27 April, 2007: Come May 7, and the country will play host to the world’s largest aircraft landing on its soil. According to a report, the Airbus A380, the world's largest airliner that can seat up to 850 passengers in a double-decker format, will come flying to India. The flight is part of a world tour.

The occasion will go down in history as this would be the first time that an A380 will land on Indian soil. The Airbus A380 will be in New Delhi and Mumbai from May 7 to 10, said the report.

It may be noted that the Airbus officials had earlier planned to fly the A380 aircraft for the Bangalore Aero India air show in February 2007. However, the small size of the airfield in the Karnataka capital forced Airbus to alter their plans, and the arrival in India was put off. The existing runways at Delhi and Mumbai airports are capable of handling an A380 landing and departure. More facilities which can handle such are large aircraft are being built as part of India's aviation sector modernization plans.

Significantly, India’s fastest growing airline Kingfisher is the first and the only airline from the country to sign up for the Airbus A380. The Vijay Mallya-promoted airline has placed orders for 10 aircraft, with five of them firm orders. A promotional campaign which will give select guests a chance to be the first to fly on board the A380 is also being lined up by the Kingfisher team.

The Airbus A380, said the report, is most likely to enter commercial service with Singapore Airlines (SIA) this October onwards. On the Indian front, Kingfisher is due to take delivery of the aircraft in 2011-12, it added.

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