The world's biggest passenger airliner will fly into Britain for the first time today.
The 240 foot-long, 555-seater Airbus A380, powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines, will touch down at Heathrow airport in west London at around 1.20pm.
Big crowds are expected to gather to catch a glimpse of the €295 million, double-decker plane as it flies in from the Berlin Air Show.
The A380 will stay at Heathrow while airport-compatibility tests are carried out and will return to Berlin early tomorrow.
Airbus has spent around €9 billion to introduce the A380, and so far the company has taken 159 firm orders from 16 airlines for the plane.
Singapore Airlines will be the first carrier to put the A380 into passenger service at the end of this year, with Heathrow being one of its destination airports.
Singapore Airlines intends to configure its A380 interior to take around 500 passengers, although the plane — depending on airline requirements — can take up to 800 customers.
Among other carriers that have ordered A380s are Virgin Atlantic, Qantas, Qatar Airways and Dubai-based Emirates.
PA