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PARIS - The Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger jet, took off with a full load of passengers for the first time Monday and the European aircraft maker announced further management changes in the wake of costly delays to the $13 billion super jumbo program. Carrying 474 Airbus employees, the 308-ton jet left from Toulouse, southern France, on the first of four test flights scheduled this week to try out the plane's cabin environment and systems with passengers on board. Airbus says it is on schedule to deliver the first finished A380 to Singapore Airlines Ltd. by the end of...

Airbus is aiming to undertake the first flight of an A380 with a full load of passengers at the beginning of next month, when it launches the early long flights (ELF) test programme for the ultra-large aircraft. Speaking in Abu Dhabi, where the A380 was last week undertaking a hot-weather test campaign, Airbus flight-test engineer Jacky Joye told Flight International that Airbus has set a target date for the first flight with a full load of passengers: "The first ELF flight is due to take place on 4 September," he said. The ELF programme will be flown by the...

PARIS -- The A380, the superjumbo jet from Airbus SAS, was billed as "The Queen of the Paris Air Show" by the public address announcer as it promenaded down the tarmac en route to its slow-moving flyover of the Le Bourget airfield. But on the sales floor, the A380 was the prom queen that couldn't get a date.

France: first take-off for the A380 Airbus Toulouse-blagnac - the Airbus A380, the giant plane of the European manufacturer, should take its first take-off of Toulouse-Blagnac this morning. Larger apparatus of line of the world, it is able to transport between 555 and 800 passengers according to the versions. The flight will not take place, towards 10h30, only if the visibility is perfect and that if the wind is not violent. The takeoff of A380, the most critical phase of the flight, is in addition interdict in direction of the town of Toulouse. The Toulouse factories of Airbus and...