British Airways Airbus A380 Inaugural Service to Chicago - O'Hare / ORD [05.04.2018]

Well...it's finally happened.13 years after the Airbus A380's maiden flight in Toulouse, France on April 27th, 2005 and its first commercial flight on October 25th, 2007 from Singapore to Sydney with Singapore Airlines, Chicago's very own O'Hare International Airport finally has regularly-scheduled A380 service...before today, only 2 A380's had ever been to O'Hare before:
Testbed airframe "world tour" flight 03.20.2007 - landed on RWY 4R
• A380 Chicago
&
• A380 landing at ORD 3/...
& an Emirates one-off flight on 07.19.2016 that also happened to be the first A380 revenue flight to ORD (with paying passengers aboard) - landed on RWY 10C
• INAUGURAL ORD Emirates...
British Airways ( ICAO : BAW / IATA : BA ) has officially become the first airline with scheduled Airbus A380 service to Chicago - O'Hare International Airport ( KORD / ORD ) from its main hub at London Heathrow Airport ( EGLL / LHR ), changing over the equipment on its evening flight, BAW297/296 from a Boeing 747-400 ( B744 ) to an A380-800 ( A388 )!
Their air traffic control callsign has also changed, from "Speedbird 297/296 Heavy" to "Speedbird 297/296 Super," both the Heavy and Super designations being verbal warnings to all aircraft in the vicinity to watch out for and possibly expect heavy wake turbulence behind and under the massive 4-engined aircraft.
Speedbird 297 Super landed on Runway 28-Center ( 2-8-Center / 28C ), overflying many North Side Chicago neighborhoods, where thousands upon thousands of people had gone outside their homes and jobs to watch it fly over thanks to major local news coverage of the event, both in anticipation of it and during and after the arrival. British Airways' ORD management team and the Chicago Department of Aviation were very kind in getting us out onto the airfield between runways to be right next to the A380'S arrival runway, close to its touchdown spot.
Gate M-11 is the only gate at ORD that can accommodate an A380. Back in 2016, over a few weeks, M-11 underwent multiple modifications including the addition of a 2nd jetbridge to reach the upper deck of the A380 as well as ramp modifications to accommodate the larger aircraft that meant the shifting of gates M-10 and M-9, WITHOUT the loss of widebody aircraft parking capabilities!
This arrival brought several hundred people out to O'Hare and the vicinity of the airport, from the usual gaggle of plane spotter friends of mine to airport employees on their days off work to the general public lined up against the airport perimeter fences who had heard about the well-publicized event through social media or the local TV and radio news, all who wanted to catch a glimpse of the gigantic widebody aircraft, a type which hadn't been seen at O'Hare since March 20th, 2007 and July 19th, 2016 when one of Airbus's test-beds visited the Windy City during its world tour and the latter, which was a one-off test run by Emirates to try out the modified M-11 Gate and jetways.
Aircraft G-XLEL Information:
Construction Number / cn / Manufacturer's Serial Number / MSN: 215
Aircraft Type: Airbus A380-841
First Flight: July 31st, 2014
Delivery Date: June 22nd, 2016 ( Ferried TLS - LHR 22 Jun 2016 on delivery )
Aiframe Age: 2.2 Years
Test registration: F-WWAL
Production Site: Toulouse (TLS)
Airframe Status: Active
Seating Configuration: F14C97W55Y303 ( 14 First Class Seats, 97 Business Class, 55 Premium Economy, & 303 Economy seats)
Powerplants: 4 Rolls-Royce RR Trent 900 high-bypass turbofan engines
Thanks for watching!
THIS VIDEO IS THE PROPERTY OF KZbin user joseg2143 AND MAY NOT BE COPIED, DOWNLOADED, TRANSFERRED, OR REPOSTED WITHOUT PRIOR AUTHORIZATION.
joseg2143 Chicago O'Hare Int'l Airport Plane Spotting / Aircraft Spotting / Flight Tracking / Planespotting / Aircraft Photography
Recorded with a Canon PowerShot SX40HS on Friday, May 4th, 2018.

[@ameerali.ouarda]

An absolute monster. Love the way it screams and screeches must have been so incredible to see it first hand. Might be biased but BA wears the A380 livery best.

[@jonphanspromotions]

I give credits to our mankind for creating such a beautiful piece of art that I am never tired of watching.

[@r12004rewy]

Well the A380s are back with most carriers what a difference a few years make

[@paulrainford2462]

Powered by four ROLLS ROYCE Trent engines, built with pride in Derby England.

[@jimbob2676]

To the English, they are built in Great Britain as English people are British first, then English.

[@mchristhomas]

And randomly disintegrating all over the world.

[@bebeguygoz6840]

@@jimbob2676 Motor...and the plane is first French technologie. (°+*)

[@MrDaiseymay]

@@mchristhomas like your brain cells

[@mchristhomas]

@@MrDaiseymay I've got a girlfriend thanks.

[@cherylreichardt]

Saw it return to O'HARE yesterday! Chills are still the same! What an incredible plane! It rules the sky!

[@ChicagoAirportSpotter]

Yes, I got a video of it arriving yesterday - kzbin.info/www/bejne/h4S8mKSohLWNhac It's the same aircraft in both videos, G-XLEL

[@chewyismycopilot788]

First time I saw one of these I was in the parking lot at a hotel by LAX and it passed real low, my jaw hit the floor! video doesn’t do it justice how big they are

[@rayeesmohammed7656]

It reminds me of the first train engine's test drive in Manchester. I believe people were even more amazed at it than we are today

[@ronellecoetzer2850]

Brilliant footage thanks

[@TheFlyingFrenchmanHD]

Excellent job! Thanks for sharing.

[@dapto234]

Great video of BA A380 landing but it looked as if the water cannon trucks were caught out of position a bit the starboard side truck was too far away.

[@ROMEROME1990]

Awesome to see the BA A388 at ORD, with already so many numerous international carriers serving there. Right on!...

[@cristianliviu7030]

Beautiful monster Airbus A380 . Beautiful wings . Thanks .

[@kiwimcmango]

My house is right under the O’Hare landing pattern so occasionally I see some big guys, an whenever I hear a loud noise I always track it on FlightRadar24.

[@th82m26]

2:48 the way those wheels touched the runway!

[@carljhonson4088]

WOW AMAZING FILMING, how exciting, the Airbus A380 is the airplane of my dreams, this is perfect.

[@Mike-ry9ir]

love your videos because it feels like getting the "inside scoop" as opposed to spotting from outside the airport =p

[@ChicagoAirportSpotter]

Mike Chan Well, I work here, so I might as well, huh? 😜😂 lol, I love doing these videos and sharing them and seeing the reactions I get from viewers. Thank you!

[@timmyjones1921]

Very Wonderful Posting Superb Effort & Job Thank You 100% .

[@gary6463]

Awesome camera work 🎥🙂

[@jogman262]

Looks like a 747 right behind him. Awesome!

[@ChicagoAirportSpotter]

Mark S Yep! It was an AirBridgeCargo 747-8F. I have video of that landing, too.

[@jogman262]

Cool! I see on FlightAware an AB 380 arriving from LHR tonight at 7:42pm. I'm under it when it comes in!

[@jogman262]

He was a little late that night. I park a little west of 10R (I think it is?)There is a vacant property where Thomas Dr. turns into Eagle Dr. I spotted him way out to the west where they make their 180 to come back east. It was starting to get a little dark, and when he flew over, it looked more massive than I could imagine. I've seen one on the ground at LAX, and I've seen them go over northern Illinois at 35, 000 ft. or so on the way to IAH, but this was the first time I've seen one go right over my head. Awesome!!!

[@ChicagoAirportSpotter]

Mark S Yeah, we haven't had an A380 here since 7/19/16...that was a test and everyone is still getting familiar. Lots of taxiway and runway restrictions for everyone to memorize and implement and get used to. That extended their ground time last week. They taxied for well over a half hour to take off RWY 28C on top of a 10-minute push delay at the gate.

[@cannedheat300]

I've always found it strange that the 3rd most populated city in the USA was not equipped to handle the A380. Unfortunately, I missed the day this one landed. Thx for spotting it.

[@ChicagoAirportSpotter]

Madam_Meow99 My pleasure. And unfortunately, it kind of comes down to geography. Chicago's not on the coast of either ocean and we didn't really have a need for it, but I'm happy it's finally here on a daily basis.

[@pawelodziomek4908]

Espacially since emirates litterally fly them everywhere Sorry I'm replying late

[@chicagodep9592]

Wow, your view was a hell of a lot better than mine! Beauty

[@richardfleer1905]

Jose, great editing of this event. I went to see the Airbus A380 take off. The queen of the skies has been replaced by the king of the skies!

[@r12004rewy]

Hopefully BA will continue it's A380 services very soon.

[@mtr.visuals]

They’re coming back to O’hare in early June

[@danamellecker4093]

I was on that flight! It was a little disconcerting to see all of the emergency response vehicles. The pilot made an announcement. ;-)

[@jeffpope0]

Awesome video!

[@ChicagoAirportSpotter]

jeffpope0 Thank you! I linked your A380 video in my long-winded description, by the way...people need to know this was not the first time!

[@misterbigg3336]

Wow cool I saw this thing flying over my house and I couldn't believe it!

[@LooknJB]

Was hoping you would get this watched it live such an awesome bird

[@ChicagoAirportSpotter]

CJ Of course I wasn't gonna miss this! I ran into a friend at O'Hare I hadn't seen in ages and first thing he says to me as he walked up to shake my hand was "I knew you'd be out here. You're like a rash that won't go away." 😂😂😂

[@TerrelLism]

O wow it's been almost 11 years since the A380 entered service? Doesn't seem that long. But I was there for this! T5 was so festive! The plane was massive at the gate! I hope I can fly it later this year on my 1st international trip to London.

[@ChicagoAirportSpotter]

TerrelLism Yep, 11 years. Can you believe it? I stopped over at T5 for a while after the plane blocked in. Met the crew, too, awesome people. It was a great day. I, too am hoping on being in this flight to London sometime this Summer. Was supposed to be on it on May 8th, but work held me back.

[@anglotopia]

Fantastic video! You captured it perfectly and it was great to meet you!

[@ChicagoAirportSpotter]

anglotopia Thank you! I didn't realize you were on KZbin, too, haha. It was great meeting you as well, that was a great day!

[@123aduran2]

Nice video! Got to see this up close in the gate and got a video of the A380 on my channel.

[@xbox360dm]

I’ve just picked up the A380 model aircraft today, and it’s absolutely amazing model.

[@OHAREAVIATION]

Great job, Jose! Many thanks... wish I could’ve been there.

[@LeroyTyler]

Jay's O'HareAviation Plane Spotting HD just got off this flight 12 hours ago. Look out for the trip report!

[@OHAREAVIATION]

Leroy Tyler thanks for the note! I’ll probably be flying on it sometime myself... gotta add another A380 to the list of ones i’ve flown on

[@LeroyTyler]

Just got off this flight 12 hours ago. Putting together the trip report as we speak :)

[@MarcusLeepapi]

Very nice with the A380 coming in with traffic and space between..

[@sergevivier2861]

Great for Chicago.

[@SuperMhinton]

This is a great video. It's good to see the a380s come to the midwest states. I remember when Houston became the first midwest city to receive the a380 service in 2012.

[@johniii8147]

Marco Hinton lol Houston is not in the Midwest. Time for s geography lesson

[@MrAndreipjurca]

HOW!! That was cool.

[@patriciacacomanolis7781]

beautiful plane reminds me of the eagle

[@andrewanane9715]

All hail the king

[@bruceburns1672]

The public loves them , the industry hates them , greed , everything has to be maximum profit .

[@tjfSIM]

Yeh. The A380 is a huge hit with passengers, and as far as I know the operators who do use them are very pleased with their performance and reliability. On the right routes I think the A380 can be very profitable, especially when there is a problem with slot availability. The reason it's not more popular is flexibility, and fluctuating fuel prices. A380s pretty much have to be operating at capacity to offset fuel costs, and airlines sacrifice schedule flexibility when they replace 2 777 flights with one A380 flight. American carriers prefer to offer more choice in their timetables, so unless it's in their interest to release slots, they'll prefer to operate several smaller aircraft, which are easier and more practical to manouevre at airports, quicker to turn around and more fuel efficient.

[@paulybarr]

Well.. yes, of course there has to be a profit- airlines are a business, not a charity. Don't get me wrong- I love flying in them, and have done so six times, on one of the longest hauls in the world: Auckland (New Zealand) to Dubai. But if the 777s and 787s ( Dreamliner) are more economical, then the airlines are going to favour them- and they do.

[@michealktrevor]

I think Emirates, BA & China Southern have utilised them well. They're the only operators who havent complained much about them.

[@magic3061]

Magic..

[@jcarlosmasp]

Amazing! Thaks for share! Before the BA380, what was the other four-engine?

[@ChicagoAirportSpotter]

Jose Carlos de Moraes Pires Do you mean after it? Behind the British A380 was an AirBridgeCargo 747-8F

[@jcarlosmasp]

Yes, behind! Thanks!

[@nyctravelingexplorer777]

That was one aggressive landing with the a380.

[@George_Henshaw]

Awesome to now get some a380s to do some planespottibg this summer

[@katierhi6528]

I wanna go on the BA a380 to visit my best friend in Chicago!

[@GBraidi78]

Make sure it's flight BA297/296!

[@Digital111]

Is the A380 service for the summer season only?

[@davidhoffman1278]

I just know that Spirit Airlines told their pilots to arrive just ahead of the BA A380.

[@MrDaiseymay]

i never noticed

[@jolebole-yt]

Sure is a big boy! :)

[@JaydenWong]

6:08 what is that fire truck spraying at? Amazing video!!

[@ChicagoAirportSpotter]

One World Flyer They're spraying the A380! Lol, they do this everytime a new aircraft type comes in or a new route us inaugurated, like Chicago - Budapest on Saturday and this on Friday.

[@JaydenWong]

oops sorry it should've been 'the truck on the right hand side'. Too windy haha

[@paulybarr]

It's a welcome to a new plane's arrival- like wetting a baby's head at a christening. They also get out the hoses on other special occasions, such as the retirement of a long-serving captain.

[@jasminderpinder]

That was my thought as well, lol. The truck on the left is close to the A380 and its spray arches neatly over the Speedbird as it should; however the firetruck on the right seems to be miles away and the jet of water reaches no where near the aircraft, instead soaking everything else in between.. hehe.

[@LeroyTyler]

One World Flyer just uploaded the trip report for this :)

[@nabibakhsh1632]

British Airways has stopped their service to Pakistan many years before. American and European lines has also stopped their service to Pakistan. The last European airline was Swiss airline in which I travelled from Dallas (Washington) to Karachi in 2003.I travelled by British Airways from New York to London in 1979 when returning from Nigeria to Pakistan. The airline services were nice. Then in 2008 and 2012,I travelled from Stockholm to London. Engr Nabi Bakhsh Marwat Lahore

[@DowntownCanon]

Why does it need all those windows in the cargo deck?

[@paul2587]

This is a potentially big, market-eating coup for BA as it is the only major European carrier to fly this awesome big bird to the Windy City. I expect others to follow BA's lead, which can only be good thing for travel to the USA's Midwest and beyond.

[@gibbyh65]

so sad, that i will never fly on this plane, what a dream..

[@ChicagoAirportSpotter]

gibbyh65 Why not? They still have quite a few years ahead of them!

[@gibbyh65]

having two back surgeries have left me on ssdi, will not be financially able..so i just watch all the videos of the plane i can..

[@chris55068]

I've made a few parts for these

[@sidneymathuka9202]

Smells good

[@habyss]

Never seen one of those at ORD. Must be a feeder from an airstrip in Indiana.

[@umgadan]

look at crj first yeah boy

[@luckyme4136]

I want to see ChicagoTown Pizza celebrate this day by making the 380 double crust double cheese extravaganza pizza!😋👌

[@jkdrummer9585]

No thrust reverser used?

[@GBraidi78]

Of course they were used, but I think the A380s only Engine #2 and #3 are used for reversing the thrust! I don't know why not all 4 engines are used!

[@kennyroberts5363]

Because the braking system is good on all the wheels

[@bruceburns1672]

I would love to see the figures for profitability comparing the twin engine aircraft against the A380 for one person on each of the two styles of aircraft ., what is the difference to see why the airline industry has turned their back on this aircraft , there will never be another large aircraft like this one , no one will ever invest because of the failure of this aircraft to be profitable , I hope the industry has not shot itself in the foot if in 10 years they decide its better to have larger aircraft again .

[@danyf3116]

The yellowish Spirit plane reminds me of Frank Drebin from Naked Gun when he arrives at an airport for red carpet arrival. Thinking it is for him, he thanks everyone for coming out. Turns out he was on the same plane as Weird Al Yankovic. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mXebY6GGmLdsZ68

[@rickybrown5817]

too far i like closer see sound

[@ChicagoAirportSpotter]

This is as close as you can legally get to an active runway under normal operations in the U.S. per CFR 14, Part 139.

[@georgescott3652]

Wow! That’s amazing!

[@jogman262]

Just noticed 18 thumbs down. For real, and why?

[@ChicagoAirportSpotter]

Mark S Believe it or not, I can attribute at least 10 of those to people I work with or used to be associated with when it comes to planespotting. They wanna be petty? Fine, let 'em. I don't care. I have plenty of others who appreciate ny videos, many of whom offer constructive criticism on a regular basis. Thank you for watching!

[@jogman262]

They're great videos.

[@ChicagoAirportSpotter]

Mark S Thank you for the vote of confidence ☺

[@gary6463]

Haters will always be haters Mark.This video is very very neat ..Thanks for your beauitful work.✈🙂

[@jogman262]

It is a beautiful video. I've been a plane watcher since I was 8 years old and love this stuff.

[@takesallepurakesh1439]

The waste ari ways is briths

[@onepocketpaddy]

as of march, 2021, british airways has parked their A380's, but will be refurbishing interiors, so the aircraft will be seen when air travel permits hundreds of passengers to go together between large hub cities. Airbus's market timing for these beasts has proven to be flawed, faulty, but the plane flies just fine, uses just a bit too much fuel to justify flights today,given passenger demands and virus safety protocols. especially business travel.