Travel may have become dozens of times faster – a boat from Muscat to Alexandria would’ve taken days in the past – but the industry still dances to the same tune. The Port of London’s stint as the world’s largest naval yard was catalysed by innovations in commercial shipping by builders like John Brown & Co. Bigger liners demanded more space to offload, wider enclosed docks and more sophisticated moving equipment. Today, Airbus (the aeronautical equivalent of Mr. Brown) develops faster, larger technology and airports around the world race to welcome it. And just as nautical advancements meant hundreds of millions in upgrades, better airlines require wider jetbridges, finer instruments and in Doha’s case, one of the world’s longest runways.
To Qatar’s credit, Doha’s weather is disadvantageous for flight. Average highs of 37C between May and September mean significantly lower air density, requiring planes to reach higher speeds to get lift, necessitating longer runways, no matter what kind length of plane is using them. But when the Hamad International Airway finally opens this year, having cost Qatar more than 15 billion USD – or half Yemen’s 2012 GDP – it will feature a runway, which at 4,850 metres is longer than the island of Manhattan is wide (3,700 metres).
Qatar’s decision to build the region’s longest runway came when Airbus announced the new Super Jumbo A380 in 2007. Just over 72 metres from nose to tail and weighing 261,000 kilos, the A380 needs every metre it can get. Despite the astronomical costs of building facilities large enough to service it, the investment isn’t such a bad deal because the Super Jumbo does something no other commercial jet can match, besides taking up more space than Real Madrid’s pitch, that is.
In an industry defined by legroom, the A380 delivers an incredible 40 per cent more than the next largest plane. Enough space, in fact, to fit 853 economy seats, should an airline feel like torturing its staff. Most airlines keep their seating in the 500 range. This provides business class passengers enough space to do yoga in the aisles and if they’re on an Emirates A380, to finish off their stretching with a drink at the full-service bar.
Another plus is the A380’s ability to fly more than 15,000 kilometres without refuelling, a huge perk for passengers wanting to get from Doha to places like Los Angeles non-stop. Despite its size, it burns cleaner fuel (and less of it) than the Boeing 747-8, the next largest airliner on the market. The cherry on the cake, it does all this with Rolls Royce-designed engines.
Even if the A380 doesn’t pan out for Qatar Airways (they’ve only ordered 10 thus far), you can chalk the investment up to common sense. This may be the first plane to need a runway this size but it won’t be the last. Commercial aviation is trending towards ever-bigger planes, with more space for the passengers who yield the most profits. And no, that isn’t Economy. Even on shorter routes – Doha-Mumbai, for instance – the A380 flays the competition by permitting more seating, which adds up to fewer flights per day and lower expenditures on staff. Although major developments in airline models come only once in a while – the Super Jumbo took 13 years to develop and Boeing’s long-delayed 747-8, the American company’s riposte to its European rivals, is almost ready to fly – Airbus’ competitors are already plotting their comeback.
