The Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger aircraft, has a maximum take-off weight of around 575 (metric) tonnes. In a two-class configuration the aircraft caries 644 passengers. The aircraft can take a maximum of 20 (metric) tonnes of cargo in its cargo hold.

Question

Consider a fully loaded A380 that's about to take off. Assume that the average passenger weighs 80 kilograms and carries with them additional 25 kilograms of hand luggage, and that the cargo holds are filled up. In this case, what percentage of the total aircraft mass is taken by the payload? Input the answer as a percentage (without the % sign).

Answer 1

To determine the payload percentage of a fully loaded Airbus A380, we first need to calculate the weight of the payload, which consists of the passengers, their hand luggage, and the cargo.

1. Weight of Passengers:

   • Number of passengers = 644
   • Average weight of a passenger = 80 kg
   • Total weight of passengers = 644 passengers * 80 kg/passenger = 51,520 kg

2. Weight of Hand Luggage:

   • Additional weight per passenger (hand luggage) = 25 kg
   • Total weight of hand luggage = 644 passengers * 25 kg/passenger = 16,100 kg

3. Weight of Cargo:

   • Maximum cargo weight = 20,000 kg (20 metric tonnes)

4. Total Weight of Payload:

   • Total payload = Weight of passengers + Weight of hand luggage + Weight of cargo
   • Total payload = 51,520 kg + 16,100 kg + 20,000 kg = 87,620 kg

5. Total Aircraft Weight:

   • Maximum take-off weight = 575,000 kg (575 metric tonnes)

6. Percentage of Payload in Total Aircraft Mass:

   • Percentage of payload = (Total payload / Total aircraft weight) * 100
   • Percentage of payload = (87,620 kg / 575,000 kg) * 100 ≈ 15.25%

Therefore, the final answer, rounded as requested, is:

15.25