boeing 747-8 vs. airbus a380 -- the airline giants face off

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Boeing 747-8 vs. Airbus A380 -- the airline giantsface off Now that the Boeing 747-8 has received its FAA certification, here's a look at how it fares against its mighty rival, the Airbus A380

17 December, 2011

Top Trump: The Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental, left, and the Airbus A380.

Boeing's 747-8 Intercontinental, the latest incarnation of its era-defining passenger jet, has

received its certification from the Federal Aviation Administration. The European Aviation Safety

Agency is expected to follow suit imminently.

That means it's safe to fly and opens the way for its 36 orders to start shipping "early next year"

according to Boeing.

Als o on CNNGo: Boeing un veils th e new 747-8i (http://www.cnngo.com/explorations/life/boeing-unveils-

747-8-passenger-plane-rival-airbus-a380-842000)

It's the longest passenger plane in the world and takes on the Airbus A380 head-on. But how do

these two leviathans of the skies compare?

We present to you the Airbus 747-8 and Airbus A380 face off.

Figures are obtained from Boeing and Airbus, except where stated.

Round 1: Capacity

Boeing 747-8: 467 passengers, in a three-class

configuration

Ai rbus A380: 525 passengers, in a three-class

configuration

The Airbus is the clear winner in this round, and inspired

a rather curt reaction from Boeing deputy program

manager Elizabeth Lund to Bloomberg

(http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-13/boeing-expects-passenger-version-of-747-8-to-fly-in-early-spring-

in-u-s-.html) , "With an A380, you run the risk of not filling every seat whenever you fly."

Fightin' talk starts, the game is on.

Round 2: Length

Boeing 747-8: 76 meters

Air bus A380: 72.72 meters

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The Boeing is 3.28 meters longer than the Airbus,

officially making it the longest commercial plane in the

world right now.

Oh, that's good. Who cares how many passengers you

can carry -- anything that can be called "the world's

longest" is a winner. Boeing slugs back.

Round 3: Internal cabin w idth

Boeing 747-8: 6.1 meters

Ai rbus A380: 6.54 meters

The Intercontinental has the same cabin width

(http://www.boeing.com/commercial/747family/pf/pf_400_prod.html)as

its predecessor (the Boeing 747-400), but claims to be

able to carry 51 more passengers due to its extra length

of 18.3 feet.

However, Airbus execs have pointed out that the 747-8 has yet to pass evacuation tests.

"I am going to be taking that aircraft one day," Airbus chief operating officer J ohn Leahy told Dow

J ones (http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110216-711260.html) . "I want to be sure that you can get out of

it in an emergency."

To this, Boeing spokesman J im Proulx responded that the plane will meet all certification

standards for emergency evacuation.

Round 4: Price

Boeing 747-8: INR18,431 million

Ai rbus A380: INR21,786 million

The Airb A380-800 sells for nearly USINR3,367 million

more than the new Boeing as of J anuary this year,

depending on customization and engine.

That's not exactly small change. It means for every five

A380s you buy you could get six 747-8s.

Round 5: Cruising speed

Boeing 747-8: Typical cruise speed at Mach 0.855, top

cruise speed: Mach 0.86 (or 86 percent the speed of

sound).

Ai rbus A380: Typical cruise speed at Mach 0.85 (from

BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4990780.stm) ), top cruise

speed at Mach 0.88 (from Airliners.net (http://www.airliners.net

/aircraft-data/stats.main?id=29) )

In terms of typical speed Boeing 747-8 wins, but this is a serious slug-fest, and there's no time for

cruising. We're giving this one to Airbus.

Round 6: Range

Boeing 747-8: 8,000 nautical miles

Ai rbus A380: 8,300 nautical miles

Both planes will be able to cover long haul, trans-

continental flights such as those between New York and

Hong Kong, Los Angeles to Mumbai, and London to

Singapore.

For an interactive map on A380’s range click on Airbus.com (http://www.airbus.com/aircraftfamilies

/passengeraircraft/a380family/a380-800/performance/) . Details on 747-8's range can be found at

Boeing.com (http://www.boeing.com/commercial/747family/747-8_fact_ sheet.html) .

Round 7: Wing span

Boeing 747-8: 68.5 meters

Ai rbus A380: 79.75 meters

Airbus chews up the Boeing a few times over when it

comes to wingspan. But both are doing clever things.

The Boeing's new wing design claims to heighten

performance while lowering noise levels. Its fly-by-wire


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spoilers and outboard ailerons, pioneered by the 787 Dreamliner, can allegedly save weight.

The Airbus A380 also has a new wing design (at the time of its launch, anyway) that employs

aluminum alloys for the wing and fuselage, and composite materials for the center wing box,

which reduces the overall weight of the aircraft.

Round 8: Fuel efficiency

Boeing 747-8: 2.8 liters per seat per 100 kilometers

Ai rbus A380: 2.9 liters per passenger per 100 kilometers

(fromNat Geo (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005

/01/0118_050118_airbus_2.html))

Ooh, now we've hit a nerve. Both sides regurgitated some

rather fuzzy PR when it came to fuel efficiency, preferring

to simply say "the competition is worse" and compiling

estimates based on different underlying assumptions, especially the average flight length and the

number of passengers on board, as this Nat Geo article (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005

/01/0118_050118_airbus_2.html) explains.

But while Boeing gave us a hard figure of 2.8 liters per seat per 100 kilometers, Airbus didn't

respond, so we assigned them a figure of 2.9 liters per passenger per 100 kilometers, as stated in

the Nat Geo article.

Result

What does all this mean? For the serious competition fiends out there Airbus comes out on top,five rounds to three.

Als o on CNNGo: Boeing through the years: 10 revolutionary aircraft

(Now%20that%20the%20Boeing%20747-8%20has%20received%20its%20FAA%20certification,%20here's%20a%20look

%20at%20how%20it%20fares%20against%20its%20mighty%20rival,%20the%20Airbus%20A380)

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190 comments

Newest Community Share

bob •

this is so retarded and so obvious the author knows nothing about aircraft and is

obviously obsessed with Airbus. Wingspan winner would go the other way a smallerwingspan would be better since it enables the aircraft to go to more airports. Typical

cruising speed is more important then max speed in today's high price fuel world.

Good categories would be:

Fuel burn per passenger: 747-8

Max load passenger: A380

Cost per passenger: need more information

Airports that can support it: 747-8

Possibly noise? need more info CO2 burn output? 747-8 Overhead bin space per

passenger? 747-8 Minimum runway required at max weight? 747-8 you know things

that actually matter

how about just looks? the A380 looks like the retarded brother of the 747 which has

a clean eloquent look that shows a commanding presence

9

Ells Talbott •

What a retarded way to compare 2 aircraft........wing span means a plane comes out

on top??? Are you serious? Gees, do a comparative article that actually means

something.....

3

patel •

love u 747-8 best of boeing

4

Ronald So •

lol

shouldn't a longer wing span be a disadvantage as a lot of airports in the world still

cannot support a long wing span as the A380

didn't know limited destination is an advantage

3

Qiuyuan Chen •

Easy, check out the market. Money talks buddy.

Nuy987 •

The wingspan of the Airbus A380 is much bigger and longer than the wingspan of

the Boeing 747. The 747's wingspan is about 50 feet long while the A380's wingspan

is about 60 feet long and the way, because this is an airplane contest to comparethese 2 huge planes!

Nuy987 •

The Airbus A380 is bigger and has more longer range than the Boeing 747. The

Boeing 747 airplane can only carry up to 800 people onboard while the Airbus A380

airplane can carry up to 1,000 people onboard. It like saying that the Boeing 787 can

fly farther and longer than the Boeing 777. But I would love to see the Airbus A350

and the Airbus A330!

1

power4things •

Uh, I think aircraft price, seat-mile costs, and maybe max range are the only things

that really matter to airlines. After a certain point, larger cabin width is actually aliability, as it increases wind resistance and fuel consumption. Wing length is NEVER

an advantage, if not needed - shorter is always better. Basically, this is the wrong

place for "whose is the biggest" or 5-1/1000's of a Mach number faster, or the other

stats that 5th-graders argue over at recess. Plus, having the most recognized

silhouette in the air, and I will submit Boeing wins, by a substantial hair.

10


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boeing 747-8 vs. airbus a380 -- the airline giants face off

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