In the early 1990s, the managers of the Airbus consortium began studying the possibility of producing a “mega jumbo jet” capable of carrying more than 500 passengers and therefore able to compete directly with the Boeing 747. The first studies did not begin before 1994, when the ...In the early 1990s, the managers of the Airbus consortium began studying the possibility of producing a “mega jumbo jet” capable of carrying more than 500 passengers and therefore able to compete directly with the Boeing 747. The first studies did not begin before 1994, when the project was given the name A-3XX.
After initial consideration a rather unusual configuration, with a double tail fin and a fuselage with a large cross-section, Airbus finally decided to retain a more conventional design with a single tail fin, but with two passenger decks, one on top of the other. Production of the first elements began in 2002, with more than 6,000 people working on this project across a number of different sites. In fact, one of the outstanding features of this programme has been the close links formed between the various production sites, which are able to share information in real time via the ACE (Airbus Concurrent Engineering) system on which all data is instantly made available online.