With projected operating costs 20% lower per passenger then the 747, I think the A380 has a good chance of being succesful.
I watched the same special, and I laughed everytime the Airbus PR guy talked about how it was big enough to have 'lounges and duty free shops'. In today's flying business, there will simply be more seats. Another howler of his was that it was so big that they could make all the seats wider. ?! There's no reason you can't put wider seats on any commercial aircraft, except that it cuts into your revenue. I expect A380s to be just as narrow-seated as the rest of the planes out there, especially if it means they can squeeze an entire additional column of paying seats down one side.
The A380 is a neat looking plane, don't get me wrong, but the snow job from that guy was deep.
