Today is the litmus test for the new A380. To fullfill US safety regulations, all passengers have to leave the airplane in less than 90 seconds using only half of the emergency exits. If I understand correctly they are going to use only one side of the airplane, to make it realistic. So it is 800+ passengers (fat,old,children) whose speed Airbus is going to depend on today. Commentators pointed out that the people doing the test might not be a clear representative sample of the flying American public. Well, we will know after today how it went... But beside the test, I don't think the idea of making these monsters is a good one, business-wise. Just because we can make them, that doesn't mean we should. We already have trouble with boarding a plane with 400 passengers, double that, and you have a nightmare. To fill up a plane to economic capacity can be also a challenge. Not to mention if the plane has to land in a different location where it was intended, putting up 800 people in hotels or bussing them. And I don't even want to think of this plane actually going down in an accident... I think aviation in the future should go towards the more economic, lighter planes instead of these monsters, but that's just me. My prediction that A380 will flop in the upcoming years. If we really get the birdflu going and oilprices rising, personal travels will be much less than before...
why can't the (mostly) free market decide? there is a market for ultra small to massive passenger planes and everything in between... the superjumbos have a use, that is in the economical moving of passengers on long-haul routes - the cost/passenger is lower, that is why airlines are willing to buy these planes