The world’s busiest airport is spending $30 million to make itself accessible to the world’s biggest airliner.
Hartsfield-Jackson International plans to widen taxiways and runway shoulders and make terminal improvements that will enable it to handle the Airbus A380 -- a double-decker widebody that can carry 400 to 525 passengers in typical configurations.
Korean Air is considering a handful of U.S. cities including Atlanta for service with the A380, a spokeswoman said.
Any airport that can handle a Boeing 747 already can handle an A380, according to Airbus spokeswoman Mary Anne Greczyn.
But big airports are adjusting gate areas and widening shoulders on runways and taxiways because the engines on the A380 sit so far out on the wings that they may kick up debris from the grass. That could be a hazard, as debris can be sucked into aircraft engines or cause other damage.
The airport plans to fund the improvements with passenger facility charges -- the $4.50 each passenger pays on top of the fare to fly out of Atlanta. The project is expected to be completed by 2013. It comes as the airport nears the home stretch of a new international terminal project.
The A380, which debuted in 2007, already flies to several airports in the United States -- including New York’s John F. Kennedy, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Washington Dulles and Miami will get service from the A380 starting in June.
Some airports have spent more to prepare for the A380, including JFK, which spent $179 million. JFK was also the site where a taxiing Air France A380 plane clipped a Delta Connection regional jet in April, spinning it nearly 90 degrees.
Other airports that meet requirements for the A380 include Denver, Dallas-Fort Worth, Orlando, and Anchorage, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
“Every airport that knows it will eventually host the A380 has made or plans to make upgrades and modifications as part of the regular evolution of the airports,” Greczyn said.
Airbus has orders for 234 A380s, with 46 in operation.
Hartsfield-Jackson general manager Louis Miller said the airport will recoup the investment through landing fees over time, but “it’s just worth the investment to provide the service to the customer.”
Air France, a Delta Air Lines marketing partner, has not yet expressed interest in flying the A380 to Atlanta, “but I’m sure they will,” Miller said.
The A380 is more popular among European and Asian carriers than among U.S. carriers, which favor smaller planes with more frequent flights from more cities. European carriers have more congested airports and operational limits, so airlines there making the most of each flight, said airline consultant Bob Mann, of Port Washington, NY.
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