Countdown begins for Airbus superjumbo
Thursday, 18 October 2007
SINGAPORE, Oct 17 (AFP): The first Airbus A380 superjumbo was set to land in Singapore today as the countdown began for next week's maiden commercial flight of the biggest passenger airliner ever made.
Decked out in the blue and gold of launch customer Singapore Airlines, the A380 was en route from France, where Airbus officials finally saw off the giant plane after 18 months of delays and billions of dollars in cost overruns.
Production problems on the double-decker behemoth embarrassed the European manufacturer, a bitter rival of US firm Boeing.
Decked out in the blue and gold of launch customer Singapore Airlines, the A380 was en route from France, where Airbus officials finally saw off the giant plane after 18 months of delays and billions of dollars in cost overruns.
Production problems on the double-decker behemoth embarrassed the European manufacturer, a bitter rival of US firm Boeing.