The new A3XX is a huge three-decker airliner capable of carrying 650 passengers and cutting into the Boeing 747's monopoly on mammoth planes. The aircraft features rooms where passengers can exercise, rest and even try their luck in a casino - enabling airlines to provide their customers with unprecedented services on long-haul flights.
The A3XX will be the biggest airliner in aeronautical history and will have three levels, two for passengers and a third for luggage. The model will come in seven varieties - four for passengers, one for freight and two that will carry both. Larger than the 400-seat Boeing 747, the A3XX will hold 480-650 passengers, depending on the model.
The operating cost for client companies will be 15 per cent less per seat-kilometre than Boeing's biggest and newest plane, the B747-00. The A3XX requires an investment of $10-$12 billion (€10.7E -12.8 billion), and changes must be made in airports for dual-level loading and unloading. The actual unit price per plane (catalogue price, the actual price in some cases being lower), is $213-$246 million.
The first model to go into service will be the 555-seat A3XX-100 model, in 2005. It will have a range of 14,200 kilometres (8,824 miles). The longer-range A3XX-100R will be capable of flying 16,200 km (10,066 miles) per trip. The extended A3XX-200 edition will hold 656 seats and be able to fly 14,200 km. A shorter version, the A3XX50R, would have 480 seats. Engineers at Airbus plan to use new materials such as a laminated glass-aluminium fibre composite in building the aircraft.
