Lufthansa takes delivery of first A380 superjumbo
21 May 2010
Hamburg, Germany: Deutsche Lufthansa AG took delivery of its first A380 superjumbo Wednesday three years behind schedule. The aircraft will allow Germany's biggest airline to transport more than 520 passengers at a go.
It is expected that the German carrier's first A380 will be put in service on the Frankfurt-Tokyo sector from 11 June onwards.
The 300 million euro ($370 million) plane is the first of the 15 A380s on order from Lufthansa, which now becomes only the second European airline after Air France to receive the superjumbo.
The A380 is the largest aircraft in the history of civil aviation. The airline hopes the plane will be more cost-efficient compared to rival Boeing's best-selling 747-400.
Airbus says it so far has 202 firm orders from 17 customers for the plane.
Lufthansa expects to take delivery of a total of four A380S by the end of the year. These aircraft will ply the Beijing and Johannesburg sectors in addition to the Frankfurt-Tokyo route.