"Anchorage among first cities to get world's largest aircraft"

Thursday, January 20, 2005

Anchorage among first cities to get world's largest aircraft
AIRBUS: FedEx has ordered 10 of the new "superjumbo" jets.
By RICHARD RICHTMYER
The Anchorage (AK) Daily News


Anchorage will be one of the first U.S. cities to see the massive new Airbus
A380 "superjumbo" jet, which FedEx plans to put into service on its Asia
routes in 2008.

Airbus unveiled the passenger version of the A380 in France this week. At
the same time, the company said it has received orders for 149 of the
"superjumbos," which carry a $280 million price tag.

Memphis, Tenn.-based FedEx, which uses Anchorage as its primary link to
Asia, has ordered 10, and it expects to be the first to use the behemoth
aircraft to carry cargo, said Steve Barber, a company spokesman. 

The A380 has a 262-foot wingspan, measures 239 feet from nose to tail and
can take off weighing as much as 592 tons, making it the world's largest
aircraft.

Anchorage is one of only two U.S. airports through which FedEx's A380s
initially will travel. The other is Memphis, Barber said.

But the A380 could first touch down at Anchorage's international airport as
early as this fall, said Mort Plumb, the airport director. Airbus is
considering Anchorage as part of a test program to see how airports will be
able to receive the mammoth planes, he said.

The airport has been planning for the arrival of the larger planes for
years, and last year it began a five-year taxiway and runway upgrade
program, paid for with $51.3 million in federal funding, Plumb said.

So far, the airport has rebuilt one of its taxiways and over the next few
years will be bringing more taxiways and a runway up to Federal Aviation
Administration specifications being established for the A380, he said.

The airport already occasionally plays host to the Antonov 225, a
Russian-built cargo plane that held the "world's largest" title until the
A380 unveiling.

The largest cargo plane that normally use the Anchorage airport is the
Boeing 747-400. Its wingspan is a full 51 feet shorter than the A380's, and
its maximum takeoff weight is 137 tons lighter.

FedEx said it expects to receive in 2008 the first three of the A380s it
ordered and during the first year of operation will use them for its
long-haul routes between North America and Asia. The company uses its
Anchorage hub as its primary sorting center for packages shipped between
those continents.

Atlanta-based UPS, which also uses Anchorage as its primary link to Asia,
also announced that it has ordered 10 A380s, but the company didn't talk
about where it plans to use them.

The company said it expects to begin receiving its planes in 2009.

Airport officials in Anchorage said they expect the UPS A380s to be passing
through Anchorage. The company recently put in an application to expand its
Anchorage operation for two more aircraft parking positions and has made an
application for real estate that could accommodate up to three A380s, Plumb
said.

Attached Photo:

FedEx, which has ordered 10 of the new Airbus A380 "superjumbo" jets, said
Anchorage will be one of only two American cities to see the world's largest
airplanes. The other is Memphis, the company's base. The Airbus A380 was
unveiled in France on Tuesday.

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