BA Airbus 380 in shannon july 30th 2013

Foggy43

We will try and keep an update on Shannon. It did its first commercial flight this morning. LHR to Frankfurt and back. A bit of a shock to the passengers who would normally expect an A320 or A321. BA plan to use the A380 on this route commercially over the next 8 weeks as part of its introduction.

G-XLED flew for the first time yesterday. Flying with registration F-WWAK.

jja4

The offical shannon airport facebook page is good for updates later on that day "the speedtwin" was doing aerobatics which was good video on the page

DublinKev

BA really make some fantastic commercials.

Does anyone know if the giant speedbird is due back in Shannon any time over the next weeks? Would love to take a trip down to see her.

Foggy43

At the moment it is earning money for BA. It is doing the LHR-FRA-LHR sectors. I am not aware of any dates at the moment for the series of visits to SNN, CWL, STN or LGW.

DublinKev

Thanks Foggy43. Pity.

urajoke

It will be appearing at the Flightfest in Dublin on Sunday September 15th

greenybaby

urajoke wrote: »

It will be appearing at the Flightfest in Dublin on Sunday September 15th

I love you

GTE

CTYIgirl wrote: »

Looking at the videos of it flying, it's mad to think that it can actually get off the ground, let alone be that graceful and quiet.

I saw a 747 take off recently and thought "well, that is quite big". Then an A380 took off and it just seems wrong that it can fly! :eek:
Fantastic wagon!

DublinKev

Thanks Urajoke. Looking forward to the 15th.

homerjay2005

was drinking a few pints in in city center london yesterday on the flight path to heathrow and this beast flew in over our heads while we were outside.

lovely sight!

jimmynokia

homerjay2005 wrote: »

was drinking a few pints in in city center london yesterday on the flight path to heathrow and this beast flew in over our heads while we were outside.

lovely sight!

The A380 will be in dublin next month for flightfest FOR THE WIN...

whitebriar

jimmynokia wrote: »

The A380 will be in dublin next month for flightfest FOR THE WIN...

yes on Sunday 15th sept,it will be doing a low fly over the city centre as part of that.

jimmynokia

whitebriar wrote: »

yes on Sunday 15th sept,it will be doing a low fly over the city centre as part of that.

That's just epic can't wait will be some sight.

whitebriar

jimmynokia wrote: »

That's just epic can't wait will be some sight.

It sure will,I remember seeing the first one fly low at the Paris air show a few years ago,long before they were in service.
I presume it will be taking off from Dub too that day,

jimmynokia

whitebriar wrote: »

It sure will,I remember seeing the first one fly low at the Paris air show a few years ago,long before they were in service.
I presume it will be taking off from Dub too that day,

Still amazing how the hell it gets off the ground, must try get the info on when it arrives at dublin airport and be there for that too.

urajoke

jimmynokia wrote: »

Still amazing how the hell it gets off the ground, must try get the info on when it arrives at dublin airport and be there for that too.

At the moment it's not landing in Dublin it will be coming straight in from the UK and going straight back to the UK.

jimmynokia

urajoke wrote: »

At the moment it's not landing in Dublin it will be coming straight in from the UK and going straight back to the UK.

That's a bit much. Lol.

andy_g

jimmynokia wrote: »

That's a bit much. Lol.

Not really as Dub's infrastructure cant support the A380, the main runway could but the taxiways and ramp area cannot.

jimmynokia

andy_g wrote: »

Not really as Dub's infrastructure cant support the A380, the main runway could but the taxiways and ramp area cannot.

Shannon could?

urajoke

jimmynokia wrote: »

Shannon could?

So ?

jimmynokia

urajoke wrote: »

So ?

So? Sarcarsm , what I mean I think it be handier to fly here day before or that morning and now it's been pointed out that Dublin can't handle it and Shannon can, why fly over and back to UK same time, just a question that's all.

greenybaby

jimmynokia wrote: »

So? Sarcarsm , what I mean I think it be handier to fly here day before or that morning and now it's been pointed out that Dublin can't handle it and Shannon can, why fly over and back to UK same time, just a question that's all.

It's only a 40 minute flight from the uk in fairness so you can't get handier than that

jimmynokia

greenybaby wrote: »

It's only a 40 minute flight from the uk in fairness so you can't get handier than that

Lol yeah I know. :-)

urajoke

jimmynokia wrote: »

So? Sarcarsm , what I mean I think it be handier to fly here day before or that morning and now it's been pointed out that Dublin can't handle it and Shannon can, why fly over and back to UK same time, just a question that's all.

In that case why fly passed your destination (extra fuel) park up for the night (night stop, landing charge, crew hotel costs) take off back to Dublin (fuel), back to London, when you could include it as part of the crew familiarisation trips. If it works for BA and it gets them over for the FlightFest then leave them at it, it's their plane they know best.

Peregrine

jimmynokia wrote: »

So? Sarcarsm , what I mean I think it be handier to fly here day before or that morning and now it's been pointed out that Dublin can't handle it and Shannon can, why fly over and back to UK same time, just a question that's all.

It would be handier for them just do the flypast and go home rather than flying to a different airport 120 miles away and staying there overnight. It'll be less than a 1 hour flight each way..

Factor in the fuel, landing, crew, accommodation and other charges and it'll be a whole lot cheaper too.

BonkeyDonker

andy_g wrote: »

Not really as Dub's infrastructure cant support the A380, the main runway could but the taxiways and ramp area cannot.

Where does this come from - My understanding is that it is capable of handling the A380 - it does cause some clearance issue's when taxing from what I' am lead to believe, but it is possible.

NewSigGuy

BonkeyDonker wrote: »

Where does this come from - My understanding is that it is capable of handling the A380 - it does cause some clearance issue's when taxing from what I' am lead to believe, but it is possible.

Possible Yes, the runway and taxiways are suitable but from an airport and flight crew point of view it would be problematic. In an emergency Dub would be fine but to operate into would be difficult, particularly from a parking point of view. The A380 is an ICAO code F aircraft due to the wingspan and takes up a lot of real estate. Currently Manchester is probably the smallest airport that takes the 380 and it is very restrictive taxiway wise, basically one way in and out of the edge of the apron, the airport only has one A380 capable stand.

Shamrock231

There was a DAA (daa) rep on the RTE there about a month ago saying that Dublin could accommodate an A380 and that they could accommodate one at the terminal itself and didn't need to park it on a remote stand.

The points still stands though, that it's only an hour over, 20 minutes flying around the Liffey, then an hour back, shorter than a lot of short/mid haul flights, never mind the long ones it's designed for.

NewSigGuy

Shamrock231 wrote: »

There was a DAA (daa) rep on the RTE there about a month ago saying that Dublin could accommodate an A380 and that they could accommodate one at the terminal itself and didn't need to park it on a remote stand.

The points still stands though, that it's only an hour over, 20 minutes flying around the Liffey, then an hour back, shorter than a lot of short/mid haul flights, never mind the long ones it's designed for.

No doubt the DAA would say that, but would the 380 not take up a couple of stands given its wingspan, as fas as I know no gate at DUB has more then one jetway, most A380 stands around the world have three..

Jhcx

NewSigGuy wrote: »

No doubt the DAA would say that, but would the 380 not take up a couple of stands given its wingspan, as fas as I know no gate at DUB has more then one jetway, most A380 stands around the world have three..

Gate 410 has two air bridges etihad use both air bridges for boarding.it would be an ultra tight spot yo squeeze an a380 though. And would make 412 useless while it was on stand

Tenger

BonkeyDonker wrote: »

Where does this come from - My understanding is that it is capable of handling the A380 - it does cause some clearance issue's when taxing from what I' am lead to believe, but it is possible.

As above this issue has been discussed ad nauseum. DUB can handle an A380 if required to. However for normal day to day operations an A380 would cause headaches in regard to taxiway clearance, stand allocation, jetbridge usage,

relaxed

So when Ireland was building the new terminal in Dublin they didn't future proof it for a new larger plane which was probably already under development?

Whatever about taxiway clearance surely they could have designed 2 stands with enough clearance and the option of adding extra jetbridges.

newcavanman

relaxed wrote: »

So when Ireland was building the new terminal in Dublin they didn't future proof it for a new larger plane which was probably already under development?

Whatever about taxiway clearance surely they could have designed 2 stands with enough clearance and the option of adding extra jetbridges.

Hey, just look at the lifts to Arrivals from the bus stops, they truely must be the slowest lifts in creations

Tenger

relaxed wrote: »

So when Ireland was building the new terminal in Dublin they didn't future proof it for a new larger plane which was probably already under development?....

Yes it was under development. However the A380 is probable the last we will see of the VLA class. The sales of the B748i shows how large twins are the future (B777-300, A350-10) In addition the A380 was being dsigned for large hub to hub route with limited access, EG LHR, JFK, CDG, LAX, HKG, BKK, SIN etc (and adapted for the Emirates strategy of "the whole world goes through DXB on an A380"!)

So designing the new terminal for an aircraft which whill probable never arrive was a waste of money. Saying that I believe the design does allow for a rebuild of the last 1-2 gates to allow dual jetbridge access to a VLA. (Not 100% on that however)

BonkeyDonker

relaxed wrote: »

So when Ireland was building the new terminal in Dublin they didn't future proof it for a new larger plane which was probably already under development?

Whatever about taxiway clearance surely they could have designed 2 stands with enough clearance and the option of adding extra jetbridges.

Given how seldom Dublin even sees a passenger 747 these days I don't think you can blame the DAA for not spending alot of money on a gate area that would only be used for its intended purpose on less than a handful of occasions (none so far I believe).

Tenger wrote: »

As above this issue has been discussed ad nauseum. DUB can handle an A380 if required to. However for normal day to day operations an A380 would cause headaches in regard to taxiway clearance, stand allocation, jetbridge usage,

I understand that it requires a bit of jockeying around to get it onto a stand, and limits the stands around it, but that is completely different to saying it cannot handle an A380. Which was the statement I was questioning. And I'm sure that if Emirates rang up the DAA and said we'd like to send an A380 the DAA would have no problems with it given the landing fee's etc. involved.

urajoke

Why waste money on something you will never use.

The airport can take an A380 but like most other airports they won't spend the money on extras till an airline tells them they will be getting an A380 service. One of the pier E stands is A380 capable and yes like Manchester and Gatwick etc another stand becomes unusable.

Dublin is a long time from an A380 service Emirates will just increase flights with the B773 long before an A380 is needed. It will be listed as an emergency diversion airfield.