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  • Airbus A380

    According to CNN the Airbus A380 made a test flight today. No idea at this time if Honolulu International Airport needs to make changes to handle this heavier plane.

  • #2
    Re: Airbus A380

    Such treasonous talk! If American airline companies don't buy Boeing jets, they're just as bad as WM with outsourcing jobs overseas.

    I've flown in Airbuses and Boeing jets, and I prefer (nation of manufacture not taken into consideration), Boeing. they have larger overhead baggage compartments.

    Miulang
    "Americans believe in three freedoms. Freedom of speech; freedom of religion; and the freedom to deny the other two to folks they don`t like.” --Mark Twain

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    • #3
      Re: Airbus A380

      I hope I never have to fly one of these things. I don't know, just having so many people in a sealed tin hurtling through the upper reaches of the atmosphere sounds like a bad idea. Nebulous, vague words like Hindenburg and Titanic waft through my consciousness...

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      • #4
        Re: Airbus A380

        I don't dislike flying nearly as much as you, pz, but yeah. That's a lot of people to, you know. Lose. If something should go wrong.
        But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
        GrouchyTeacher.com

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        • #5
          Re: Airbus A380

          Well I think Airbus has done a terrible business mistake. The airlines are
          looking for smaller, fuel efficient aircraft that can fly long distances.
          Not a fuel guzzling super jumbo jet. Boeing has hit paydirt with their new
          787 aircraft which fit into perfectly what the airlines are looking for.
          It doesn't take hard to look at the upsurge in key orders for 787 lately.
          In my opinion the Europeans have built the biggest boondoggle since
          the Concorde.
          Check out my blog on Kona issues :
          The Kona Blog

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          • #6
            Re: Airbus A380

            One of the first class accomodations on the AirBus

            Last edited by craigwatanabe; April 27, 2005, 11:54 PM.
            Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

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            • #7
              Re: Airbus A380

              That plane is so big I understand that only 3 US commercial airports can currently handle it..I should say land it..where to put it when it's down is another story. NBC News reported that only Chicago O'Hare, New York Kennedy, and Los Angeles International are the only airports that could land it at present. I did hear that Chicago and New York are now in the process of building gates that can unload the A380. I would think LA is also.

              Also: With Honolulu and Seattle as two of the major US gateway airports to Asia, I would have to say that both of them are ultimately going to have to be able to handle the A380 as well.
              Last edited by Surfingfarmboy; April 28, 2005, 01:16 AM. Reason: Post script addendum

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              • #8
                Re: Airbus A380

                Something I pondered during my latest training run in regards to this A380 superliner. The daily commercial passenger flights from Europe were arriving en masse over Rhode Island air space, on schedule, en route to New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago and it got me thinking: I wonder what effect the A380 will have on the little towns on the flight paths that they will travel. At some point, as it has happened in the past with 747s and other jumbo jets, the A380 will have to make an emergency landing at a town that has no more than perhaps 300 residents, but is with in range of a runway that can handle a jumbo jet. It's a given. Something will happen, be it a mechanical problem or a medical emergency, the A380 will have to make an emergency landing somewhere in place that is going to really put a strain on a small town.

                I have read stories about the small Aleutian island village of Cold Bay, Alaska. It's a town of a couple hundred residents that happens to have an airport that can handle jumbo jets. ( I believe the airport's runway is what is left of what was once a US Air Force base.) Cold Bay is situated under one of the major great circle flight paths from the West Coast of the USA to Korea and Japan. On average, about 3 times a year, Cold Bay is host to jumbo jets and their passengers, after emergency landings of Trans-Pacific flights were made. In some instances, the emergency landings necessitated that the passengers and crew be put up for a night until whatever had to be fixed or remedied got taken care of. Cold Bay really has to scramble to accomodate the influx of 400+ passengers and crew. Imagine the strain of seeing your town triple in size with the emergency landing of a jumbo jet. I'm wondering how Cold Bay will be able handle a fully loaded A380 if it has been configured to transport 600-800+ passengers. It's bound to happen there.

                Out here on the East Coast, Bangor, Maine is one the big emergency landing spots for incoming Trans-Atlantic flight; the most common reason, of late, for emergency landings, in Bangor, seems to be so the FBI can arrest unruly or drunk passengers on flights coming in from London. In comparison to Cold Bay, Bangor is a city of about 31,000 people, and more capable of dealing with emergency landings.

                If the A380 does start flying the West Coast-Japan routes, which is basically what it was made for..all the Asian carriers want the A380..it is inevitable that Cold Bay or other Aleutian Island towns will ultimately have to deal with one in their backyards. How the heck do you plan for something like that?

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                • #9
                  Re: Airbus A380

                  Considering that flying (as an air carrier passenger) is a generally miserable experience as a rule, I figure that anything that makes it more bearable has to be a step in the right direction. First class suites? Sign me up.
                  Don't be mean,
                  try to help.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Airbus A380

                    Originally posted by Surfingfarmboy
                    Also: With Honolulu and Seattle as two of the major US gateway airports to Asia, I would have to say that both of them are ultimately going to have to be able to handle the A380 as well.
                    The A380 is built for very long haul flights and more than likely will completely bypass Hawaii on its way from say, Seattle, LA, Denver, etc. to Bangkok, Sydney, Hong Kong or wherever in Asia/Australia that there may be an accomodating runway and airport. Airlines will continue to fly in and out of Hawaii with the present aircraft they now have such as the A340, B747, 777, 767....
                    I'm still here. Are you?

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                    • #11
                      Re: Airbus A380

                      Knock on wood there hasnt been any commercial jet crashes from the US mainland to and/or from Honolulu that I am aware of, I've always been surprised that 2 engines havent been blown before mid-way between the destinations. If something like that were ever to happen, I wonder if cries of a futuristic floating runway or man made island with runway in the middle of the ocean is talked about.

                      Having been on a interisland flight when the engine blew shortly after taking off from Lihue, Kauai a few years ago changed my perception of flying forever, (we immediately turned back around FAST and saw firetrucks and ambulences all over the runway) the sound one hears is frightening and I'll never forget it. I hate that after over 30 years of flying that one bad experience has made me somewhat have the jitters on even the slightest of turbulence or other similiar issues when traveling by air. Fortunately I'm not so scared flying between the islands its the thoughts in my head when we fly to/from the mainland that gives me the creeps these days.

                      KalihiBoy

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                      • #12
                        Re: Airbus A380

                        Kalihiboy, I hear you! I get to come home for 2 weeks once a year, and the last couple of years has seen me return to Hawai'i via the Continental non-stop from New York/Newark...11 hours of sheer boredum. The flight can get kind of rough when flying over Colorado and Utah...it usually does. Everytime we hit turbulance over the Rockies I always say to myself.."This is it..I'm never taking this flight again..I'm either moving back to HI for good or never coming back". Usually though, when we hit the SF Bay area...
                        spectacular from 35,000 feet..the winds are more favorable, the turbulance dies down, and if I can hang on for just 5 more hours...I'll be home!

                        Gotta say this: Nothing like the sight of Mauna Kea sticking through the clouds after an 11 hour flight! I've seen ex-kama'aina cry when they see Hawai'i through the windows of the plane after being away for so long. I get chicken skin when I hear the pilot announce "Passengers on the left side of plane..you're looking at Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa"! Makes the flight worth the 11 hours! Note: Of late, the NY/HNL flights have been leaving mid-afternoon, meaning by the time we get to HI its dark or almost dark..it was better when the flights left NY at 10:15AM, not the mid-afternoon departures
                        were getting now.
                        Last edited by Surfingfarmboy; May 14, 2005, 11:18 AM.

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                        • #13
                          Re: Airbus A380

                          Originally posted by Surfingfarmboy
                          Kalihiboy, I hear you! I get to come home for 2 weeks once a year, and the last couple of years has seen me return to Hawai'i via the Continental non-stop from New York/Newark...11 hours of sheer boredum. The flight can get kind of rough when flying over Colorado and Utah...it usually does. Everytime we hit turbulance over the Rockies I always say to myself.."This is it..I'm never taking this flight again..I'm either moving back to HI for good or never coming back". Usually though, when we hit the SF Bay area...
                          spectacular from 35,000 feet..the winds are more favorable, the turbulance dies down, and if I can hang on for just 5 more hours...I'll be home!

                          Gotta say this: Nothing like the sight of Mauna Kea sticking through the clouds after an 11 hour flight! I've seen ex-kama'aina cry when they see Hawai'i through the windows of the plane after being away for so long. I get chicken skin when I hear the pilot announce "Passengers on the left side of plane..you're looking at Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa"! Makes the flight worth the 11 hours! Note: Of late, the NY/HNL flights have been leaving mid-afternoon, meaning by the time we get to HI its dark or almost dark..it was better when the flights left NY at 10:15AM, not the mid-afternoon departures
                          were getting now.
                          At least on that flight (which I've taken a couple of times) you get those cool individual seatback video consoles in coach-the only other airline where I've seen that is Singapore Air. Ha, 11 hours is nothing-try flying from NYC to Singapore! about 15 hours IIRC... And then I had to fly 2 hours in the OPPOSITE DIRECTION to Kathmandu! I remember the entire flight including stopover in S'pore was about 23 hours... I will be flying to Beijing from NYC in 3 months-13.5 hours nonstop. Ouch.

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                          • #14
                            Re: Airbus A380

                            Aloha Auntie:

                            NYC-Singapore..now that is a definite ouch!! The NYC-Singapore non-stop flight that Singapore Airlines is flying is longest non-stop flight in the world at present, usurping the Hong Kong-NYC non-stop flights. When it was first announced that Singapore Air would be flying it, the newsmakers were saying it was a 17.5 hour flight. (Is that so?) I can't imagine what flying it must be like, let alone, the Sydney-NYC non-stops which are planned with the A380.

                            Let me get this straight..you had to fly into Nepal via Singapore to get to Katmandu or Nepal to get to Singapore? Good Lord, either way..that's some serious air miles there, Auntie!

                            Good luck on the NYC-Beijing flight...what airline flys that one?

                            BTW..you must have some serious air miles racked up. I have "only" racked up enough miles, at the moment, for a mainland-Hawaii r/t flight.

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                            • #15
                              Re: Airbus A380

                              Saw one of the ANA Airbus A380's taking off from HNL on Friday (8/9/19) around 11:45 to 11:50 am while I was walking to get lunch.

                              While I took 4 photos at the intersection of Dillingham Blvd and Kohou St with my smartphone the first photo was washed out due to glare, the second photo a truck with a lot of stuff in the bed blocked the view. The third and fourth photos had the A380 as a gray blur in the background, almost like taking a photo of Bigfoot.

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