Decorating a giant airplane

When European leaders gathered this month in Toulouse, France, to christen the Airbus A380, they gazed reverently at the mammoth fuselage. But there was little for them to see inside, since the plane had yet to be outfitted.

That will change soon as Airbus installs seats and cabins for Singapore Airlines, the first carrier scheduled to put the aircraft into service, in mid-2006. Singapore is keeping its design plans close to the vest, but of all the ways the A380 will change air travel, the look and feel of its cabin may make the strongest impression.

While the new Airbus will have only 35 percent more seats than a standard Boeing 747, it will have 49 percent more floor space. That translates into more room per passenger.

Airbus has dangled tantalizing possibilities about how the carriers could use all that space. Spas, duty-free shops, bars and lounges figure prominently in the marketing pitch, though analysts dismiss many of these visions as commercially unviable flights of fancy. Still, some carriers seem determined to break new ground in comfort, particularly since the A380 will fly the world's longest routes.

"We want to create the elegance of a cruise liner at 40,000 feet," said the managing director of Malaysia Airlines, Ahmad Fuaad Dahlan.

Virgin Atlantic Airways founder Sir Richard Branson envisions equipping his A380s with fitness centers, beauty salons, casinos and more double beds in first class.

With its plane's ability to haul 555 or more passengers, Air France plans to trim its number of daily flights between Paris and New York to three, from the current four to six, depending on the day.

That is particularly valuable on long-haul routes between Asia and Europe or Asia and the United States, where, for reasons of the time difference, flights take off and land in narrow time periods.

The plane will also help the carriers squeeze the most out of airports like those in London and Tokyo, which suffer from a dire shortage of landing slots and runways.

Airports will bear the imprint of the A380 in other ways, through investments in wider taxiways, double-deck loading ramps and larger immigration and baggage facilities. For example, Heathrow, which serves London, is spending $842 million to bulk up for its oversize new tenant.

By 2016, Heathrow expects A380s to account for one in every eight flights, enabling it handle nearly 10 million more passengers with no increase in the number of departures.

Thar she blows!

The gray whales are swimming southward along the coast of Southern California to the warm lagoons off Mexico's Baja California. It's their winter retreat until they start their 10,000-mile migration northward to the Bering Sea in late February through the end of March.

The Scripps Institution of Oceanography Birch Aquarium and San Diego Harbor Excursion make it easy to view the migrating mammals on twice daily whale watches. The watches are the only ones in the San Diego area that have naturalists on board to explain the whales' lifestyle, characteristics, and habitats.

During the southward migration, the female whales deliver calves that were conceived the previous winter. At the lagoon, newborns nurse and fatten up for the northward journey, the longest migration for any mammal. The gray whale population for the eastern Pacific is estimated at 20,000. For general information on whales, contact the Birch Aquarium at 1-858-534-7336 or www.aquarium.ucsd.edu . For whale watch registration, call 1-800-442-7847.

Top Caribbean beaches

How do you like your beach? White sand or pink? A few palm trees, or a border of tropical flowers? Must it be deserted, or can you bear to share paradise? Whatever your pleasure, the Caribbean has it, and the February issue of Caribbean Travel & Life magazine is running the pictures to prove it, along with a list of "beaches that will leave you speechless." The beaches are:

Sand Dollar Point, Pine Cay, a serene 2-mile stretch of white sand and clear water on an 800-acre islet owned by the Meridian Club on the Turks and Caicos islands. Sand Dollar Point is home to a mere 30 cottages, 13 tiki huts, one 12-room hotel -- and not much else.

Casuarina Beach, on the western shore of tiny Palm Island in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, part of the Palm Island Resort. Here you'll find tawny sand and more palm trees than sun-worshippers.

Trunk Bay, St. John, which was preserved in its undeveloped state as part of the U.S. Virgin Islands National Park. A popular excursion among cruise passengers and other boaters, its white sand is bordered by a lush forest, rolling hills and bright flowers.

Palmetto Point, Barbuda, a little-known spot with soft white-and-pink sand.

North Coast, Anegada, 13 miles of all-but-deserted beach in the British Virgin Islands, protected by Horseshoe Reef and inhabited by a flock of flamingos.

Flamenco Beach, Culebra, 17 miles east of Puerto Rico, popular among the residents of San Juan, a ferry ride away.

Sandbar, Exumas, the Bahamas, a spit of land nearly a mile long at low tide, just west of the exclusive Musha Cay resort, where daily fees are around $25,000.

Baker's Bay, Guana Cay, at the northeastern tip of the Abacos' least-populated island. No roads lead here, but it's a short sail from local marinas. Get there while you can; the area is slated for development.

Pink Sands Beach, Harbour Island, in the Bahamas. Its salmon-colored sand and turquoise sea is a popular backdrop for fashion photo shoots.