A380 Now To Visit NY First

Officials with the city of Los Angeles have accused European planemaker Airbus of reneging on a deal which would have seen Los Angeles International (LAX) as the first US landing site for its massive A380 passenger jet.

Airbus recently announced plans to visit New York next month, and that's got the folks at LAX steamed.

According to the LA Times, Airbus told Los Angeles World Airports officials last year it would bring the A380 to LAX on its first flight to the US if a gate were built to accommodate it -- a $9 million gate. Airport officials say they expedited modifications to the Tom Bradley International Terminal to meet Airbus' deadline.

Many airports in the US have made expensive modifications to accommodate the mammoth 555-passenger aircraft, but LAX was to be the first to see a US landing last August.

Delays with the jet's development nixed that plan, however.

Now, Airbus says the A380's US debut will come via Frankfurt, Germany to New York's Kennedy on March 19, with a follow on flight to Chicago's O'Hare the next day. Another flight from Frankfurt is scheduled to land at Dulles in Washington DC on March 25 -- so what happened to the LAX flight?

The LA Times obtained a copy of an email from Paul Haney, deputy executive director of airports and security for Los Angeles World Airports to Allan McArtor, chairman of Airbus North America. It read, in part, "We are taken aback, to put it mildly, that Airbus is not living up to its commitment to have the A380 touch down at LAX first. We, in sharp contrast, have lived up to our commitment to you."

Airbus has yet to give a satisfactory answer saying German carrier Lufthansa got first dibs on the A380's first flight to the US as reward for helping it with evacuation testing of the jet. But a Lufthansa spokesman says Airbus is still operationally responsible for the flights.

City officials say they had planned a media extravaganza to welcome the A380 to the US in hopes of boosting LAX's sagging image, but those plans may change unless Airbus reconsiders its decision.

Apparently Haney told McArtor in his email unless Airbus changed its plans, the airport agency would reassess its commitment to "support a history-making visit of your aircraft to LAX."

FMI: www.lawa.org, www.airbus.com