Superjumbo lands at New York's JFK

Emirates' Airbus A380 completes a journey that makes the airline the second to fly the world's biggest plane.

Emirates' Airbus A380 touches down on Aug 1 at John F Kennedy International Airport in New York.

NEW YORK // Emirates' Airbus A380 superjumbo touched down at New York's John F Kennedy International Airport yesterday, completing a journey that makes the Dubai-based airline the second to fly the world's biggest plane. The giant double-decker aircraft, carrying 489 passengers in varying degrees of luxury, landed smoothly and on time after a 13-and-a-half hour flight from Dubai. "Some of us were lucky, we had showers before we got off the aeroplane," said the Emirates president Tim Clark shortly after disembarking, losing no time in marketing the plane's two "shower spas", 14 first-class suites, bar and lounge.

Passengers even received certificates to prove they were a part of the ground-breaking flight. The plane, fitted out with lie-flat beds, flat screen televisions and spacious, windowed bathrooms in first and business class, is set to return to Dubai on Friday evening. The aircraft's huge passenger capacity is divided into three sections: the sprawling lower deck is devoted to the 399 economy seats, which even at a glance clearly accommodate more leg room than is standard on other planes. One passenger, Jerry Holmes, 48, said: "There's definitely a little bit more space then you would normally find in economy, and I think the seats are a little more comfortable - but that could be my imagination, I'm not sure. I think the plane's great, and it makes sense to have more people on a flight for environmental reasons apart from anything." Some passengers were impressed by the plane's quiet engines. "That's the main thing I've noticed," said Mark Strathdee, a facilities manager with Thrifty car rental company. "The lack of noise from the engines is incredible. I'm very impressed and I would definitely come back on the A380 again." Emirates, owned by the government of Dubai, is the second airline to put the A380 into service, following Singapore Airlines, which started A380 flights to Sydney in October. The plane, costing US$327 million (Dh1.2bn) at list prices, did visit New York and Los Angeles in March last year for route-testing purposes, but yesterday's flight was the first regularly scheduled arrival of an A380 in the United States.

With its huge capacity and relatively fuel-efficient engines, airlines hope the world's biggest passenger jet will be the most cost-effective way of serving high-volume routes linking big cities, especially in light of soaring oil prices. Airbus, part of aerospace group EADS, says an A380 uses up to 20 per cent less fuel per seat than a Boeing 747, and claims that when fully loaded and flying long distances it is more fuel efficient, per passenger, than a small family car.

The touchdown marks a hard-won victory for Airbus, which spent $10 billion and more than a decade on Europe's largest industrial project, in the face of widespread scepticism. Airbus now has orders for about 200 of the planes from 16 airlines. The company is still struggling to iron out production problems after an 18-month delay in getting the first one out of its Toulouse, France, plant. The delays ended up pushing Airbus into loss and toppling its management, and are still causing political aftershocks in France.

Emirates, the world's number-seven airline in terms of international passengers, is the biggest buyer of A380s, with 58 on order. After New York, it plans to fly the planes to London from December, then Sydney and Auckland from February. Some 20 airports worldwide can now handle the A380, which needs extra-wide runways for its wingspan and two-tiered facilities for loading passengers. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the region's airports, spent $179 million upgrading JFK facilities to accommodate the A380.

Emirates took possession of the plane in a glitzy ceremony in Hamburg on Monday, flying it to Dubai and then to New York. Emirates, along with Etihad Airways, is expanding their fleets and routes even as European and US carriers find themselves pinched by high fuel prices and waning demand. *Reuters with files from The National