EVERYTHING about the A380 "Superjumbo" Airbus is mind-boggling. Configured to take about 550 passengers it could, in fact, accommodate 300 more - three quarters the passenger load of an existing 747 Jumbo Jet. There's room on its two floors for an in-flight shop, and some airlines are even talking of scrapping trolley meal service in favour of self service counters. And gyms, and casinos and fountains even. On take-off this double-deck colossus will weigh some 560 tons, which is why its four Rolls Royce engines have nearly the power of three B52 bombers. Yet it will be quieter than the Boeing 747 it supersedes and will have a range of 9,200 miles. The plane's wings, assembled at Broughton, span 262 feet - wider than a football pitch. We've come a long way since the Wright brothers first took to the air in December 1903. And now we learn that 800 quality new jobs are coming our way as a result of this new world-beater. Airbus reckons it needs to sell 250 of the giants to break even on its investment, and the life of the design - if it's anything like the Boeing 747 - could be 35 years or more.. The British Aviation Authority, the company which runs seven UK airports, predicts that in ten years' time the A380 could account for one in every eight flights in and out of Heathrow - some 160 flights a day. In other words, 10m more passengers could pass through Heathrow alone with no increase in the number of flights. In other words, if predictions are accurate, demand for the A380 will be huge and profitable and long-term - hence the jobs. But the other reason for the jobs is that the North Wales workforce has proved itself to be as skilled and dedicated as any in the world. Having shown it can help build what we must all hope will be the large carrier of choice for airlines, North Wales has once and for all shown the world that it is a hi-region on the up, deserving of confidence and investment, and not some sleepy backwater. The sooner other investors recognise this self evident fact, the better. For them as well as us. | 
