800 people aboard on the same plane? The newly unveiled Airbus A380 has the capacity of up to 800 passengers (when all seats are economy class). Would you want to queue up that long for checking in, boarding and later on (after the exhausting flight) to claim your luggage ? Other interesting facts: ----------------------- The gigantic new plane — which is nearly as long as the 241-foot Great Sphinx in Egypt — could not have been built without close coordination with suppliers around the world. The assembly line at Airbus' headquarters here is the final piece in a mind-boggling international jigsaw puzzle. The huge wings, for example, were designed in Wichita and Broughton, Wales. One of the panels is made in Alabama. The wings are made up of about 32,000 parts and 23 miles of electronic wiring. The forward and aft sections of the fuselage are assembled in Hamburg, Germany. They are shipped by ferry to Wales, where the wings are attached. The plane is then shipped to St. Nazaire, France, where the nose section and rear parts (made in Spain, assembled in Germany) are attached. --------------------- Why doesn't the European emulate Boeing strategy by creating a very large factory to assemble the plane at one place?   ¶ 11:23:00 AM