This year marks the 20th anniversary of the maiden flight of the Airbus A380, the double-decker, wide-body aircraft that remains the largest passenger plane ever built. At 10:30 am local time on April 27, 2005, the giant, four-engine aircraft lifted off from the airport in Blagnac, a suburb of Toulouse in southern France, and did a quick loop of the area, staying within about 100 miles of the tarmac. When it took its first commercial flight six months later, the A380—which typically seats more than 500 passengers and can hold a maximum of 853—was heralded as the future of long-haul and ultra-long-haul aviation.
While the A380 has flown more than 300 million passengers on over 800,000 journeys, according to Airbus, the last 20 years have seen a different trajectory in long-distance air travel. (Long-haul flights are generally those that last for around six to 16 hours, and ultra-long-haul are those over 16 hours.) The A380 is no longer produced, and the best and most popular airplanes for long-haul flights have gotten much more efficient than previous-generation aircraft.
Two of the most common long-haul aircrafts today are the Airbus A350, which typically accommodates 330 to 410 passengers, depending on the model, and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which seats 292 passengers on average. These aircraft are capable of making the longest flights possible with just two engines instead of four.
This shift is largely due to huge gains in aircraft technology, including advanced engines, lighter components in the wings and body, and better computer technology to increase efficiency. Today’s long-haul flights are quieter, more fuel-efficient, safer than ever before, and somewhat more comfortable for passengers.
This story is part of The New Era of Work Travel, a collaboration between the editors of WIRED and Condé Nast Traveler to help you navigate the perks and pitfalls of the modern business trip.
One of the defining features of this generation of aircraft is a large wingspan. The A350 has a wingspan of over 212 feet, which is wider than the Leaning Tower of Pisa is tall. (The A380-800, by comparison, has a wingspan of 262 feet, but it has a maximum takeoff weight of more than 1.2 million pounds, double that of the A350-900). Longer wingspans on a smaller aircraft typically mean they can stay in the air for longer with less power, similar to how a bird with large wings can harness the slightest breeze and float easily for long distances.
“They basically get a lot of lift with a little power requirement compared to smaller wingspans,” says Mory Gharib, director of the Graduate Aerospace Laboratories at Caltech. “The shorter the wing is, the higher the drag. So you need to actually have a larger engine, and also the fuel you carry and all those things are going to be limiting.”