Airbus and the A380

Did you know?

A plane takes off when upward lift exceeds the downward pull of gravity, and forward thrust exceeds the drag caused by air resistance.
Generating sufficient thrust and lift requires a lot of energy.
The most efficient ways to reduce this energy demand are:
- minimising the pull of gravity by reducing the weight of a plane and,
- minimising drag by making the plane more aerodynamic.
There are another two major means to reduce fuel consumption and hence, the amount of CO₂ emitted:
- High engine efficiencies
- Optimized flight procedures.

What are we doing?

Airbus is committed to build aircraft that are part of the solution to the environmental challenges.

Airbus has successfully set up an innovative Environment Management System aimed at continuously improving the environmental performance of the Company, at every stage of the lifetime of an aircraft.
Airbus uses this integrated lifecycle approach to map, better understand, monitor and minimize the environmental impact an aircraft and its production process may have over its lifecycle, from design to dismantling.
This has been recognised, for the first time in the aerospace sector, through an extended ISO14001 certification, which covers all the company’s production sites and products throughout their lifecycle. Today, Airbus is the first and only aerospace company in the world to have such an extended ISO 14001 certification.
Environmental objectives are part of the top design and manufacturing requirements of the A380.

What is the result?

An aircraft with unprecedented levels of efficiency and environmental performance and which is a real-world solution for a cleaner, quieter and smarter way to fly.
Less noise - The Airbus A380 is one of the quietest long-range aircraft in the world, despite its size.
With twice as many passengers, it even creates lower noise than the A340 - one of the quietest aircraft in its category.
Less fuel burn and emissions - The Airbus A380 has a very low fuel consumption of less than 3 litres per passenger per 100 kilometres.
The Airbus A380 generates as little as 75 g of CO₂ per passenger kilometre, knowing that the European car industry aims at 140 g of CO₂ per km in 2009.
Fewer movements - The Airbus A380 provides a new way to cope with air traffic growth in major markets worldwide, thanks to its unique capacity.
Greater numbers of people can be moved in and out of airports with each take-off and landing.
This, along with our extensive research efforts, is a clear sign of Airbus’ commitment to constructive ways towards greener skies..