I will never forget my first and only flight on the Airbus A380 super-jumbo airliner..I was flying with Thai Airways from Tokyo's Narita to Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi, headed for a new job and a new overseas employer..Nervous but excited, I was to take the reins of new publication on Myanmar, for the Nation Multimedia Corp..But getting back to the A380..Lining up to board and seeing the number of folks boarding — two long lines — one for the upstairs and one for the downstairs, was kind of shocking..This was going to be one big adventure, I thought at the time..I was downstairs, in a roomy seat with a fantastic entertainment unit facing me — the best I have ever seen on a commercial plane. It even had Sinatra and Pavarotti on the song list!.The ceiling, too, was very high — giving the impression not of an aircraft, but a spaceship. Like something out of Star Trek..I had to wonder how this thing will get off the ground — but it did.. Airbus A380 loungeAirbus A380 lounge .Service was also incredible on Thai Airways, putting any airline in North America to shame..The food was very good, the wine kept coming — the flight attendant remembered me, and kept my glass full — and the staff never stopped working..As a former pilot, this thing flew like the little Piper Warriors I flew over southern Ontario — soft, gentle and easy. Very impressive..You'd think we'd reached the pinnacle of air travel when it comes to size. But, apparently not..With its A380s now gracing the skies once again, Emirates President Sir Tim Clark thinks the time has come to go even bigger. That's right, bigger..“The math tells you that you need a big unit, much bigger than we're getting at the moment,” Clark explained to CNN Travel earlier this week, while also revealing his wishlist for what a possible new aircraft could entail, ExecutiveTraveller.com reported..With surging global demand seeing it reclaim its lofty title as the ‘Queen of the skies," is it time for a successor?.“Even with multiple 787s and A350s all busy flying around the world, I still don't get how you will pick up that growth curve,” Clark told CNN Travel. “Supply will be suppressed, demand will continue to grow, and when that happens prices rise It's inevitable.”.The thinking is, once we return to pre-pandemic travel levels, it's predicted it will just take 10 to 15 years for global demand to increase by half..Experts say with many A380s set to be phased out by the mid-2030s, there may not be an aircraft up to the job..Among the ideas Clark floated for a new aircraft were a lightweight composite fuselage and wings, together with radical "open fan" engines, in line with the industry’s commitment to greater sustainability.."If you can get them to do what I think they could do in terms of fuel efficiency and power, then you have the makings of an airplane that would match or beat the economics of the [twin-engine aircraft] that we see today, by quite a long way," he said.. Airbus A380 seatsAirbus A380 seats .“Imagine a composite wing and a predominantly composite fuselage. Imagine engines that are giving you a 20 to 25% improvement compared to what you get today. So you get a lighter aircraft, far more fuel-efficient, which ticks all the boxes as far as the environmentalists are concerned.”.Currently, the largest planes in production are the Airbus A350-1000 and upcoming Boeing 777-9, which carry up to 410 and 426 respectively, depending on configuration, Executive Traveller reported..However, based on Clark’s calculations, neither aircraft is large enough to truly replace the A380 or meet future demand for air travel. Both are significantly less than the A380’s typical 525..While it’s doubtful a new super-jumbo will come to fruition in the near future, not without some significant savings in fuel and weight, it’s a good case of never say never..Earlier this spring, Emirates announced an unprecedented US$2 billion investment in its fleet, including a retrofit of 120 aircraft with the latest cabin interiors and a new menu crowned by unlimited caviar and Dom Perignon in first class..Something Joe Average — you and me — will probably never enjoy in our lifetime..The A380 made its first flight in 2005 and immediately won over passengers with its audacious scale — its wingspan wider than a soccer pitch, Executive Traveller reported..Ultimately, though, airlines were turned off by its high operating costs, with Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker famously describing it in 2021 as the airline’s “biggest mistake.”.Neither Airbus or Boeing have revealed plans to build another aircraft to rival it..However, in the 1990s, Boeing did study the possibility of a bigger, much wider 747, to be called the 747-700X..The aircraft would carry up to 650 passengers and have a design range equal to that of the 747-400, officials said at the time..The aerospace giant was looking at several Asian airlines to purchase the plane, such as Thai Airways and Malaysia Airlines..What happened to the idea?.According to SimpleFlying.com, there were several issues, including the price..Boeing estimated the non-recurring cost to be anywhere from US$12 billion to $15 billion.."We concluded that there simply wasn't a large enough market to justify that size of the investment," a Boeing press release stated.. Airbus A380 cockpitAirbus A380 cockpit
