page_title: Airbus A380
section_title: Takeoff and landing separation
hierarchical_section_title: Airbus A380 / Design / Integration with infrastructure and regulations / Takeoff and landing separation
caption_attribution_description: A6-ADT A380 Emirates
context_page_description: The Airbus A380 is a wide-body aircraft manufactured by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner.
  Airbus studies started in 1988 and the project was announced in 1990 to challenge the dominance of the Boeing 747 in the long haul market.
  The then-designated A3XX project was presented in 1994; Airbus launched the €9.5 billion A380 programme on 19 December 2000.
  The first prototype was unveiled in Toulouse on 18 January 2005,
  with its first flight on 27 April 2005.
  Difficulties in electrical wiring caused a two-year delay and the development cost ballooned to €18 billion.
  It obtained its type certificate from the European Aviation Safety Agency and the US Federal Aviation Administration on 12 December 2006.
  It was first delivered to Singapore Airlines on 15 October 2007 and entered service on 25 October.
  Production peaked at 30 per year in 2012 and 2014. However, Airbus concedes that its $25 billion investment for the aircraft cannot be recouped.
  On 14 February 2019, after Emirates reduced its last orders in favour of the A350 and the A330neo, Airbus announced that A380 production would end by 2021.
context_section_description: In 2005, the ICAO recommended that provisional separation criteria for the A380 on takeoff and landing be substantially greater than for the 747 because preliminary flight test data suggested a stronger wake turbulence. These criteria were in effect while the ICAO's wake vortex steering group, with representatives from the JAA, Eurocontrol, the FAA, and Airbus, refined its 3-year study of the issue with additional flight testing. In September 2006, the working group presented its first conclusions to the ICAO.
  In November 2006, the ICAO issued new interim recommendations. Replacing a blanket 10 nautical miles (19 km) separation for aircraft trailing an A380 during approach, the new distances were 6 nmi (11 km), 8 nmi (15 km) and 10 nmi (19 km) respectively for non-A380 "Heavy", "Medium", and "Light" ICAO aircraft categories. These compared with the 4 nmi (7.4 km), 5 nmi (9.3 km) and 6 nmi (11 km) spacing applicable to other "Heavy" aircraft. Another A380 following an A380 should maintain a separation of 4 nmi (7.4 km). On departure behind an A380, non-A380 "Heavy" aircraft are required to wait two minutes, and "Medium"/"Light" aircraft three minutes for time based operations. The ICAO also recommends that pilots append the term "Super" to the aircraft's callsign when initiating communication with air traffic control, to distinguish the A380 from "Heavy" aircraft.
  In August 2008, the ICAO issued revised approach separations of 4 nmi (7.4 km) for Super (another A380), 6 nmi (11 km) for Heavy, 7 nmi (13 km) for medium/small, and 8 nmi (15 km) for light. In November 2008, an incident on a parallel runway during crosswinds made the Australian authorities change procedures for those conditions.
  Singapore Airlines describe the A380's landing speed of 130–135 kn (240–250 km/h) as "impressively slow".
caption: Wingtip vortex left behind
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