Airbus launched the A380 yesterday, but don’t count on seeing it in Nairobi though. Kenya Airways has hitched its future for the next ten years to Boeing’s 777 aircraft. One was delivered last year and the other two will arrive this year and will be used for long-distance flights in Africa, Asia, Europe, and eventually America.

Also it doesn’t appear that Jomo Kenyatta airport has made upgrades to enable it to land the plane and process the huge passenger numbers on the double-decker aircraft. The A380 has the potential to be unlike anything now flying. Though it will have only 35% more seats than a 747, it will have 49% more usable passenger space. That leaves open possibilities like in-flight bars, lounges, shops and gyms.

The plane is launched against stiff opposition from America – no American passenger carrier has signed up and the Bush administration filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization saying that Airbus is unfairly subsidized.