A380 touches down in Capital

New Delhi: The double-decker Airbus A380, which is the world''s biggest passenger aircraft, touched down at New Delhi''s Indira Gandhi International airport on May 5 at the start of a four-day India visit.

Before touching down at 10.50 a.m. the aircraft, which flew in from the Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, did a fly-around over the Capital.

The Airbus A380 is capable of carrying more than 550 passengers in a three-class configuration. The A380 arrived in the country on the second anniversary of Kingfisher Airlines, the only Indian carrier to have ordered the aircraft. The airline has placed firm orders for five aircraft and has the option of purchasing another five.

The aircraft is currently parked at one end of the airport in Delhi, as like many airports around the globe, facilities for receiving the A380 are not ready yet.

Only a few airports like Singapore, Hong Kong, Frankfurt and Los Angeles are in a position to receive the aircraft in a parking bay. The A380 has a wingspan of 845 square metres, has 530 km of cable, 1,00,000 wires and over 40,000 connectors hidden in its interiors.

The aircraft will fly back to Toulouse on May 10.