Mind-boggling video exposes the enormity of the largest and most spacious passenger aircraft

  • The Airbus A380 is the world’s largest and heaviest passenger aircraft
  • It’s 73 meters long, 24 meters high, and has a takeoff weight of up to 560 tons
  • Seating 509 passengers, the A380 has four Rolls-Royce engines each generating 70,000 lbs of thrust

Published on Feb 15, 2024 at 6:11 PM (UTC+4)
by Adam Gray

Last updated on Feb 16, 2024 at 3:03 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones

The Airbus A380 is the largest and heaviest of passenger aircraft in the world.

Yeah, it’s big – but you don’t appreciate how big it is until you see it alongside another aircraft.

The above video shows the enormous size of the plane as it taxis along a runway ready for takeoff.

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The video shows an Emirates A380 in a special livery moving behind a private jet.

The A380, which reminds us of a predator, looks as if it’s sneaking up behind the tiny jet ready to devour it.

At 73 meters long, 24 meters high, and with a takeoff weight of up to 560 tons, the Airbus A380 dwarfs the private jet.

Seating 509 passengers, the plane requires a lot of oomph to get up in the air, which comes from four Rolls-Royce engines each generating 70,000 lbs of thrust.

To put that into perspective, that’s the rough equivalent of what 3,500 cars could produce.

Ecologically speaking, too, the A380 raises the bar.

The megaliner is quieter than other planes, uses less fuel, and can even “think” for itself and automatically apply the brakes after landing on the runway.

Clever, huh?!

As the world’s largest and most spacious passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380 gives travelers more space en route.

Its relaxing onboard environment saw it voted the best aircraft type by Global Traveler’s readers.

Its space gives passengers a first-class feel – no matter how much they paid for their ticket.

And, just like the Boeing Dreamlifter, the physics of how it takes off is hard to get your head around.

With two full-length decks and widebody dimensions, the Airbus A380 dwarfs regular aircrafts.

The A380 may be big, but it’s nowhere near as unusual looking as the Airbus Beluga XL.

The whale-shaped airplane is sued to transport cargo around Europe – and it’s interior needs to be seen to be believed.

The plane’s doors are a mind-blowing 7.5m high at the opening and 8.1m wide.

And while the interiors are less comfortablehomely and entertaining than other jets we’ve seen – it’s certainly impressive.

In terms of capacity, that enables the Airbus Beluga XL to transport “two Airbus A350-1000 wings straight down the middle”.

The items to be carried are moved on rails until they are lined up with the Beluga interface rack.

There are then tracks that slowly move the heavy and precious cargo inside before the door is locked.

And it’s a comically small button that swings the giant “jaws” shut.

The huge cargo can turned around “from trucks to chocks” in just 60 minutes.

Once aboard there is a narrow corridor of several single-file seats leading to the cockpit.

The captain explains that aside from the constantly changing “wallpaper” the craft is seriously high performance.

That allows for short landings and takeoff.

But despite the exquisite engineering, just like the massive Airbus A380 and other giant aircrafts, it’s hard to understand the physics of it getting off the ground.


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Adam Gray

Adam Gray is an experienced motoring journalist and content creator based in the United Kingdom. Using his media accreditation with manufacturers’ press offices, Adam test drives the latest cars and attends new vehicle press launches, producing written reviews and news pieces for supercarblondie.com. Before joining the Supercar Blondie team, Adam was Motoring Editor for Portfolio North magazine, North East Motoring Editor at Reach plc, and provided motoring content on a freelance basis to several lifestyle and business publications in the North of England. When he’s not behind the wheel of the latest car, Adam can be found at his local rink playing ice hockey or supporting his beloved Middlesbrough FC.