The Airbus A380 super-jumbo has completed its first European commercial flight after a plane from Singapore landed at London’s Heathrow airport. Singapore Airlines is the first carrier to operate the new double-decker aircraft on revenue-earning services. Flight SQ308 arrived at Heathrow 15 minutes before its 1505 GMT schedule. British Airways has ordered 12 of the airliners, due to be delivered from 2012, while Virgin Atlantic has ordered six, to arrive from 2013.
The Singapore Airlines flight carries 470 passengers, each of whom will receive a personalised certificate to commemorate the historic first flight to the UK. The carrier has three A380s in service, with 16 more on order, and has been using them on flights between Singapore and Sydney, Australia, since October 2007.
BBC News Tuesday, 18 March 2008, 14:55 GMT
