A bird, a plane? No, it’s a superplane: Heathrow hails arrival of world giant

THE world’s largest passenger plane, the 555-seater Airbus A380 superjumbo, took to the skies above London yesterday.

With test pilot Ed Strongman at the controls, the double-decker aircraft drew to a halt outside the new pier at Heathrow Airport.

Flying in from the Berlin Air Show, the plane had taken a deliberate detour so it could fly over two Airbus British plants — Broughton in north Wales, where the plane’s wings are made, and Filton in Bristol.

Heathrow staff broke off from their work to applaud as the giant plane touched down at 1.20pm — exactly on time.

There was further applause from the invited guests in the airport’s Pier 6, which will be able to take as many as 2,200 passengers who will either be boarding or disembarking from A380s.

Singapore Airlines will be the first carrier to start commercial flights using the A380 and will be including Heathrow on its superjumbo destination schedule.

Although the plane could take up to 800 passengers, Singapore Airlines intends to start with fewer than 480 passengers in three classes.

Richard Branson’s airline Virgin Atlantic has ordered six superjumbos, which are due to arrive in 2008.

Heathrow is one of 25 airports that will be ready to take the A380 by the end of this year and 60 airports will be superjumbo-compatible by 2010.

Among the dignitaries welcoming the plane was British Chancellor Gordon Brown. With him were the heads of some of the 16 airlines that have already ordered the 240ft-long aircraft, which will go into passenger service in December this year.

With lower fuel consumption and therefore lower emissions than similar large aircraft, the A380 is seen by Airbus as being environmentally-friendly, although campaigners around Heathrow, as well as green groups, disagree.

Yesterday’s plane arrived empty and Singapore Airlines hopes to be able to give details of how it will configure the aircraft this autumn.

Although the airline is going to accommodate fewer than 480 passengers on board, other carriers could opt for more seats.

But with the aircraft about 49% larger than a Boeing 747, there should be more leg room whatever the configuration.

Airbus said yesterday that anyone wanting to order a superjumbo will have to wait until 2011 to get their aircraft.