Airbus A380 makes a flawless test landing in Germany Saturday
It was an event few aviation fans were willing to miss. As a prototype of the gigantic A380, the world's largest passenger airliner, swooped down from the skies to make a perfect landing at the Frankfurt airport on Saturday morning amid thick fog, tens of thousands of spectators held their breath in awe. While some clambered on stools they had brought along to get a good look at the 290-ton heavy machine coming to a halt at Terminal 2 of the Rhein-Main airport, others held their cameras and mobile phones above their heads to capture the image. It was the first test landing of the long-haul aircraft outside the testing facilities in France and the main aim is to check the handling and maintenance of the A380 at a civil airport. The aircraft will fly back to Toulouse in France on Sunday. "The test results are excellent. The performance is much better than expected," he said, adding that it also held true for the craft's fuel-consumption -- at 2.9 liters of kerosene for 100 kilometers per passenger. The low consumption -- 12 percent lower than all other large aircraft according to Airbus -- is an important selling point given that fuel usage now accounts for around 16 to 20 percent of the overall costs of an airline. Until now, 16 customers have placed orders for 159 A380s which cost 292 million euros ($353 million) apiece. The Gulf-based airline Emirates is the biggest buyer with 41 orders."Airbus has got lots of things right," said aviation expert Horstmann. "Just 10 years ago, it was the small player, which Boeing didn't take seriously enough. But, in the meantime it has convincing offers in all segments of civil aviation."When it came to aircrafts with a seating capacity of more than 100, Boeing and aircraft manufacturer McDonnell-Douglas which Boeing took over had a market share of 70 percent until the mid-1990s. But now with over 50 percent of the market share, Airbus is leading the way."
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