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Tuesday, November 27, 2007 Superjumbo show-and-tell at MSP Airport today
In a large version of show and tell,
representatives of Airbus have brought their new twin-deck, twin-aisle
passenger jet to Twin Cities International Airport to give executives from
Northwest Airlines an opportunity to see the plane first hand. Representatives of the Toulouse, France-based company brought
the A380 to Minneapolis today as part of an around-the-world trip to showcase
the world's largest passenger airliner. Airbus spokesman Clay McConnell said the plane is flying from
Airbus' home in Toulouse, France, to Minneapolis, then Los Angeles, followed by
Sydney, Australia. The trip is aimed at demonstrating the plane's capabilities
to airlines, airports, and passengers, he said. Already nicknamed the "Superjumbo," Airbus' A380 is
the world's largest passenger airliner in the world. Singapore Airlines put it
into service on Oct. 25 when it flew 455 people from Singapore to Sydney. The jet has a capacity of 555 passengers. Singapore Airlines'
A380 has 12 fully-enclosed first-class suites, each with one full and one
secondary seat, full-sized bed, TV and personal storage space. Singapore Airlines has plans to add six more A380s to its
fleet in the next year. The airline said it plans to use them on to fly between
Singapore and London, Tokyo, Hong Kong and San Francisco. Quantas and Emirates airlines plan to start flying the jet
liner in 2009. Northwest has not expressed interest in buying one of the
planes. |
