Mobissimo

The Airbus A380 and EADS, the holding company for the project have been foundering lately, however, the global testing, i.e. long range flying under different conditions is underway and looks successful.

TOULOUSE, FRANCE -- The Airbus A380 started a global circumnavigation Saturday that will take in the South and North Poles on the last of a series of test flights before it applies for its air safety certificate.

The plane, which is being tested under commercial conditions, is seeking to gain its airworthiness certificate by mid-December from European and U.S. aviation safety authorities.

It flies from Toulouse, France, where it is assembled, to Johannesburg, Sydney and Vancouver before returning to France.

The superjumbo left the southwestern city for South Africa at 9:15 p.m. (2015 Greenwich Mean Time) and is expected back in Toulouse on Thursday between 12:30 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. (1130 and 1200 GMT).

The delays of the launch of the A380 have cost the company billions and have allowed competitor Boeing to scoop up precious contracts.  Is the Airbus project a microcosm of why the EU won't work?  The reasons are many, but perhaps the ambitious project was better suited for a wholly private company.