Superjumbo: bigger isn't always better

The launch of the A380 'superjumbo' suggests that planes are going to get bigger - but whatever happened to making them faster?

The new plane can carry up to 840 passengers, according to manufacturers Airbus, though it will typically be set up to carry around 555. That's over a hundred more than the current passenger giant, the Boeing 747. Airbus are also stressing the plane's green credentials, pointing out that it meets new noise standards and, being bigger, means fewer flights to carry the same number of passengers. Moreover, the plane does 95 miles to the gallon per passenger - comparable with a small diesel car. But the plane will actually be slightly slower than the 747.

The trend towards trying to make travel faster has come to a shuddering halt. This is not a case of reaching technological limits; after all, Concorde, a plane that travelled at roughly three times the speed of the A380 and 747, was flying in the Sixties, and technology has moved on since then. Rather, the limits today are cultural and economic - and entirely self-imposed.

Environmentalists would prefer we didn't travel at all, but if we must, it should be in as fuel-efficient a way as possible. Airlines are afraid that people will baulk at paying more for fast flights, so have gone down the road of piling 'em high (the A380 is a double-decker) and selling 'em cheap instead. While the prospect of more people being able to afford long-haul flights is a good thing, the A380 is a conservative step.

The dream of superfast journeys, like London to Sydney in two hours, is fast becoming pie in the sky. So, the world has stopped 'getting smaller' - but the number of people who will share the dubious pleasures of 'cattle class' for hours on end is going to keep on climbing.

Airbus unveils 'superjumbo' jet, BBC News, 18 January 2005