A380 first touchdown in the United States as part of commercial Route Proving

A380 first touchdown in the United States as part of commercial Route Proving

Two A380s will fly into two US destinations on 19th March, allowing both the East and West Coasts of North America to simultaneously welcome the world’s largest commercial airliner, which is also the most technically advanced and environmentally friendly civil aircraft in the skies.

A380 development aircraft MSN7 will fly some 500 passengers to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), New York, as part of the Commercial Route Proving jointly performed with Deutsche Lufthansa over a 12 day period. Simultaneously, A380 test aircraft MSN1 will land at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) as part of an airport compatibility trial, which will be performed on the spot with the assistance of Qantas Airways.

As part of the Commercial Route Proving operated out of the Lufthansa base in Frankfurt, MSN7, which is fitted with a full cabin interior, will then fly from New York to Chicago O’Hare and back to JFK on 20th March, before returning to Frankfurt on 21st March. The aircraft will then go to Hong Kong (24th March), and return to the US for a visit to Washington on 25th March, and return. On its way back from Frankfurt to Toulouse, it will make a stopover in Munich on 28th March. The objective of the Commercial Route Proving exercise, always jointly performed with an airline – in this instance Lufthansa – is to fine-tune the aircraft’s interior systems under realistic operational conditions on a number of scheduled flights, in preparation of its entry into service later this year.

During the Route Proving exercise, the A380 will be flown by Airbus test pilots, and experienced and trained Lufthansa pilots. With around 500 guests on board on each of the long distance flights, in-flight service will be provided by a full Lufthansa cabin crew.

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