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Aviation Biggest airliner makes first long-haul flight Airbus A380 touches down in Singapore as officials woo carriers A380 lands in Singapore Roslan Rahman / AFP - Getty Images An Airbus A380 superjumbo taxis past Changi International Airport's contr ol tower in Singapore Friday, shortly after touching down. The A380 lan ded in Singapore on its first test flight outside Europe after completin g the journey from the manufacturer's headquarters in France.
SINGAPORE - The world's biggest airliner, the European Airbus A380, touch ed down in Singapore on Friday, completing its first flight to Asia - th e most competitive market for planemaker Airbus and its US rival Boein g The double-decker superjumbo, designed to carry 555 passengers but with r oom for more than 800, landed at the city-state's Changi airport after a 12-hour flight from Airbus' headquarters near Toulouse in southern Fran ce. The aircraft taxied around the airport to test the width of taxiways and runways before docking at a newly installed passenger boarding bridge to give airport workers and officials time to familiarize themselves with the new plane. Singapore Airlines will be the first carrier to fly the A380 at the end o f next year. The A380, as long as eight London buses and with enough room on its wings to park 70 cars, heralds a new era in passenger travel and is a challen ge to Boeing in the battle for market share in the global aviation indus try. Airbus, part of aerospace group EADS, has received 159 orders and commitm ents from 16 customers for the four-engined plane, still short of the 25 0 it says is the break-even point. The planemaker has three A380s in flight testing and expects to attain ce rtification in the last quarter of 2006. Singapore Air said on Friday four of the 10 A380s for which it has made a firm order are at different stages on the final assembly line. The aircraft which landed in Singapore does not have chairs for passenger s and is instead packed with computers for tests as well as water tanks used as a ballast. Unlike regular commercial jets, it also has an escape chute to allow the two pilots and two test engineers to parachute to safety should they los e control of the plane in extreme maneuvers flown as part of the tests. The plane's Asian tour was delayed by four days because engine supplier R olls-Royce had to replace two of its four engines before the trip after one of them overheated during a test flight two weeks ago. Republication or red istribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.
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