Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) witnessed a historic moment today as the airport’s tarmac played host to the world’s largest passenger airplane for the first time. Emirates Airline flight EK562, an Airbus A380, landed at 3.40 pm at KIA on Friday, October 14. The flight departed from Dubai at 10am (local time). The arrival of the double-decker airplane was earlier expected on October 30, reported The News Minute.
“The Emirates Airbus A380 will land at Bangalore Airport on Oct 14. Our teams are gearing up for this historic maiden flight to Bangalore. Our engineers and operations team are testing infrastructure and processes. We are waiting for the big day with bated breath,” the airport tweeted.
The new Airbus A380 will be serving the route between Bengaluru and Dubai. "The daily A380 flights will operate as EK568/569, with an aircraft in a three-class configuration, offering seats in Economy Class, in addition to premium cabins in Business Class and First Class,” Emirates said in a statement.
The A380 is a favourite of aviation and travel enthusiasts, as the airplane offers significant improvements on all classes of seats in terms of comfort and space. Compared to the Boeing 777, the A380 has nearly double the onboard space. This means that the aircraft is able to offer luxuries such as fully flat seats, private suites and even a spa for passengers.
Apart from Bengaluru, only Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad airports in India can accommodate the massive body of the A380. Emirates already operates an Airbus A380 between Mumbai and Delhi, while Singapore Airlines recently brought the massive plane back to Delhi for service.
(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)
