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The Airborne Elegance of the A380

The Airborne Elegance of the A380

By Justin Bachman

Like everything else associated with the Airbus A380 superjumbo, the jet's U.S. debut was done on a grand scale, with the sort of media hoopla given to Hollywood premieres and haute couture runway shows. Emirates threw a lavish party on Aug. 1 with champagne and canapés to celebrate the plane's first arrival at New York's JFK International Airport. The new model will serve the 13-hour Dubai-New York route thrice weekly, with a second A380 expected to be deployed on the Dubai-London route in December, followed by New Zealand in February 2009. The rapidly growing Emirates has 57 more A380s on order through June 2013, which will make it the largest operator of the behemoth.

The airline's marketing staff has worked overtime to generate buzz about the two onboard showers for the plane's 14 first-class passengers. But in many respects, the shower is among the least interesting features on this flying hotel, which has the kind of real estate not seen since the days when Boeing's (BA) early 747s were outfitted with baby grand pianos. If you're booked in economy on the floor below, sorry, upstairs is off limits.

Take a tour of the elite, upper deck of Emirates' first A380, where you can grab a shower in the front, and mill about the cocktail lounge in the back.