[originaltext] Despite its enormous size the Airbus A380 still manages to lo

Despite its enormous size the Airbus A380 still manages to look graceful. The double-decker plane that can carry over 550 passengers dwarfs all other commercial aircraft. Later today one will land for the first time in the UK. Wings are produced here in North Wales and traveled by land, river and sea for assembly in France.
    Until now the Boeing 747 Jumbo was the world’s biggest passenger plane, but no longer. A380 is as high as an 8-storey building, take-off thrust from the plane’s four engines equals 2,500 family cars. Without seats, it can contain 10 squash courts. But the European Airbus will soon have an American rival, Boeing’s 787 Dream liner, which is smaller, can fly further, and isn’t restricted to large airports.
    These aircrafts represent extraordinary technological breakthrough, reducing fuel emissions by about 20%, much better conditions inside the aircraft and offering both airlines and passengers much greater flexibility in their long-hauled journeys. A380 may offer shops and a casino or even a gym so that its good-value seats will win the airline battle.
    Critics of the new aircraft including environmentalists say it might be more fuel efficient per passenger than other jets, but the benefits we’ll get from it are a drop in the ocean compared to the huge climate emissions from aviation. And aviation is the fastest growing source of climate-changing gases both in Britain and worldwide.