Flying

Airbus Superjumbo Jet Completes First Trans-Atlantic Flight

By RICHARD PYLE, Associated Press

posted: 19 March 2007 02:50 pm ET

: The Airbus A 380 is about to take off from Frankfurt, central Germany, in the first test flight with around 500 passengers on board. Credit: AP Photo/Michael Probst

NEW YORK (AP) -- The latest jetliner to claim the title of world's biggest passenger aircraft completed its maiden voyage from Europe to America on Monday, flying on football field-length wings and a prayer that the U.S. airline industry will want to buy the double-decker jumbo jet.

The four-engine Airbus A380, operated by German airline Lufthansa AG, touched down at John F. Kennedy International Airport at about 12:10 p.m. (1610GMT), to the cheers of onlookers gathered to watch the arrival. As the plane taxied, a pilot waved an American flag. Minutes later, an Australian Qantas airline A380, which had taken off from Toulouse, France, arrived in Los Angeles, with just a flight crew and no passengers.

The first U.S. flights offered a chance for Toulouse-based Airbus to show off the jewel of its offerings to potential American buyers and to the airports they hope to turn into flight bases for the jet. The 239-foot-(73-meter-)long A380 can seat as many as 550 passengers, hold 81,890 gallons (309,980 liters) of fuel, cruise at 560 mph (900 kph) and fly some 8,000 nautical miles (14,720 kilometers).

Lufthansa Flight 8940 was meant to be a statement by its builder, the European consortium now called EADS Airbus, that it can accommodate vast numbers of travelers comfortably and efficiently.

"We're talking about an airplane that is representing aviation in the 21st century in terms of efficiency," said Jens Bischoff, Lufthansa's vice president for the Americas.

It was one of the highest-profile maiden voyages since 1969, when the Concorde, the world's first and still only commercial supersonic transport, arrived at JFK from London. The European-made Concorde was retired from British and French service in 2005.

EADS Airbus hopes the A380 -- designed to carry more people farther than any plane in history, though at subsonic speeds -- will dominate air travel for the next two decades.

Anthony Coscia, chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said Monday's flight marked the beginning of a new era in meeting the New York City area's transportation needs. He says the A380 will generate millions of dollars in economic activity each year.

Waiting in the wings, however, is Boeing, whose 747 jumbo jet has been the world's principal long-haul aircraft for the past 30 years and now has competitors to the A380 in early production.

For Airbus, which has been beset by management and financial problems -- including a two-year delay to the A380 that wiped out more than $6.61 billion (euro4.97 billion) in profit forecasts -- the flight is a chance to prove that the plane will be ready when the first deliveries are made in October to Singapore airlines.

Lufthansa chief pilot Juergen Raps, who has flown the A380 before, said that despite the superjumbo jet's size, it was nimble and responsive.

"If I were to compare it to driving, you would think this would be like driving a truck or a bus," he said inside the plane's cockpit. "It's like driving a Ferrari."

The air show began early Monday at Frankfurt International Airport when Lufthansa Flight 8940 took off for the eight-hour flight to Kennedy, scheduled to land at 12:30 p.m. EDT (1630 GMT). Onboard were 483 people, including four pilots, four Airbus crew members, 23 Lufthansa cabin crew and several hundred passengers, mostly Airbus and Lufthansa employees along with some reporters.

The flight was operated just as if it were a commercial one with full dining and entertainment services.

After the inaugural run, Lufthansa and Airbus will operate a demonstration flight to Chicago's O'Hare Airport on Tuesday, before returning to New York and then Frankfurt. The plane then heads to Hong Kong and back, before continuing its journey to Washington Dulles International Airport on March 25, with a final stop at Lufthansa's Munich hub on March 28.

Using the performance results from this circuit -- flying the plane as would be done if it were in service -- Lufthansa's goal is to match the A380's turnaround time from landing to takeoff with that of much smaller long-haul jets already in operation.

Airbus has 166 orders from 15 airlines for the new plane, which has already made tests flights in Europe and to Asia.

"We are proud that ... we are now able to present the A380 to the American people," said Mario Heinen, the head of Airbus' A380 program.

In Los Angeles, the massive Airbus A380 descended out of a dank, gray sky and made a picture-perfect landing just before 9:30 a.m. (1630 GMT) as hundreds of spectators cheered from both sides of the airport.

"Pretty exciting day," Airbus North America Chairman Allan McArtor said as he greeted Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who watched the arrival with company officials and other dignitaries.

"This is going to be a very significant airplane for the future of air travel and tourism," Villaraigosa said.

The Los Angeles airport nearly lost out on the highly anticipated landing of the A380 after Airbus announced plans for an initial landing only in New York, but the company revised its plan to allow for nearly simultaneous arrival at both airports. Los Angeles sped up construction of a $9 million (euro6.77 million) giant gate to accommodate the plane, and ultimately plans to spend about $121 million (euro91 million) to prepare for the A380.