News: Superjumbo takes first commercial flight
Flights > News > # 1544 (26/10/2007)
The world's largest passenger plane, the Airbus A380, has taken its first commercial flight, a seven-hour journey from Singapore to Sydney.
Singapore Airlines took delivery of the huge plane, dubbed the Superjumbo, just over a week ago. It can carry some 850 passengers, but took about 450 to Sydney.
The superjumbo's advent ends a reign of nearly four decades by the Boeing 747 as the world's biggest airliner.
The new aircraft suffered almost two years of delays because of a number of construction problems, but took off on time.
With the superjumbo's wing span almost the size of a football pitch, Sydney Airport has spent millions to accommodate the new plane. To cope with the two decks of seating, it has had to construct new aero bridges. It has also had to realign one of the taxi ways and strengthen a tunnel which runs underneath the main runway.
Singapore Airlines is now set to take delivery of a further five A380s in 2008, out of its order of 19. In total, Airbus now has 165 firm orders for the A380, and 20 "commitments" from 15 airlines.
However, some analysts remain unconvinced that the plane will be a success. While Airbus sees the future growth of air travel being focused on larger planes such as the A380 flying between major hubs, Boeing is hedging its bets on its new mid-sized 787 Dreamliner.
The Dreamliner has also been hit by production delays, with the first deliveries now not due until the end of next year, six months behind schedule.
Add to:
Related Airlines:
