NASHE LUSHCHE. British and French leaders hail the rollout of the Airbus 380.

French President Jacques Chirac and other European leaders struck a triumphal note at the ceremony, hailing the A380 as a sign of Europe's capacity to generate world-beating industries.

"It's a symbol of economic strength, technological innovation, the dedication of the work force that built it and above all of a confidence that we can compete and win in the global market," British Prime Minister Tony Blair said.

Why does that flying ocean liner remind me of this?

The Economist suggests that a new vision of air transportation is emerging, in which more frequent direct flights with smaller planes have their place.

Boeing’s latest attempt to put things right, the 250-seat 7E7 “Dreamliner”, is born out of a belief that passengers will demand, and future deregulation allow, a big increase in “point-to-point” travel: direct flights between small and medium-sized cities, as opposed to the traditional hub-and-spoke model, in which international passengers fly between a few major airports and are then taken to more out of the way places on feeder flights. Boeing hopes the new plane will prove popular with the time-conscious business flyer. It says that the 7E7’s advanced engines will cut airlines’ fuel costs by 20%. So far it has received 56 firm orders.

Quite so. And the airlines have yet to master the art of loading through more than one door, something railroads have been doing for going on 180 years. Visualize the ruckus 800 self-important types all of whom have to be first off this post-modern Zeppelin will create.