The Airbus A380: Avoid It Unless You’re Flying Business

Stamped, sealed and delivered.

This month, Air France is breaking in their new A380 super jumbos on the milk-run route between Paris and London. Though we usually travel between these two cities by Eurostar train, we decided to give the big bird a test run. Despite the huge marketing hype surrounding this enormous plane, it turned out to be exactly what we feared: a massive ordeal for economy class passengers. To be sure, if you were traveling business class on Emirates or Singapore (both of whom will be unveiling all sorts of snazzy new bells and whistles with their extra space) it might be just swell. But for anyone who is traveling economy, the A380 makes the already unpleasant task of flying three times worse.

The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, wide-body four-engine jet that now proudly claims the title of being the world’s large passenger aircraft. In a three-class configuration, it can carry 525 passengers, while all-economy versions can pack in a horrifying 853 passengers. Our guess is that our two-class Air France plane had at least 700 passengers in economy, which meant that it took almost twice as long to board as a Boeing 767. Passenger counts had to be done three times, which added to an already seriously delayed departure, and immigration and baggage claim are exactly the nightmare you might suspect when this many people are disgorged in one fell swoop.

The economy passenger cabin is more spacious than in other planes, with better lighting, impressive electronics (you can watch your flight from the outside via several cameras) and larger overhead storage bins. But the actual seating comfort is no better than that on any current large passenger jet, and the flight attendants had a terrible time trying to complete their very simple meal service before our flight from London landed in Paris. It’s just a hunch, but we suspect that these flying cows are going to be very unpopular with anyone who is not flying up front, and that many people who travel regularly will end up doing anything they can to avoid them. Suffice to say that after this disheartening experience, we’re extra eager to try out Boeing’s new Dreamliner when it launches later this year.