The 747 used to be the largest aircraft in the skies but the plane makers are Boeing out
as the a380 is now the largest aircraft. The plane cost £280m, carries 520 passengers, 1600 pieces of luggage and 320,000 litres of fuel. The a380 is a two storey, 369 ton aircraft It carries 200 tons of passengers fuel and cargo. It weighs 560 tons all up.
And you might remember that it was in 1903 that Frank Whittle was the pioneer of the turbo jet.
And, of course, the a380 flies all over the world and Heathrow is one of the many airports the a380 leaves from.
Heathrow is the largest single-site employer in the UK. More than 76,000 people work at the airport – and many more nearby. In total, Heathrow supports 114,000 local jobs and has 160 shops 59 restaurants. Makes our little airport look tiny.
I thought I had read that the a380 was being phased out as it was difficult to fill to maintain efficiency on individual flights and no good at all for short range flights especially since the Covid debacle.
Its sad they no longer make either.
The A380 will be in use for some time, the last of them were delivered not that long ago to the likes of emirates.
(03-03-2023, 11:37 AM)zqwerty Wrote: [ -> ]I thought I had read that the a380 was being phased out as it was difficult to fill to maintain efficiency on individual flights and no good at all for short range flights especially since the Covid debacle.
That could be right because I don't think that they are building any more and it is because of lack of demand.
Why are Airbus A380 being scrapped? – ProfoundAdvice (profoundadvices.com)
I wonder if Heathrow have a mountain of lost luggage like Auckland?
(03-03-2023, 12:21 PM)Oldfellah Wrote: [ -> ]I wonder if Heathrow have a mountain of lost luggage like Auckland?
Is it really lost luggage if the airport are in possession of it and they're always labelled?
Might be more aptly referred to as the mountain of luggage that was misrouted and we are too cheap and lazy to track down the owners...
(03-03-2023, 01:25 PM)king1 Wrote: [ -> ] (03-03-2023, 12:21 PM)Oldfellah Wrote: [ -> ]I wonder if Heathrow have a mountain of lost luggage like Auckland?
Is it really lost luggage if the airport are in possession of it and they're always labelled?
Might be more aptly referred to as the mountain of luggage that was misrouted and we are too cheap and lazy to track down the owners...
I agree. I watched the Fair go item on Monday. I guess an occasional bag might have lost the label that shows who owns it but clearly most people are fully traceable, especially when they go out of their way to try and get their bags bag. One guy had GPS trackers on his bags and knew exactly where they were at Sydney airport. He was willing to fly there himself to get the bags back.
Mention of "lost" baggage always reminds me of an incident at Christchurch airport many years ago. We were in the viewing area waiting for our flight and saw a luggage trolley on its way to a plane. A bag fell off and the trolley operator just kept going without it, leaving it lying in the middle of the tarmac. On his way back for the next load he went right past it. Then, same guy with the next lot going to the same plane went right past it again. After he and a few others baggage handlers had left it there for a while, it finally got picked up and taken back to the terminal, after the plane it was supposed to be on was all closed up ready for flight. So a bag that could have been dealt with immediately and put onto the flight it was supposed to be on ended up being "lost". The time wastage of the airline staff and the stress for the owner could have been avoided if the first handler had picked it up when he should have. At that point it would only need its label to be checked and could have made it onto the right flight.
(03-03-2023, 02:00 PM)SueDonim Wrote: [ -> ] (03-03-2023, 01:25 PM)king1 Wrote: [ -> ]Is it really lost luggage if the airport are in possession of it and they're always labelled?
Might be more aptly referred to as the mountain of luggage that was misrouted and we are too cheap and lazy to track down the owners...
I agree. I watched the Fair go item on Monday. I guess an occasional bag might have lost the label that shows who owns it but clearly most people are fully traceable, especially when they go out of their way to try and get their bags bag. One guy had GPS trackers on his bags and knew exactly where they were at Sydney airport. He was willing to fly there himself to get the bags back.
Mention of "lost" baggage always reminds me of an incident at Christchurch airport many years ago. We were in the viewing area waiting for our flight and saw a luggage trolley on its way to a plane. A bag fell off and the trolley operator just kept going without it, leaving it lying in the middle of the tarmac. On his way back for the next load he went right past it. Then, same guy with the next lot going to the same plane went right past it again. After he and a few others baggage handlers had left it there for a while, it finally got picked up and taken back to the terminal, after the plane it was supposed to be on was all closed up ready for flight. So a bag that could have been dealt with immediately and put onto the flight it was supposed to be on ended up being "lost". The time wastage of the airline staff and the stress for the owner could have been avoided if the first handler had picked it up when he should have. At that point it would only need its label to be checked and could have made it onto the right flight.
that's interesting, I do wonder though if there are rules about that ie maybe getting out of the vehicle when a plane is on the tarmac is a no no... H&S sort of thing...