Good news for the A380 at last.

Comhrá

Flew to Australia and back a few years ago on the A380, out with Qantas and back with Emirates. Very relaxing flights both ways. Lower deck outbound, upper deck coming home. Upstairs is very quiet and in the descent, the cabin quietness is almost eerie - felt like the engines weren't even running.

I thought it was far nicer and quieter than the 777 or even the 747.

If I were doing a long-haul trip again, I would definitely want to fly the A380

plodder

I haven't been on one yet, but I find the idea of traveling on massive planes through over-crowded hubs as not very appealing. I much prefer small planes and small airports. There would want to be some big advantage with extra space, or lower fares to overcome that imo.

BigMoose

With Emirates I don't notice the crowds. They board the thing using 3 air bridges so feels quicker to board than many flights from smaller airports. Dubai airport is much better than Abu Dhabi too, never had a bus to a plane... Granted I'm a gold frequent flier so board from the lounge.

irishrover99

Next Friday i'll get to fly on the A380 for the first time with Qatar after flying on the 787 for the first time.
Really looking forward.

Comhrá

irishrover99 wrote: »

Next Friday i'll get to fly on the A380 for the first time with Qatar after flying on the 787 for the first time.
Really looking forward.

Will be interested to hear of your impressions of the A380 & b787 respectively.

irishrover99

Comhra wrote: »

Will be interested to hear of your impressions of the A380 & b787 respectively.

Ill report back

LiamaDelta

Comhra wrote: »

Will be interested to hear of your impressions of the A380 & b787 respectively.

If you're interested in my impressions....;) I'll give them to you anyway even if not!
Can't really compare the two effectively - they're different beasts. One is essentially double the capacity of the other. Depends on the operator but the 380 whilst being 'high density' really doesn't feel like it at all. It's spectacularly quiet and the large fuselage does give a good impression of space. The 787 is pretty quiet but I don't/didn't find it considerably better than it's predecessors, 767/777. I'm not a fan of the lighting, it can be quite garish (I think the same of the 737).

I'm somewhat biased though in that I think Airbus generally offer a better product from the passenger experience/comfort side of things.

Blut2

I've also flown on both. The a380 is a much superior experience to any other mainstream commercial jet out there for passengers, in my opinion. Its just so much quieter, and gives the impression of so much more space. Its not quite being on a boat or a train but its as close as I've experienced while in the air in economy class.

I really hope they get a lot more buyers for it in the next few years before any production line shutdown. The emergence of a few more high capacity, slot constrained, airports along the lines of Heathrow would provide a good commercial demand for it hopefully.

Doltanian

I've flown the A380 with Qantas from Sydney across to Lax on a 16.5 non-stop before and the A380 makes a huge difference. I've also flown Emirates and British Airways A380 on long-hauls and the A380 is a great aircraft and my favourite plane to fly on by a country mile.

I've flown on the A350 also with Cathay Pacific last year and it is also very good actually maybe better than the A380 due to its more modern design and newer feel. I guess I'm biased for the A350 as I got Emergency exit row seats coming back from Hong Kong which makes a great difference.

I've yet to fly the 787 but I've flown 777's dozens on times. My biggest hatred across all airlines and aircraft is those god-damned awful IFE box under the seats infront which takes up valuable legroom, why the heck are they still being used when all that computing power could be done in the same space of a Mobile phone, the newer Emirates 777's are a great experience and much improved over older aircraft with huge screen and they have eliminated those IFE boxes under the seats. I'm only 5ft 8 but there is no way I'd tolerate an IFE box if I was like 6ft etc.

Andrew Beef

I can’t wait to try a 787 to see what the enhanced air-quality is like.

I flew Emirates Business Class last year, first leg on the 777, second leg on the A380. The A380 experience was excellent, the lack of noise, the space, the food, and the bar.

We’re planning a long-haul trip for next year and I’m doing the research at the moment, but we’ll probably do Emirates again, hopefully in Business Class.

Donegal Storm

I've flown on all three and think the A380 is nicest overall, my only issue is that I like to rest my head on a pillow against the wall and there's too much of a gap to do that on the A380. A350 was nice as well though, plenty of leg room, nice big windows, very quiet and feels very spacious with the compact overhead bins.

Only flown 787 with Jetstar Pacific which was a budget affair, nice plane and the tinting windows were a bit of a novelty but can't really judge based off a budget flight