A380 superjumbo to make European debut in London

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2008

LONDON (AFP) — The world's biggest passenger plane, Airbus's A380, touches down in London Tuesday on its first commercial flight to Europe facing questions from green groups over its eco-friendly billing.

The Singapore Airlines jet, as tall as a seven-storey building and with about 50 percent more cabin space than its rivals, was carrying 449 passengers enjoying increased legroom and state-of-the-art in-flight entertainment.

Airbus said the superjumbo is "a significant step towards greener flying" but campaigners are less enthusiastic, warning the environmental benefits of the high capacity plane will be outweighed by rising demand for air travel.

Flight SQ308 took off from Changi airport in Singapore at 9:19 am (0119 GMT) Tuesday and was scheduled to arrive...