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The world's biggest airliner, the Airbus A380 double-decker, landed safely Wednesday on the runway of the Toulouse-Blagnac airport, the Airbus headquarters in southwestern France.
The landing of the giant plane at 12:22 GMT after a flight of almost four hours is witnessed by some 40,000 spectators.
The plane carried six crew members -- two pilots Jacques Rosay and Claude Lelaie and four test engineers -- plus 22 tons of onboard test instruments, including work stations to monitor in-flight data and other parameters.
It successfully took off at the Airbus headquarters outside of the city of Toulouse in southern France.
The successful take-off of the jumbo airliner means that the A380 has replaced the US plane maker Boeing Company's 747 Boeing as the biggest airliner to fly.
The four-engine super jumbo can carry up to 840 passengers and fly 8,000 miles (15,000 kilometers) non-stop. With a research cost of some € 12 billion (US$15.68 billion), the plane has gained from 15 customers 154 orders, US$285 million each.
Airbus claims the A380 will be a more efficient plane by using 20 percent less fuel, flying quieter and cheaper and offering 30 to 50 percent more seating.
The A380, unveiled on Jan. 18, has been undergoing ground tests since early April and is scheduled to go into service in 2006.
(Xinhua News Agency April 28, 2005)
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