Giant bird Airbus A380 touches down at KIA

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru:

The city’s Kempegowda International Airport witnessed a new milestone on Friday as the world’s largest commercial airliner Airbus A380 touched down on its tarmac. The special service from Dubai to Bengaluru, operating as EK562, was greeted with a procession of follow-me vehicles, arriving ahead of the launch of scheduled A380 services which will commence on October 30.

Emirates flight EK562 took off from Dubai International Airport at 10:00 am and landed in Bengaluru at 3:40 pm local time, and was welcomed by Kempegowda International Airport, in the presence of aviation fans, media and special guests representing the aviation and travel industries and diplomatic missions, amongst others.

At the reception in Bengaluru, the flight carrying 224 passengers was greeted by ST Somashekar Gowda, Minister of Cooperation, Government of Karnataka; Dr Ahmed Abdel Rahman AlBanna, Ambassador of the UAE to India; Hari Marar, MD & CEO of Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL); and Mohammed Sarhan, Emirates’ Vice President – India and Nepal. Adnan Kazim, Chief Commercial Officer, Emirates, said: “The special relationship that we share with Bengaluru and the State of Karnataka is one of mutual growth and prosperity and we are delighted to introduce A380 services to this vital gateway for travellers in South India.

Today’s flight is testament to the fruitful relationship that we share with the city and we look forward to providing the flagship experience across all cabins, for travellers travelling to and from Bengaluru, when we begin our scheduled daily A380 services later this month.