Knock airport welcomes the largest passenger aircraft in the world
Eirtrade Aviation took delivery of an Airbus A380, the largest passenger plane in operation, at Ireland West Airport Knock on Thursday afternoon.
The company will ultimately work on a complex disassembly of the aircraft, the largest passenger aircraft ever to land at Knock Airport.
The airport’s board is looking to build a large hangar facility to support further development of aircraft disassembly, repair and maintenance to create an aviation hub and add a significant number of jobs in the north west of Ireland.
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Another historic day for @Irelandwest as we welcomed the worlds biggest passenger aircraft, the @Airbus #A380 to the airport today for parking and storage. The biggest aircraft ever to land at the airport. Here is the footage of the aircraft landing on our famous runway 🙌🙌✈️✈️ pic.twitter.com/kEyK1Qhxd3
— Ireland West Airport (@Irelandwest) February 20, 2020
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The Airbus A380 is the world's largest passenger airliner, a wide-body aircraft manufactured by Airbus. Airbus studies started in 1988 and the project was announced in 1990 to challenge the dominance of the Boeing 747 in the long haul market. The A3XX project was presented in 1994; Airbus launched the €9.5 billion ($10.7 billion) A380 programme on 19 December 2000. The first prototype was unveiled in Toulouse on 18 January 2005, with its first flight on 27 April 2005. Difficulties in electrical wiring caused a two-year delay and the development cost ballooned to €18 billion. It obtained its EASA and FAA type certificates on 12 December 2006.
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It was first delivered to Singapore Airlines on 15 October 2007 and entered service on 25 October. Production peaked at 30 per year in 2012 and 2014. However, Airbus concedes that its $25 billion investment for the aircraft cannot be recouped. On 14 February 2019, after Emirates reduced its last orders in favour of the A350 and the A330neo, Airbus announced that A380 production would end by 2021.
The full-length double-deck aircraft has a typical seating capacity of 525, though it is certified for up to 853 passengers. It is powered by four Engine Alliance GP7200 or Rolls-Royce Trent 900 turbofans providing a range of 8,000 nmi (14,800 km). As of December 2019, Airbus has received 251 firm orders and delivered 242 aircraft; Emirates is the biggest A380 customer with 123 ordered, of which 115 have been delivered.
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