That's the most likely answer, but another is taxiway restrictions. Not all taxiways are made to take every size and weight aircraft. They may be older or run next to buildings (You don't exactly want part of the wing sheared off by a wall.). Thus the plane would have needed to wait until a suitable taxi path was available before heading to the runway.
Only AirFrance and British Airways lost anything on the Concorde. The project was way over budget and behind schedule. It was only completed for bragging rights, even though the Russians beat them to it with the Tu-144 by two months.
As for noise.. do you really think four engines in full afterburner are quiet? Try living next to a military base with fighter aircraft climbing out overhead all the time for a bit of what it's like.
The A-380 will not be much more noisy than an A-340. The current high bypass turbofan engines with stage 2 (or 3) hush kits are much quieter.
Slashdot Mirror
That's the most likely answer, but another is taxiway restrictions. Not all taxiways are made to take every size and weight aircraft. They may be older or run next to buildings (You don't exactly want part of the wing sheared off by a wall.). Thus the plane would have needed to wait until a suitable taxi path was available before heading to the runway.
Only AirFrance and British Airways lost anything on the Concorde. The project was way over budget and behind schedule. It was only completed for bragging rights, even though the Russians beat them to it with the Tu-144 by two months.
As for noise.. do you really think four engines in full afterburner are quiet? Try living next to a military base with fighter aircraft climbing out overhead all the time for a bit of what it's like.
The A-380 will not be much more noisy than an A-340. The current high bypass turbofan engines with stage 2 (or 3) hush kits are much quieter.