Airbus A380 Spotting Guide, Tips for Airplane Spotters, Photographs, Design Characteristics, Developments and Customer Airlines

The double-decked Airbus A380 is the world’s largest commercial aircraft flying today, with the capacity to carry 544 passengers in a comfortable four-class configuration, and up to 853 in a single-class configuration that provides wider seats than the competition.

Thai Airbus A380 in flight

The A380’s two decks offer 50% more floor surface than the next largest aircraft, allowing airlines a variety of cabin configurations.

A380 Background and Development

In June of 1994, Airbus announced its plan to develop a very large airliner, designated the A3XX.

The resulting A380 has two full-length passenger levels, a main deck and an upper deck, which are connected by fixed stairs forward and aft.

The first A380, registered F-WWOW, was unveiled in Toulouse in January of 2005, and flew in April of 2005. Today, A380s are flown by members of all three major global airline alliances.

The first A380 was delivered to Singapore Airlines in October of 2007. Emirates was the second airline to receive the A380 and commenced service between Dubai and New York in August of 2008.

At the Paris Air show in June of 2017 Airbus announced the A380plus, featuring improved performance and better economics.

Airbus A380-800, Registration F-WWDD, at the Châteauroux-Centre "Marcel Dassault" Airport in France, February, 2010, showing the A380 customer airlines (Photo by DELEHELLE Eric)

Qantas Airbus A380 on final approach to the DFW AIrport in Texas (Staff Photo)

A380 Deliveries

A total of 234 A380s have been built as of January, 2019, when 13 airlines were operating the aircraft.

Airline	A380s in Service
Emirates	109
Singapore Airlines	24
Lufthansa	14
British Airways	12
Qantas	12
Air France	10
Ethiad AIrways	10
Korean Air	10
Qatar Airways	10
Asiana Airlines	6
Malaysia Airlines	6
Thai Airways	6
China Southern	5
TOTAL	234

A380-800 of British Airways, Registration, E-GLEB in July of 2013 (Photo by DELEHELLE Eric)

A380 Production

On February 14, 2019, Airbus announced in a News Release that Emirates is reducing the size of its A380 orderbook, and that the last delivery of a A380 is scheduled for 2021.

Emirates will now take delivery of 14 additional A380s to add to its fleet during the next two years.

The airline has also announced it will continue fleet growth with Airbus widebody aircraft, ordering 40 A330-900 and 30 A350-900 aircraft .

Airbus Chief Executive Officer Tom Enders stated that “As a result of this decision we have no substantial A380 backlog and hence no basis to sustain production, despite all our sales efforts with other airlines in recent years. This leads to the end of A380 deliveries in 2021.”

Airbus A380 Spotting Tips

The A380 is easy to spot, with its two full-fuselage passenger decks, a bulbous nose, and four engines under the wings. Shown here is an Emirates Airbus A380.