As we all know the A380 is soon to finish production and infact the last A380 just took its first flight, I can hear a wall of tears of the entire aviation community but that is indeed the sad truth.
Designated MSN272, the Emirates A380-800 is the last ever A380 to leave the factory and will soon leave the factory for good. On the 17th of March at around 12:50pm the huge 589 ton whale of an airframe, lined up at Toulouse Blagnac International airport and at around 12:54 it rotated, leaving the ground for the first time. It then took a right hand turn and gained altitude before doing some more turns and carrying on towards Hamburg International Airport. It landed at 4:30pm European time giving it a 3 and a half hour flight time. This is unfortunatley the begining of the end for the era of the flying whale and may we have a minute silence on the day that this beast does leave the airbus factory for the final time.
A very, very special moment in aviation history. The A380 is an impressive airplane, and while it wasn’t the most commercially successful it still remains very dear to me. Thanks for sharing this special moment!
They are aren’t they? However it’s just not economical to fly them as they don’t get filled up. However I do love to see them it shows the scale of ingenuity from the designers and engineers in airlines.
Seeing a quad-jet on approach brings you a rush like no other plane can do. They’re a feat of engineering of a bygone era of air travel, and as far as I’m concerned the A380 and the 747 have been the sole survivors of that era — with both of them being produced right up until now.
Sad to see that such an incredible design may never be seen rolling of the production line again.
Huge Boeing fan here but I’ve gotta say, watching this big bird fly into DFW for the first time…I was at a loss for words. I believe John Travolta was a part of the crew for that flight. A380, you were an inspiration for many of us aviation geeks.
