Monday, March 19, 2007
Airbus Jetliner Lands at
JFK Airport
By RICHARD PYLE
The Associated
Press
NEW YORK
-- The latest jetliner to claim the title of world's biggest passenger
aircraft completed its maiden voyage to the United States on Monday,
flying on football field-length wings and a prayer that the American
airline industry will want to buy the double-decker jumbo jet.
The four-engine Airbus A380 touched down at
John F. Kennedy International Airport at about 12:10 p.m. EDT, to the
cheers of onlookers gathered to watch the arrival. As the plane taxied, a
pilot waved an American flag. Minutes later, a separate A380 arrived in
Los Angeles, with just a crew and no passengers.
The first
U.S. flights are a chance for the European plane builder Airbus and German
airline Lufthansa AG to show off the jewel of Airbus' offerings to
potential American buyers and to the airports they hope to turn into
flight bases for the jet. The 239-foot-long A380 can seat as many as 550
passengers, hold 81,890 gallons of fuel, cruise at 560 mph and fly some
8,000 nautical miles.
Lufthansa Flight
8940 is meant to be a statement by Airbus that it can accommodate vast
numbers of travelers comfortably and efficiently.
"We're talking about an airplane that is representing
aviation in the 21st century in terms of efficiency," said Jens Bischoff,
Lufthansa's vice president for the Americas.
It was one of the highest-profile maiden voyages since 1969,
when the Concorde, the world's first and still only commercial supersonic
transport, arrived at JFK from London. The European-made Concorde was
retired from British and French service in 2005.
Airbus hopes the A380 -- designed to carry more people
farther than any plane in history, though at subsonic speeds -- will
dominate air travel for the next two decades.
Anthony Coscia, chairman of the Port Authority of New York
and New Jersey, said Monday's flight marked the beginning of an era in
meeting the New York City area's transportation needs. He says the A380
will generate millions of dollars in economic activity each year.
Waiting in the wings, however, is Boeing Co.,
whose 747 jumbo jet has been the world's principal long-haul aircraft for
the past 30 years and now has competitors to the A380 in early
production.
For Airbus, which has been
beset by management and financial problems -- including a two-year delay
to the A380 that wiped out more than $6.61 billion in forecast profits --
the flight is a chance to prove that the plane will be ready when the
first deliveries are made in October to Singapore airlines.
Lufthansa chief pilot Juergen Raps, who has
flown the A380 before, said that despite the superjumbo jet's size, it was
nimble and responsive.
"If I were to
compare it to driving, you would think this would be like driving a truck
or a bus," he said inside the plane's cockpit. "It's like driving a
Ferrari."
The air show began early
Monday at Frankfurt International Airport when the took off as Lufthansa
Flight 8940 for the eight-hour flight to Kennedy. Onboard were 483 people,
including four pilots, four Airbus crew members, 23 Lufthansa cabin crew
and several hundred passengers, mostly Airbus and Lufthansa employees
along with some reporters.
The flight
was to operate just as if it were a commercial one with full dining and
entertainment services.
After the
inaugural run, Lufthansa and Airbus will operate a demonstration flight to
Chicago's O'Hare Airport on Tuesday, before returning to New York and then
Frankfurt. The plane then heads to Hong Kong and back, before continuing
its journey to Washington Dulles International Airport on March 25, with a
final stop at Lufthansa's Munich hub on March 28.
Using the performance results from this circuit -- flying the
plane as it would be done so if it were in service -- Lufthansa's goal is
to match the A380's turnaround time from landing to takeoff with that of
much smaller long-haul jets already in operation.
Airbus has 166 orders from 15 airlines for the new plane,
which has already made tests flights in Europe and to Asia.
"We are proud that ... we are now able to
present the A380 to the American people," said Mario Heinen, the head of
Airbus' A380 program.
About a thousand
onlookers lined up along fences at Los Angeles International Airport to
see the plane make its West Coast debut. The facility nearly lost out on
the highly anticipated landing of the A380 after Airbus announced plans to
land the jet in New York instead.
The
company revised its plan to allow for arrival at both locations. Los
Angeles sped up construction of a $9 million gate to accommodate the
plane.
Toulouse, France-based Airbus
said the plane will perform tests at the California airport, including
airfield maneuvers, docking at the terminal gate and ground and gate
handling exercises. The airport, the fifth-busiest worldwide, is expected
to be the first U.S. destination for the A380 when it enters commercial
service.
Paul Haney, deputy executive
director for airport and security of Los Angeles World Airports, which
includes Los Angeles International, called it a "beautiful
landing."
Speaking by telephone from
inside the aircraft, which he toured after the landing, Haney said, "We
believe LAX will be the leading gateway for the A380 and similar aircraft
because we are the No. 1 Asia-Pacific gateway airport in the U.S."
"Although it's the largest commercial airline
in the sky, it's quiet and fuel efficient. That means less noise and lower
emissions for those in and around the airport," he added.
The flights come as Airbus looks to put what
Louis Gallois, co-chief executive of parent company European Aeronautic
Defense and Space Co., called "the worst year for Airbus in its life"
behind it. Airbus is seeking to recoup its losses by cutting 10,000 jobs
and spinning off or closing six of its European manufacturing
plants.