All quiet on the Airbus A380

With a whoosh this morning, I was aloft above LAX in the world’s biggest passenger plane, the Airbus A380. As it climbed toward an azure sky, I heard an unsettling noise: next to nothing. The plane was so silent that the whir of the air conditioning rose above the engines’ purr. That’s right: purr, not roar. Could this be the sound of nearly 1 million pounds defying gravity?

Oh, yes it can. Especially if you have only 150 media reps, airline executives, frequent fliers and other privileged people onboard a jet that will carry up to 450 passengers when Qantas starts flying it next fall out of Los Angeles. But even fully loaded, the A380 is “the quietest and smoothest plane flying today,” my colleague Peter Pae, a serious aviation buff, wrote after taking its first commercial flight, on Singapore Airlines, in October from Singapore to Sydney, Australia.

Besides its silence, the A380 impressed me with its airy, bright interior during the 90-minute demo flight arranged by LAX, Airbus and Qantas. LED lighting helps, said Thomas Burger, Airbus product marketing manager, along with windows that are 10% larger than those in other jumbo jets. And, of course, the A380’s cabins are cavernous.

Looking across a row of 10 coach seats, arranged 3-4-3, I was sure I’d need the arm of Jake Peavy to pitch a ball to the far window. And speaking of sports: Even Yao Ming could stand tall in the main aisles, which are 8 feet from floor to ceiling.

So what’s not to like? Hard to tell since the A380 I rode in had generic furnishings and was not configured the way that Singapore does or Qantas will. But it’s clear that well-heeled passengers, not those in the cheap seats, will benefit most from the world’s costliest jet. More on that in a later posting.

And for those fliers like me, who hoped that a super-jumbo jet would put an end to choppy rides, I have disappointing news: As Airbus exec Burger and I chatted in the business cabin, the plane heaved a bit. “You’re not going to completely avoid having a bumpy ride sometime,” he conceded.

Related stories:

More photos of the Airbus A380

Singapore Airlines: No sex on Airbus A380, please

—Jane Engle, Los Angeles Times Assistant Travel Editor

[Photo: Myung J. Chung / Los Angeles Times]

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This entry was posted on Thursday, November 29, 2007 at 3:23 pm by Jane Engle and is filed under Asia, Business Travel, Frequent Flier, Los Angeles, Luxury Travel, News, Tips & Advice, Travel Insider. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.