Inside the Belly of a Big Bird

As of November 20, Air France Airlines started using the largest passenger airliner in the world - the Airbus A380. But they only have one lucky bird in their fleet and yours truly took her maiden voyage in it last night.

Along with my newest traveling companions, John and David, we played hide and go seek soon after takeoff. The craft is that big! It was the video camera mounted to the tail that clued us into the plane's girth.

The A380 packs in 538 passengers and every seat was sold out tonight. About 200 sat in the upper double-decker spread and the rest of us, including business and first, sat comfortably below.

I was in coach, 4 rows from the back and 1 row from a screaming infant, but, hey, I was lucky enough to be aboard a $400+ million plane.

Meals and service do not take longer, like you might expect. I think twice as many flight attendants were hired to help. The flight was incredibly quiet but flushing bathrooms still kept me awake. The peep hole windows funnel down to the outside while a spiral staircase gives a wider impression of the cabin.

And the most talked about addition is the open cocktail and fruit juice bar. Anytime you're thirsty and need to stretch your quads, belly-up to the bar and pour yourself a cold one for free.