Hyderabad: The landing of Emirates Airline’s A380 airliner, on Wednesday, brought to the city of Hyderabad an amazing collection of numbers. The A380 currently holds the record of being the largest commercial airliner in the world. It takes four engines to power the plane’s 5,145.1 sft of floor space that accommodates up to 800 people, 4 million little parts and 26 crew members... all through its maximum range of 15,700 kilometres.
Press photographers and onlookers simply ran for a better view as the giant stuck a near-perfect landing with her wheels screeching to bring nearly 400 tonnes to a complete halt on Begumpet airport’s limited tarmac.
Shortly after her arrival, officials from Airbus gave the Deccan Chronicle a full tour of the aircraft’s insides, of its different classes and yes, the on-board spa.
The A380’s first class promises to make trans-Atlantic travel very, very luxurious. Complete with showers, a spa and that enchanting feeling of climbing stairs inside of an airplane at 30,000 feet, the A380’s insides are completely modified. Which is why it takes up to 20 months to build and deliver one (at a price of a whopping $400 million).
The plane’s list of primary operators includes, Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Qantas and Lufthansa. Airbus are looking at India eagerly. Overall though, the aircraft, as a piece of engineering feat, is breathtaking. Which is why many were surprised Emirates was risking its precious aircraft with a landing at Begumpet.
“But this plane can land anywhere. Which is why it’s better than the 747s. Its wings are designed to land at much shorter runways and that’s why that perfect landing,” said an official from Airbus.
And that’s also how Begumpet, a two-time host to America’s Air Force One, managed to invite one more, very special guest.
