World’s largest jet makes Copenhagen debut

The world’s largest passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380, made its first ever regular landing in Copenhagen on Tuesday.

Published: 1 December 2015 15:27 CET

World's largest jet makes Copenhagen debut

Copenhagen Airport hailed the A380's arrival as "a milestone". Photo: Simon Læssøe/Scanpix

Copenhagen Airport welcomed the world’s largest passenger jet on Tuesday when Emirates airline’s Airbus A380 made its first ever appearance in Denmark.

See video of the landing here, courtesy of DR. Story continues below:

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Verdens største passagerfly Airbus 380 er landet i København Læs mere om flyet her: http://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/grafik-verdens-stoerste-passagerfly-lander-i-koebenhavn

Posted by DR Nyheder on Tuesday, December 1, 2015

The jumbo jet will be used for the airline’s Copenhagen to Dubai route.

Copenhagen Airport wrote on Twitter that the new flight will help the airport increase its annual traffic numbers from 25 to 40 million – “617 passengers at a time” and the airport's CEO, Thomas Woldbye, hailed Tuesday's landing as “a milestone”.

.@emirates & their new A380 to Dubai will help CPH go from 25 to 40 million pax a year – 617 pax at a time #CPHA380 pic.twitter.com/qx1QVySgq7

— Copenhagen Airport (@CPHAirports) December 1, 2015

“Over the past ten years, the number of long-distance routes has doubled to 34. This is where we see a good portion of our future growth and as the leading traffic hub in northern Europe, we need to be able to accommodate the biggest jets like the A380,” Woldbye said.

Large crowds turned out to see the historic landing, and Business and Growth Minister Troels Lund Poulsen was on hand to officially welcome the Emirates flight.

Crowds are gathered today, both at Flyvergrillen & at the gate, to witness the first #CPHA380 landing. pic.twitter.com/VH5yzRjjQA

— Copenhagen Airport (@CPHAirports) December 1, 2015

To make way for the Airbus A380, which is 73 metres long with a wingspan of 80 metres, the airport underwent a major renovation project over the summer, which included widening one of its two main runways to accommodate what the airport called the ‘Iron Giant’.

Although Tuesday marked the debut of the Emirates A380 and the start of the airline's regular flights in and out of Copenhagen, the airport has seen an A380 before. Lufthansa brought its giant to the Danish capital for a visit in September.

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