Airbus A380 arrives in Sydney

THE world's largest passenger jumbo jet - the Airbus A380 - has landed in Sydney after its first commercial flight from Singapore.

The massive aircraft touched down at Sydney Airport at 5.24pm (AEST) yesterday after leaving Singapore at 10.16am.

Before landing, the Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 first cruised over the airport from the southwest at an altitude of about 1800m to make a planned flyover of Sydney Harbour.

Flight SQ380 touched down on runway 3-4 Left under grey skies, the threat of rain and mild easterly winds.

More than 100 members of domestic and international media were taken by bus to the 4km-long runway to record the historical event.

Sydney Airport personnel in utilities, equipped with loudspeakers, broadcast audio from the airport control tower, where traffic controllers referred to the plane as "the big fella''.

The aircraft will return to Singapore today.

Passengers aboard yesteray's flight include 38-year-old Sydney resident Julian Hayward who paid $US100,000 ($111,000) for a first class seat and American Thomas Lee, who was also aboard the inaugural Boeing 747 flight in 1970.

Airbus' new aircraft boasts two passenger decks and, in Singapore Airlines' (SIA) version, first-class suites with proper beds.

The SIA plane also has 399 economy seats, 60 business seats, and a "suites" class of 12 compartments with flat-screen televisions about the size of a briefcase, sheets by French designer Givenchy and a full-length bed behind sliding doors.

A regular A380 service between Singapore and Sydney will begin on Sunday.

Superjumbo service on the Singapore-London route would start in February, and Japan could come later, according to SIA executives.

News Limited

Were any of our members on the flight?

Some additional details about the Airbus A380 Superjumbo

The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, four-engine airliner manufactured by the European corporation Airbus, an EADS subsidiary. The largest passenger airliner in the world, the A380 made its maiden flight on 27 April 2005 from Toulouse, France, and made its first commercial flight on 25 October 2007 from Singapore to Sydney with Singapore Airlines. The aircraft was known as the Airbus A3XX during much of its development phase, but the nickname Superjumbo has since become associated with it.

The A380's upper deck extends along the entire length of the fuselage. This allows for a cabin with 50 percent more floor space than the next largest airliner, the Boeing 747-400, and provides seating for 525 people in standard three-class configuration or up to 853 people in full economy class configuration. The A380 is offered in passenger and freighter versions. The A380-800, the passenger model, is the largest passenger airliner in the world, superseding the Boeing 747. The A380-800F, the planned freighter model, is designed as one of the largest freight aircraft, with a listed payload capacity exceeded only by the Antonov An-225. The A380-800 has a design range of 15,200 kilometres (8,200 nmi, sufficient to fly from New York to Hong Kong nonstop), and a cruising speed of Mach 0.85 (about 900 km/h or 560 mph at cruise altitude).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A380

Some additional details about the Airbus A380 Superjumbo

The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, four-engine airliner manufactured by the European corporation Airbus, an EADS subsidiary. The largest passenger airliner in the world, the A380 made its maiden flight on 27 April 2005 from Toulouse, France, and made its first commercial flight on 25 October 2007 from Singapore to Sydney with Singapore Airlines. The aircraft was known as the Airbus A3XX during much of its development phase, but the nickname Superjumbo has since become associated with it.

The A380's upper deck extends along the entire length of the fuselage. This allows for a cabin with 50 percent more floor space than the next largest airliner, the Boeing 747-400, and provides seating for 525 people in standard three-class configuration or up to 853 people in full economy class configuration. The A380 is offered in passenger and freighter versions. The A380-800, the passenger model, is the largest passenger airliner in the world, superseding the Boeing 747. The A380-800F, the planned freighter model, is designed as one of the largest freight aircraft, with a listed payload capacity exceeded only by the Antonov An-225. The A380-800 has a design range of 15,200 kilometres (8,200 nmi, sufficient to fly from New York to Hong Kong nonstop), and a cruising speed of Mach 0.85 (about 900 km/h or 560 mph at cruise altitude).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A380

Not me . . . I won't be arriving in Australia until January.