COLBY COSH IS EXCITED about the new Airbus superjumbo:

One feels a little embarrassed at the “See? Europeans aren’t entirely pathetic” part. And, after all, the A380 still does need to get off the ground. But in an age of exaggerated environmental and geopolitical anxieties, it is encouraging to see a feat of engineering and business flair celebrated without apology. . . .

For much of my own life, the aviation world seems to have been focused on finding new marginal vistas for air travel rather than devising grandiose new signature aircraft. Environmentalism and OPEC wiped out the dreams of supersonic air travel in the 1970s, and we have watched that glorious bird of prey, the Concorde, live out its entire life cycle as a frou-frou oddity. Now, at last, credible contenders to supplant the 747 are emerging.

Brian Micklethwait, on the other hand, is skeptical: ” I suspect that the A380 is costing Europe a whole lot more than is being officially suggested, and that Boeing decided not to build a similar aircraft for good, loss-avoiding reasons.”

I’ll be interested to see if they can really get 800-900 passengers boarded and seated in less time than it takes to fly across the Atlantic . . . .

UPDATE: More thoughts here.

I have to admit that I find James Fallows’ rather different vision of the future of air travel more compelling, though to be fair he’s really talking about domestic travel here, not long-haul international flights.