Airbus A380
An A380 of Emirates, the largest operator of the A380
General information
Role	Wide-body airliner
National origin	Multi-national[a]
Manufacturer	Airbus
Status	In service
Primary users	Emirates British Airways Singapore Airlines Qantas
Number built	254 (including 3 test aircraft)[1]
History
Manufactured	2003[2]–2021[1]
Introduction date	25 October 2007 with Singapore Airlines
First flight	27 April 2005; 19 years ago (2005-04-27)

The Airbus A380 is a very large wide-body airliner, developed and produced by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and the only full-length double-deck jet airliner. Airbus studies started in 1988, and the project was announced in 1990 to challenge the dominance of the Boeing 747 in the long-haul market. The then-designated A3XX project was presented in 1994; Airbus launched the €9.5–billion ($10.7–billion) A380 programme on 19 December 2000. The first prototype was unveiled in Toulouse on 18 January 2005, with its first flight on 27 April 2005. It then obtained its type certificate from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on 12 December 2006.

Due to difficulties with the electrical wiring, the initial production was delayed by two years and the development costs almost doubled. It was first delivered to Singapore Airlines on 15 October 2007 and entered service on 25 October. Production peaked at 30 per year in both 2012 and 2014, with production of the aircraft ending in 2021. The A380's estimated $25 billion development cost was not recouped by the time Airbus ended production.

The full-length double-deck aircraft has a typical seating for 525 passengers, with a maximum certified capacity for 853 passengers. The quadjet is powered by Engine Alliance GP7200 or Rolls-Royce Trent 900 turbofans providing a range of 8,000 nmi (14,800 km; 9,200 mi). As of December 2021^[update], the global A380 fleet had completed more than 800,000 flights over 7.3 million block hours with no fatalities and no hull losses. As of December 2022^[update], there were 237 aircraft in service with 16 operators worldwide.

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