The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, four-engined airliner manufactured by Airbus S.A.S. It first flew on April 27, 2005 from Toulouse, France. Commercial flights should begin in late 2006 after 15 months of testing, with the delivery of the first aircraft to launch, for one of Airbus's customers–Singapore Airlines. During much of its development phase, the aircraft was known as the Airbus A3XX, and the nickname Superjumbo has also become associated with the A380.

The A380 is double decked, with the upper deck extending along the entire length of the fuselage. This allows for a spacious cabin, with the A380 in standard three-class configuration to seat 555 people, up to maximum of 853 in full economy class configuration. Two models of the A380 will be available at launch. The A380-800, the passenger model, is the largest passenger airliner in the world, superseding the Boeing 747. The other launch model, the A380-800F, will be a freight aircraft, and will be the second largest freight aircraft after the Antonov An-225.

The A380-800 has a maximum range of 15,000km (sufficient to fly from Chicago to Sydney nonstop), and a cruising speed of 1,050km/h, similar to that of the Boeing 747.