TOULOUSE, France (Reuters) – The world’s biggest
airliner, the Airbus double-decker A380, soared effortlessly into the sky on
Wednesday on one of the most eagerly awaited maiden flights since the supersonic
Concorde took off in 1969.
The A380, which is designed to carry 555 passengers but has room for more
than 800, lumbered down the runway before gathering speed and taking off from
Airbus headquarters near Toulouse in southern France.
Thousands of enthusiasts cheered outside the perimeter fence as the plane,
carrying just a six-man test crew and equipment for a test flight expected to
last two to fours hours, pulled away over open countryside toward the Atlantic
Ocean.
The A380 is a key weapon in the battle by Airbus, in which European aerospace
group EADS has an 80 percent stake, to keep its edge over U.S. plane maker
Boeing Co.. Boeing is banking on customers wanting to buy smaller long-range
airliners.
“We told you the A380 would fly on this day at 10:30 and it flew right on
time,” Airbus chief executive Noel Forgeard said.
Airbus said the A380 had made aviation history and set out plans for up to
2,500 hours of test flights to pave the way for the A380 to enter service in the
second half of 2006.
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