First Flight Test For World's Largest Commercial Aircraft

REAL TIME UPDATE 0829 EDT -- The Airbus A380 has safely returned to its home airport in Toulouse, France, after successfully completing its maiden flight.

The behemoth aircraft touched down approximately four hours after it departed the airport in Toulouse. Thousands of people cheered from the fenceline as the A380, with a crew of six and 22 tons of test equipment, rolled out smoothly on the runway.

REAL TIME UPDATE 0641 EDT -- The world's largest commercial passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380, is undergoing flight tests in Toulouse, France, at this hour. The double-decker aircraft took off without incident in what some are calling Europe's most eagerly-anticipated flight test since the Concorde.

Thousands of people lining the fences surrounding the airport in Toulouse. Many of those who came to see the behemoth take to the sky had camped out for days.

It's taken more than ten years and some 12 billion euros to bring the A380 to this point. Like the Boeing 747, it has two passenger decks -- but unlike the jumbo jet, its top deck stretches the length of the aircraft.

Already, French President Jacques Chirac has hailed the A380 as "an immense European success," according to Reuters. He describes the new super-jumbo as the "cruise ship of the skies."

FMI: www.airbus.com