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It’s not every day that they unveil the largest passenger airliner in history. The A380 hasn’t flown yet, and it will take years to see whether Airbus has got the mega-jumbo formula right. Will this be the Spruce Goose that lays the golden egg, or will its egg be cooked before this product line breaks even (at around 250 units sold – 130 currently on order)?

In typical Branson style, Virgin Atlantic claims that their A380s will feature on-board casinos and double beds. But come on, this isn’t going to happen – given the meagre profit margins in today’s airline market, valuable square meters of cabin space are hardly going to be wasted on roulette wheels and lounge bars. No, these planes are going to be filled with SEATS. Spa pools, gyms and restaurants in the sky are all (rather clever) marketing hype.

The double-decker jumbo is of course, more than a plane, and some European leaders are already framing it as a powerful symbol of Europe. Well, I suppose that the romantic but ill-conceived Concorde operated not only in the stratosphere, but in the popular imagination as a sleek silver token of entente cordiale across the English Channel. Let us hope that the A380 is founded on more sound economics and design principals than its supersonic predecessor.

(By the way, if you own an airport, it’s probably a good idea to check out the Airbus Airport Manual to work out how many millions you’re going to have to spend to actually handle 550+ passengers arriving in one hit…)

It’s probably worth remembering that the A380 has been launched against the background of continuing lukewarm economic performance in Europe: the day after French industry revels in this triumph of cooperative engineering, workers from SNCF, EDF and La Poste go on strike at protest at job cuts proposed in state-owned agencies… good luck getting home from the party in Toulouse on the 30% of TGVs that are still running!