Following the delivery of British Airways' first A380 superjumbo last month, the airline has called on some famous faces to put its new aircraft to the test. Among those was Bryan Habana who was recruited to check out the new aircraft and put it through its paces.
South African Rugby player, Bryan Habana, pushed himself to new heights as he went up against British Airways' brand new superjumbo, the Airbus A380 in a 100m race.
Weighing in at 95kg with a height of 1,80m, Habana is pictured preparing to race British Airways' superjumbo of 366,000kg, with a height of 24m, a wingspan of 80m and 73m in length.
Bryan Habana, South African rugby player, said: "'It was a tough test of man versus machine. Once the A380 is on full throttle it picks up speed very rapidly, but you need to tune in to the video to see what happened next..."
Peter Nye, Senior First Officer A380, said: ''Habana is fast but had stiff competition with four Trent 900 Rolls-Royce engines, each one producing 70,000 pounds of thrust and accelerating very quickly indeed. We got airborne at 140 miles an hour, where we then flew up to 600 miles an hour.''
The airline's A380, which begins flying five times a week to Los Angeles from September 24, 2013 will also increase to start double daily flights to Hollywood from April 10, 2014.
British Airways' A380s will accommodate 469 customers across four cabins. Customers in First will be seated at the front of the main deck. The cabin will offer 14 seats and is evolved from the current First class with 30 per cent more personal space and 60 per cent more personal stowage.
Club World (business class) customers can choose from 44 seats on the main deck, or 53 seats on the upper deck. These upper deck seats will feature a new 2:3:2 configuration across the cabin.
The 55 World Traveller Plus (premium economy) seats will be located on the upper deck while World Traveller (economy) customers can choose seats on both the main and upper deck. Customers travelling in both World Traveller and World Traveller Plus will be able to enjoy the new cabins and seats that have proved so popular on our 777-300ER fleet.
The aircraft's innovative design makes it much quieter during take-off and landing and 16 per cent more fuel efficient than a Boeing 747. British Airways has ordered 12 A380s for delivery by 2016. Three will arrive this year followed by a further five in 2014.
The airline's website features information on the new aircraft, including computer generated imagery (CGI).
