The Airbus A380 made a London flypast today as it headed into Heathrow airport, primarily to test it's capability to handle such a large aircraft. A special new pier has been built at Terminal 3, as well as additional changes at the airport.
To give an idea of scale here. This aircraft can conceivably carry up to 840 passengers compared with a theoretical max on a 747 of 524. That's 60% higher. In typical passenger configuration, that increase is more like 33% with 555 passengers in the A380. The length of the aircraft is a mere 3.5% longer, but the wingspan is 24% wider at 79.8m, and the aircraft is 24% taller. (analysis courtesy of figures supplied on the BBC website).
Your roving reporter was on hand to capture it flying over Battersea. One thing that I was most struck by was just how quiet it was. I would have said that it was quieter than any other large jet (even twin-enginer versions) that regularly fly overhead.
Additional and higher resolution photos will be posted up on my main .mac home page later.
1 comment:
I always knew you were a planespotter.
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