The big picture: BA’s first A380 aircraft exits paintshop

BA’s first A380 aircraft has exited Airbus’ paint hangar in Hamburg, ahead of its delivery in July. MSN95 took two weeks to be painted in BA’s red, white and blue colours, with 24 workers applying 2,300 litres of paint across 3,500 sqm of surface. The tailfin alone features 10,000 black and white dots. The work was carried out using spray guns, traditional paint rollers and paint brushes, with a total of five coats being applied. The paint adds around 650kg to the weight of the aircraft, but is no thicker than the human hair. The aircraft’s interior has now been fully fitted, and will fly to the Airbus headquarters in Toulouse for final checks before being delivered to BA in July. Last month the carrier announced that Los Angeles and Hong Kong would be the first long-haul routes for its superjumbo, commencing in October and November respectively (see online news March 5). BA has also revealed details of the seating configuration for its A380s, which will feature 469 seats across World Traveller, World Traveller Plus, Club World and First (see online news December 11, 2012). Last year Business Traveller attended an event in France to watch BA’s A380 parts travelling in convoy to the Airbus final assembly line in Toulouse (see online news October 30, 2012). For more information visit ba.com, and for our comprehensive guide to current and forthcoming A380 operators, including images, seatplans and seating information, click here. Report by Mark Caswell