World's largest plane to land in India soon

New Delhi, Jan 7 (UNI) Airbus A380, the world's largest airliner that can seat up to 850 passengers in a double-decker format, will cruise into the Indian skies shortly as part of its world tour.

European aircraft maker Airbus plans to bring the superjumbo on a trial run in the first quarter of 2007. It is expected to touch down in the national capital Delhi as well as the financial capital Mumbai as part of its flight plan.

''We were earlier planning to fly the aircraft for the Bangalore Air Show in February,'' said Airbus' Chief Operating Officer for customers John Leahy. ''But that airfield is too small. So we now plan to get the aircraft to Mumbai and Delhi sometime later.'' The existing runway at Delhi and Mumbai airports are already capable of handling an A380 departure and landing, but the other facilities are being created.

With its larger 79.8-metre wingspan giving greater lift and its new generation engines, the A380 can take-off and land in less distance than other large aircraft. This makes it capable of using existing runways.

This wingspan, however, makes the A380 too large for most airport docking bays. London Heathrow airport operator BAA Plc alone had budgeted 842 million dollars to build larger facilities to handle the plane.

Major world hubs which have already geared up to take the A380 include San Francisco and Singapore.

India is among the few countries which have lined up to buy the superjumbo, that has been facing production delays in the recent past.

Kingfisher Airlines has already booked an order for the plane and is due to take delivery of the aircraft in 2011-12. Kingfisher is among the various airlines facing delays with the A380 and is even looking at seeking compensation for the delays.

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