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British Airways Airbus 380-800 in flight.

The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, wide-body, four-engine jet manufactured by Airbus Industrie, the European consortium. It is the world's largest commercial passenger aircraft and the upper deck extends along the entire length of the fuselage. It is also one of the greenest, with lower community noise and emissions per passenger than the Boeing 747-400 despite having almost 50% more floor space and 60% more headroom.

Carbon fibre, a strong and light material, is used on key parts of the A380. Roughly 25% of the plane's overall structure is made from carbon-fibre reinforced plastic.

Customer benefits include:

  • Choice of First, Club World, World Traveller Plus and World Traveller
  • On demand audio and video systems for all seats
  • Spacious and quiet cabins

Find out more about travel classes

Technical information

Airbus A380-800
Number in fleet 12
Passenger capacity 469 (4 class)
Length 72.7m (238 feet 8 inches)
Wingspan 79.8m (261 feet 10 inches)
Height 24.1m (79 feet)
Engines 4× Rolls Royce Trent 900
Maximum speed 945km/h (587mph, Mach 0.89)
Range 15,400km (9,500 miles)

Photo gallery

Seat maps

Did you know?

  • During take-off the A380 wing will flex upwards by over 4m.
  • The 4400m2 surface of the A380 is covered in three layers of paint weighing around 500kg.
  • The wings of the plane are 54% larger than the wings of a Boeing 747 aircraft.
  • If all the wiring in the A380 is laid end to end, it will stretch from Edinburgh to London - 320 miles.