Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Flying high

The Airbus A380 makes its maiden flightThe Airbus A380 makes its maiden flight. Photograph: Pascal Parrot/Getty

The Airbus A380, the world's biggest airliner, soared into the blue Mediterranean sky today for its maiden flight. This big bird weighing 308 tonnes, designed to carry 550 passengers - although it can carry 800 - is undoubtedly an engineering marvel as well as a triumph of international cooperation.

The UK makes the wings and engines, France the central fuselage, Spain the tailplane and Germany the rest of the fuselage.

But will it fly - not literally but financially?

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