Sunday March 18, 2:37 PM = Lufthansa Flying Airbus A380 to U.S. =0A=0A =0A=0ASunday March 18, 2:37 PM = EDT =0A=0A=0AFRANKFURT, Germany (AP) =97 It may trail the historic impact o= f Charles Lindbergh's 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic, but the Spirit = of St. Louis also did not have a wingspan wider than a football field or sp= ace for more than 500 passengers. =0AFor plane builder Airbus and German ai= rline Lufthansa AG, the A380's first flight to North America on Monday is a= chance to show off the superjumbo to potential U.S. buyers and to the airp= orts they hope will be flight bases for the double-decker jet. =0A"We're ta= lking about an airplane that is representing aviation in the 21st century i= n terms of efficiency," said Jens Bischoff, Lufthansa's vice president for = the Americas. "Of course it is not just a test flight. We're going with a f= ully loaded plane into Washington and New York and hope to optimize all the= opportunities." =0A =0AFor Airbus, which has been beset by management and = financial crises =97 including a two-year delay to the A380 that wiped more= than $6.61 billion off profit forecasts =97 the flight is a chance to prov= e that the plane will be ready when the first deliveries are made in Octobe= r to Singapore Airlines. =0ALufthansa Chief Pilot Juergen Raps, who has flo= wn the A380 before, said that despite the superjumbo's size, it is nimble a= nd responsive. =0A"If I were to compare it to driving, you would think this= would be like driving a truck or a bus," he said inside the plane's cockpi= t. "It's like driving a Ferrari." =0AThe air show Monday begins at Frankfur= t International Airport, when the 239-foot-long plane takes off as Lufthans= a Flight 8940 at 9 a.m. (4 a.m. EDT) for the eight-hour flight to New York'= s John F. Kennedy International Airport. Onboard will be 550 people, includ= ing four pilots, four Airbus crew members, 23 Lufthansa cabin crew and 519 = passengers, mostly Airbus and Lufthansa employees along with some reporters= . =0AThe flight will operate just as if it were a commercial one, with full= dining and entertainment services. =0AAs a test on Sunday, organizers boar= ded more than 500 people onto the aircraft using two jetways with an impres= sive time of less than 20 minutes. A second test was held to see if the Luf= thansa workers could board it faster. =0AAirbus pilot Wolfgang Absmeier sai= d the boarding process Monday will take longer. =0A"People are going to be = curious and looking around as they get on," he said, standing at the base o= f a staircase leading to the plane's second level. =0AAfter the inaugural r= un, Lufthansa and Airbus will operate a demonstration flight to Chicago's O= 'Hare International Airport on Tuesday before returning to New York and the= n to Frankfurt. The plane then heads to Hong Kong and back before continuin= g its journey to Washington Dulles International Airport on March 25, with = a final stop at Lufthansa's Munich hub March 28 to complete the series of o= ptimization flights. =0AUsing the performance results from this circuit =97= flying the plane as if it were in service =97 Lufthansa's goal is to match= the A380's turnaround time from landing to takeoff with that of much small= er long-haul jets already in operation. =0AThe A380, which burns about one = gallon of gas per passenger every 80 miles and can fly some 8,000 nautical = miles, can seat as many as 550 passengers. Airbus has 166 orders from 15 ai= rlines for the new plane, which has already made tests flights in Europe an= d to Asia. =0A"We are proud that ... we are now able to present the A380 to= the American people," said Mario Heinen, the head of Airbus' A380 program.= "Both JFK and LAX, as well as Chicago O'Hare International and Washington = Dulles International Airport, are key future destinations for the A380." = =0AThe Frankfurt-New York flight is one of two A380 flights to the United S= tates on Monday. The other is an A380 operated by Australian airline Qantas= that is flying to Los Angeles International Airport but devoid of passenge= rs and crew, save for those in the cockpit. =0AToulouse, France-based Airbu= s said that plane will perform tests at the California airport, including a= irfield maneuvers, docking at the terminal gate and ground and gate handlin= g exercises. The Los Angeles airport, the fifth-busiest worldwide, is expec= ted to be the first U.S. destination for the A380 when it enters commercial= service. =0ALufthansa, which has orders for 15 A380s and an option for fiv= e more, expects to use the planes on its international routes, mainly to As= ia and North America. It expects the first one to be delivered in mid-2009,= pushed back from 2008 by the manufacturing delays. =0AThe problems at Airb= us led Louis Gallois, co-chief executive of parent company European Aeronau= tic Defense and Space Co., to call 2006 "the worst year for Airbus in its l= ife." Airbus is seeking to recoup its losses by cutting 10,000 jobs and spi= nning off or closing six of its European manufacturing plants. =0A=97=97=97= =0AOn the Net: =0AAirbus: http://www.airbus.com =0ALufthansa: http://www.l= ufthansa.com If you wish to unsubscribe from the AIRLINE List, please send an E-mail to: "listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx". 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