The new A380 finally touched down in London's Heathrow airport today, but not before the aerospace industry's workers of Broughton and Filton were treated to a low flypast first. The A380 was number MSN004 flying under F-WWDD.

The A380 had been showing at the Berlin Air Show when it made a planned detour to England to say thanks to the thousands of workers at Broughton and Filton from Airbus, BAe Systems and Rolls Royce as well as the hundreds of local businesses that supply parts and services to the aforementioned.

Afterwards - at precisely 13:20hrs, it touched down on British soil for the very first time in bright sunshine before taxiing to the purpose-built Pier Six stands. There, speeches were made by Officials from EADS, Airbus and British Airways before Chencellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown officially unveiled a plaque commemorating the opening of the Pier.

Costing £105M, the new Pier will accommodate up to 2,000 passengers at any one time and can receive up to FOUR A380s simultaneously.

The A380 is expected to leave for France again tomorrow (Friday 19th May 2006), after undergoing several tests of airport compatibility, including:AIRBRIDGES - FUEL HOSE - WATER VEHICLE - BULK TROLLEY - ILS CHECKING - FLIGHT PRECISION FLIGHT INSPECTION STRUCTURE RUN - CENTRE LINE STRUCTURE RUN.

The aircraft sounded in fine form as her Rolls Royce Trent 900 powerplants eased her down on South Runway 27L in front of the waiting media.

Singapore Airlines will be the first airline to take delivery of the first service aircraft in November 2006 and it is expected to enter commercial service the following month. Although up to 555 passengers could comfortably sit in the new A380, Singapore Airlines will carry up to 480 as it flies its passengers in slightly more spacious cabins.

Several other airlines have also placed firm orders for the aircraft.

SAL has ten A380s on order and another 15 on option. The order was placed in 2000 and is worth US$86B. If an airline were to place an order today, they would have to wait until 2011 for delivery, such is the demand for this new class of airliner.

Mike Clasper, BAA CEO said "Heathrow plays a vital part in the UK economy and the A380 will play an imprtant part in the airport's future growth plans. That is why we have invested heavily in Pier Six of terminal Three."

"...Bigger planes with more capacity are the only way we can accommodate the ever-increasing demand for air travel to and from Heathrow. New planes like the A380 will help the aviation industry to tackle environmental problems, because of their improved performance on noise and carbon emissions."

More images from the day here

Speedbirds.com/18th May 2006.