When Boeing introduces the 747 way back in the day (some of you may have been around then
), airport had two major issues that they needed to resolve to get/keep these planes coming back. The terminals that existed couldn't even handle the amount of passengers waiting and then the ones getting off. They had to build new ones just for the 747. Second, the 747 was destroying the existing runways because they were not designed for such a heavy weight load so they had to upgrade that too.
That being said, I wonder what airports are going to do with this monster? Also, I wonder if there won't be any orders for them from any of the American carriers in fear that airport wont or can't afford the upgrades if they are needed?