Watched by ground crews and the media, the Airbus A380 is pushed from its parking position at the airport in Frankfurt, Germany, prior to taking off for New York on March 19, 2007. For plane builder Airbus and German airline Lufthansa, the A380's first flight to North America is a chance to show off the superjumbo to potential U.S. buyers and to the airports they hope will be flight bases for the double-decker jet.
The Airbus A380 is refueled and prepared in Frankfurt, Germany, prior to taking off for its first trans-Atlantic flight to New York on March 19, 2007. The 239-foot-long plane, with football field-length wings, can seat as many as 550 passengers, holds almost 82,000 gallons of fuel, cruises at 560 mph and flies some 8,000 nautical miles.
The Airbus A380 takes off bound for its first eight-hour flight to New York from the airport in Frankfurt, Germany, on March 19, 2007. Some 550 people, including four pilots, four Airbus crew members, 23 Lufthansa cabin crew and 519 passengers, mostly Airbus and Lufthansa employees along with some reporters, were onboard the double-decker jet.
New York
An Airbus A380 makes its inaugural landing at New York's Kennedy International Airport on March 19, 2007. The superjumbo jet is 239 feet long, with a wingspan of 261 feet, a range of 8,000 nautical miles and room for 550 passengers.
Members of the media watch as an Airbus A380 make its inaugural visit to New York's Kennedy International Airport on March 19, 2007. The four-engine, double decker, superjumbo jet touched down at about 12:10 p.m. EDT, to the cheers of onlookers gathered to watch the arrival.
A JetBlue plane takes off past the tail fin of an Airbus A380 at New York's Kennedy International Airport on March 19, 2007. The A380 is 239 feet long, with a wingspan of 261 feet, a range of 8,000 nautical miles and room for 550 passengers.
As an Airbus A380 taxis on a runway following its 12:10 p.m. landing at New York's Kennedy International Airport, a crew member flies an American flag from a cockpit window as the plane makes an inaugural visit on March 19, 2007.
Lufthansa pilot Juergen Raps, right, and co-pilot Raimund Muller, left, and crew, top, pose with a model of the Airbus A380 they landed at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York, March 19, 2007, during the plane's first flight to North America. Lufthansa Flight 8940 took off from Frankfurt International Airport in Germany with 483 people for the first operational flight of the double-decker plane.
Business-class seats of the new double-decker Lufthansa Airbus A380 are seen after it arrived at JFK International Airport following its first route-proving flight to the United States with over 500 passengers March 19, 2007, in New York. The A380 is the largest civil aircraft in history with a maximum take-off weight of 617 tons.
Members of the media tour the new double-decker Lufthansa Airbus A380 after it arrived at New York's JFK International Airport March 19, 2007. The A380 also landed in Los Angeles, beginning a series of landings to ensure that the plane is compatible with major U.S. airports.
A reporter sits in a first-class seat of the new double-decker Lufthansa Airbus A380 after it arrived at JFK International Airport following its first route-proving flight to the United States March 19, 2007 in New York.
Economy seats are seen in the new Airbus A380, a double-decker plane flown by Lufthansa, after it arrived at JFK International Airport following its first route-proving flight to the U.S. March 19, 2007, in New York.
Los Angeles
Minutes after an Airbus A380 landed in New York, another arrived in Los Angeles. Here the superjumbo jet passes the old control tower, now the administration building, at Los Angeles International Airport, as it prepares to touch down on the inaugural visit to L.A. on March 19, 2007.
Spectators watch as the world's largest passenger jet lands at Los Angeles International Airport on its inaugural visit, March 19, 2007.
The Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger jet, passes the Los Angeles International Airport theme building as it prepares to touch down on the inaugural visit of the superjumbo jet to L.A. on March 19, 2007.
People take photos of an Airbus A380 as it descends for landing at Los Angeles International Airport on March 19, 2007, on the inaugural visit of the superjumbo jet to Los Angeles. The 239-foot-long A380 can seat as many as 550 passengers, hold nearly 82,000 gallons of fuel, cruise at 560 mph and fly some 8,000 nautical miles.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, left, talks with pilot Claude Lalaie, right, who flew the Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger jet, in the cockpit after its first landing at Los Angeles International Airport on March 19, 2007.
An Airbus A380 pilot waves to the crowd after landing at Los Angeles International Airport on March 19, 2007. The world's largest passenger plane completed a bicoastal American debut Monday, touching down at Los Angeles International minutes after a sister aircraft landed in New York.