The 555-passenger, double-deck Airbus A380 created a stir across
the U.S. this week, starting with Monday's dual landing at LAX and JFK
airports. The planes were in the U.S. for the first time for a series
of route-proving exercises. First delivery of the A380 is slated for
October 2007 to Singapore Airlines.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg toured the visiting
superjumbo Airbus A380 at John F. Kennedy International Airport early
Wednesday morning, shortly before the 21st Century double-decker
widebody took to the skies over the Big Apple in a short demonstration
flight for a group of invited guests and media. Shown here in a
walk-around tour with Airbus Chief Flight Test Engineer Fernando
Alonzo (l) and Airbus COO Customers John Leahy (r), Mayor Bloomberg, a
recognized aviation enthusiast, visited the exterior and interior of
the world's largest passenger aircraft. The 555-seat A380 touched down
in the U.S. for the first time on Monday, with dual landings at JFK
and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The A380 offers
unparalleled comfort, economic efficiency and environmental
friendliness to the commercial airline industry, which expects to see
a near tripling of passengers worldwide over the next 20 years. The
A380 departs JFK Wednesday evening but will return to the U.S. Sunday
night. On Monday, March 26, Washington Dulles International Airport
will host a group of invited guests in a tour and demonstration flight
around the Washington area.
In recognition of the strong relationship between Airbus and the
New York City Fire and Police Departments and Airbus' contributions to
both in 9-11 recovery efforts, America's first rescue unit, Rescue
One, brought their custom-built fire and rescue truck, along with the
NYPD's specially built lighting truck to JFK. Also on display was a
Police Fire and Rescue vehicle from the Port Authority of New York and
New Jersey. Airbus COO-Customer John Leahy joined representatives of
the various agencies in position outside the Airbus A380. The police
and fire equipment was waiting to salute the Airbus A380 as it landed
Wednesday at JFK following a brief demonstration flight around New
York. Airbus donated the $750,000 Rescue One apparatus and the
$450,000 NYPD lighting truck in 2002 as part of the aircraft
manufacturer's efforts to help New York's emergency teams recover from
their devastating losses on September 11th. The double-deck A380
visited JFK this week as part of its first visit to the United States
in a route proving exercise that brought the world' largest commercial
jet to JFK, Chicago O'Hare, LAX, and Dulles International Airport.
