The world's largest passenger plane, the Airbus A380, successfully took off on its maiden flight Wednesday, a milestone for aviation and for the European aircraft-maker's battle with American rival Boeing Co.

The giant plane's four engines hauled its double-decked, 308-ton fuselage aloft at 10:29 AM., an achievement watched by thousands of spectators 101 years after the Wright brothers first mastered controlled, sustained flight.

The plane was carrying a crew of six and 22 tons of on-board test instruments. Its first flight was expected to last between two and four hours.

The plane was likely to stay within 100 miles of the airport in Blagnac, a suburb of Toulouse in southwest France. It was beaming back real-time measurements to Airbus headquarters at Blagnac.

There were cheers and applause as the white jet with a blue tail, its engines surprisingly quiet, picked up speed down the runway and lifted smoothly into the blue skies. Fire trucks were stationed alongside the runway as a precaution.

Airbus chief test pilot Jacques Rosay, flight captain Claude Lelaie and four fellow crew members were taking no chances. Airbus had said they would be wearing parachutes during the first flight, in accordance with company policy. A handrail leads from the cockpit to an escape door that can be jettisoned if the pilots lose control of the plane.

The flight capped 11 years of preparation and $13 billion in spending.

The A380, with a catalogue price of $282 million, represents a huge bet that international airlines will need bigger aircraft to transport passengers between ever-busier hub airports.

But some analysts say signs of a boom in the market for smaller wide-body planes, such as Boeing's long-range 787 "Dreamliner," show that Airbus was wrong to focus so much time and money on its superjumbo.

(China Daily April 28, 2005)