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Business News/ Companies / News/  Emirates plans to fly in Airbus A380 for Hyderabad airshow
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Emirates plans to fly in Airbus A380 for Hyderabad airshow

The move may be a precursor to Emirates operating the A380s in India later

The airshow in Hyderabad will be held on 12-16 March where the A380 will be flanked by about 25 other planes that have confirmed participation.Premium
The airshow in Hyderabad will be held on 12-16 March where the A380 will be flanked by about 25 other planes that have confirmed participation.

New Delhi: Dubai-based Emirates airline plans to fly in the Airbus A380 plane, the world’s largest passenger airline, to the Hyderabad airshow next month, with India lifting its ban on the super jumbo jets a fortnight ago.

The airshow, called India Aviation 2014, will be held on 12-16 March. Emirates agreed to bring the plane to Hyderabad in what may be a precursor to it operating the A380s in India later, said a person familiar with the matter, declining to be named.

“Emirates has agreed to bring in its A380 for the airshow; it will be there for four days," said the person. “We are hoping the Telangana agitation will be over by then. But the security will be high this time."

An Emirates spokesman confirmed the plan.

“We are working with the authorities to bring the A380 to Hyderabad for the Hyderabad airshow," the spokesman said.

The gigantic A380, which made its first flight in 2005 and entered commercial service two years later, can carry up to 850 passengers in an all-economy configuration, allowing airlines to transport more travellers without significantly adding flights.

Emirates’ A380 planes typically have 399 seats in economy, 76 lie-flat seats in business and 14 luxury private suites. Passengers travelling in private suites can freshen up in one of the two on-board shower spas.

Currently, there are 114 A380 planes flying on various routes worldwide, and Airbus S.A.S has firm orders for another 262 planes, according to the company.

Nine of the 10 airlines that currently fly the A380 have scheduled flights into India. Besides Emirates, Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Singapore Airlines Ltd have said they were keen to fly the A380 planes to India. But India had decided to not allow foreign airlines to fly the A380s into the country as the planes were seen as a threat to local airlines. Also, only four Indian airports—Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore—have the infrastructure needed to handle the A380s.

The A380 has been showcased at the Hyderabad airshow before, in October 2011, but that was an Airbus sample plane without all the fittings. The same month, Emirates made an emergency landing at the Hyderabad airport of an A380 plane that was bound to Dubai from Bangkok.

At the latest airshow in Hyderabad, the A380 will be flanked by about 25 other planes that have confirmed participation.

The highlight will be Air India’s 13th Dreamliner 787 plane, which will fly directly from Boeing Co.’s factory in Seattle to Hyderabad, where aviation minister Ajit Singh and other dignitaries will take its delivery to mark the launch of the airshow, a second official who also did not want to be named said.

Airbus, which flew down its newest aircraft, the inter-continental Airbus A350 XWB, to the Singapore airshow this month, is not bringing it to Hyderabad.

The director general of civil aviation, or DGCA, has cleared a proposal by the aviation ministry to allow aircraft to fly low for a fly-past and aerobatics as in other airshows.

A two-aircraft team from the UK has been hired for twice daily aerobatics performances at the Hyderabad airshow. The Indian Air Forces’ helicopter display team Sarang also has been invited.

Competition in India’s aviation sector is heating up with two new airlines planned to be launched in the country. The Tata group is preparing to launch a full-service airline in partnership with Singapore Airlines and a low-cost venture with AirAsia Bhd, marking its return to aviation after a gap of 60 years.

Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of the Tata group, however, declined the aviation ministry’s invitation to deliver the keynote address at the inaugural session of the event on 12 March. Tata, who has a private pilot licence and flies often himself, put this down to a prior engagement.

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Published: 19 Feb 2014, 06:44 PM IST
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