=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/chronicle/archive/2005/01= /27/BUGLBB0UL01.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, January 27, 2005 (SF Chronicle) A whole new magic carpet ride/SFO up and ready for 2006 arrival of Airbus A= 380 David Armstrong, Chronicle Staff Writer The jumbo Airbus A380 jetliner, unveiled with great fanfare in France la= st week, won't fly to San Francisco International Airport until late next year. SFO officials, however, say they are ready now for the huge new plane, which they believe will boost lucrative international travel. "We started planning 10 years ago for this," said airport director John Martin, referring to the next generation of super-sized aircraft. The A380 is the largest commercial passenger jet ever built. "We wanted to be ready. We're ready today. "We're a major international gateway," Martin said. "We see our growth coming in the international market. These (A380) aircraft are also very efficient. They'll handle four to five times more passengers than our average flight (of) about 125 passengers." SFO built its $900 million-plus International Terminal, which opened in 2000, with two-level gateways constructed specifically to handle the A380, a double-decker aircraft that can carry from 500 to nearly 1,000 passengers, depending on how airlines configure the interior. The Boeing 747-400, the jumbo workhorse of the skies for the past 35 years, holds about 400 passengers. Last year, the airport spent $18 million widening taxiway shoulders for the new plane, which needs more room to maneuver than smaller aircraft, but can take off and land on the airport's existing runways. Three-fourths of the money came from federal funds, with the balance drawn from SFO's operating budget, according to airport spokesman Michael McCarron. The only thing left to do, McCarron said, is to make small mechanical adjustments in SFO's portable jetways so they can be raised and lowered to load or unload the A380's upper and lower decks simultaneously. All that extra room inside the Airbus 380 is tempting for airline impresarios such as Virgin Atlantic Airways Chairman Richard Branson, who said of his airline, "We are trying to create a cruise liner in the sky. The A380 is a very exciting plane." Virgin will install a beauty salon, workout room and cocktail bars on its A380s, which the carrier plans to fly to SFO, Branson said. The airline will also operate a casino onboard, featuring card games like blackjack, except on flights to the United States, where airborne gambling is illegal. The cheeky London airline also plans to install a few dozen screened-off double beds in Upper Class, its first- and business-class cabin. "With double beds and a casino, you will have at least two ways to get lucky," Branson quipped. Virgin Atlantic rival British Airways, which also flies to SFO, has no plans to buy the A380, said executive vice president Robin Hayes. "We look for 'thick' routes, where you have both strong leisure and business markets," he said. "I think the question for airlines is: How many thick markets are there for very large aircraft?" Hayes also said that elaborate onboard amenities like gyms and salons add weight to the A380 -- it is already 1.3 million pounds, to the Boeing 747's 875,000 pounds -- without adding revenue. No U.S. passenger airline has yet ordered the A380s, but the freight carrier UPS has ordered 10, and its competitor FedEx Express has also ordered 10. Boeing Co. of Chicago, which sells long-haul 747s and 777s to passenger airlines, is also developing a mid-sized, long-range plane called the 7E7 Dreamliner to compete with Airbus. The 7E7, which will be rolled out in 2008 and seat 257, won't require any major adjustments by airports. When the A380 takes wing, SFO will be one of just six U.S. airports to receive the behemoth, which will be flown initially on transoceanic routes by foreign airlines and freight carriers. New York's John F. Kennedy International, Chicago's O'Hare International, Los Angeles International and FedEx air hubs in Anchorage and Memphis will also take the plane. "It's a fact of life that air traffic is growing," said Richard Marchi, senior vice president of Airports Council International. "At the really congested airports, like London Heathrow, JFK and San Francisco, the A380 will help. It will need more space, but it won't need the space of two 747s." Airbus is selling the A380, a dolphin-nosed aircraft with a wingspan 50 feet longer than the 747, for up to $230 million each. Airbus, based in Toulouse, France, has taken orders for 159 of the A380s, more than half of the 250 planes Airbus officials say they need to sell to break even. The company is marketing the plane as a quiet, fuel-efficient 21st century marvel and an icon-in-waiting -- the successor to the now-retired supersonic Concorde, which Airbus also manufactured. Airbus, which receives politically controversial start-up loans from the governments of France, Germany, Britain and Spain whenever it builds a new plane, has spent $16 billion developing the A380. Boeing has criticized the government loans to Airbus, which sold more commercial civil aircraft in each of the past two years than the once-dominant Boeing, as being anti-competitive. The United States and European Union are in talks in hopes of avoiding protracted World Trade Organization lawsuits over aircraft subsidies. Government links to the A380 at the lavish unveiling in Toulouse were clearly evident. French President Jacques Chirac, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder all attended the ceremony. In prepared remarks, Schroeder took a shot at U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's dismissive remark about "old Europe" by saying the A380 is a technological triumph that represents "the best scientific tradition of good 'old Europe.' " The A380 has been sold to international carriers with reputations for high-end service. Cash-rich Emirates Airlines has ordered 45 planes, Singapore Airlines signed for 10 with an option for 15 more, Lufthansa Airlines ordered seven and Virgin Atlantic Airways ordered six. Singapore, Lufthansa and Virgin all serve SFO, which actively courts international traffic. International travelers spend more money than do domestic fliers, who increasingly fly on budget carriers. International fliers also help establish the airport as a key connecting hub and enhance San Francisco's global profile. SFO's international traffic grew 14 percent last year, compared with 12 percent for domestic traffic. International travel provided SFO with 24 percent of its 33 million passengers in 2004, and airport officials think the percentage could grow. SFO officials say Singapore Airlines will probably be the first to fly t= he A380 to San Francisco. However, Singapore Airlines CEO Chew Choon Seng has said only that his airline plans to start A380 service between Singapore and an unnamed California airport next year. SFO's only major California rival for international traffic is Los Angel= es International, which counted 61 million passengers in 2004 and also markets itself as a world gateway. Los Angeles plans to spend $53 million to get its Tom Bradley International Terminal ready for the A380, in addition to a previously planned $225 million renovation of the 1984 terminal, said LAX spokesperson Nancy Castles. The airport will strengthen tunnel tops, adapt gateways, streamline small buildings near the Tom Bradley terminal and widen taxiways with the $53 million, she said. "This work will be done by September of 2006," Castles said, "two months before airlines start to fly A380s here. The airport will be ready." SFO executives are pleased that their relatively small expenditure for t= he A380s is out of the way -- and happy they don't have to pony up $120 million just to get ready for the new plane, as New York's Kennedy Airport is doing. In the meantime, SFO received good financial news this week, when Standa= rd & Poor's, Moody's Financial Services and Fitch Ratings all raised SFO's credit rating from negative to stable. Moody's explained its upgrade by citing an increase in traffic from post-Sept. 11 and dot-com bust lows, plus cost-cutting by the airport and worldwide growth in air traffic. E-mail David Armstrong at davidarmstron@sfchronicle. com. --------------= -------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2005 SF Chronicle