Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Airbus 380, the world’s largest plane, touched down in Zurich shortly after dawn Wednesday 20 January, to the cheers of a large crowd. The plane had no passengers and was not a commercial flight but rather a test before the plane comes into service at the airport. Singapore Airlines announced last week that it will use the plane for Singapore-Zurich flights. It was the first airline to use the plane for commercial flights, starting in 2007.
The company already operates the superjumbo on Paris and London flights, and has a fleet of 10 in service, with nine more firm orders and options on an additional six.
“Daily A380 services between Singapore and Zurich will replace the existing 12 weekly frequencies between the two cities, which are operated with smaller Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. Operations are subject to the airport being certified for A380 flights,” the airline noted in a 14 January press release. Daily flights will arrive in Zurich at 08:00, starting this summer, and leave at noon.
Links to other sites: 20 Minutes, videos, Singapore Airlines press release, wikipedia on the A380
[…] Singapore Airlines flew the plane in and out of Zurich Wednesday, in order for Kloten airport to be certified for it. Singapore will begin scheduled flights there in the summer of 2010. Geneva is a back-up emergency landing airport for the plane, and thus also needs to be certified. The A380’s other European airports are London Heathrow and Paris Charles de Gaulle. […]