India will soon have the first super jumbo Airbus A 380, with the government giving Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines to import five of the world's largest passenger aircraft into India. |
In addition, Kingfisher has also been given permission to import 15 wide bodied aircraft and a business jet. |
According to civil aviation ministry officials, the approval to import A 380 aircraft come with certain conditions including, Kingfisher finding parking and landing slots in Indian airports. |
This makes Kingfisher the first airline in the country to have permission to buy the super jumbo aircraft, which has not yet gone into commercial services. |
Mallya's airline will also become the first carrier in the country to own and fly an Airbus A 380. |
Interestingly, airports in India are not equipped to handle this aeroplane. They need a longer run-ways and better parking facilities to accommodate a super-jumbo like Airbus A 380. |
In addition, runways needs to be widened to accommodate these aircraft and parking bays will have to be re-done to allow faster embarkation and disembarkation of passengers. Airports across the world are spending billions to modify facilities to accommodate these aircraft. |
According to aviation experts, an aircraft such as A 380, which has a seating capacity of over 500 passengers, can be typically put to use in high capacity routes. |