`Green giant' A-380 lands in Mumbai

ON BOARD A-380: Forget about it being the world's largest passenger aircraft or its wingspan giving goose bumps to even the biggest soccer field. The most gentle and quiet big daddy of all passenger jetliners, the A-380 completed its 100-minute Delhi-Mumbai flight on Tuesday with aplomb, grace and finesse.
If the takeoff from Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport showed how easy it was to manoeuvre the big bird, the landing at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport demonstrated that it could land with ease, approaching the runway with the speed of a single-aisle aircraft.
On its maiden visit to Mumbai, the A-380 was received by airport employees, who lined the taxiways. Curious onlookers perched themselves on rooftops to catch a glimpse of the aircraft as it came to a halt and waited for an aerobridge to be latched on.
On this flight, the aircraft carried about 175 passengers, including media personnel, senior Airbus officials, travel agents and Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijay Mallya, who has placed orders for purchase of five A-380s. The first delivery is expected only in 2011, and by then Mr. Mallya hopes Kingfisher would get permission to fly abroad, so that the aircraft could be deployed on the U.S. routes.
Kingfisher is the only carrier from India that has ordered the A-380, with a list price of about $300 million (about Rs. 1,200 crore per aircraft).
John Leahy, Chief Operating Officer (Customers), Airbus, was hopeful that 20 more orders from various carriers in India could come this year.
09/05/07 Vinay Kumar/The Hindu

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Categories: Airports May 2007, Kingfisher May 2007, New May 2007