Qatar Airways' first A380 this morning took off from the Airbus assembly line in Toulouse on its maiden flight to Hamburg.
There, the superjumbo — which remains in partial livery — will be fitted with its cabin and painted.
The Doha-based carrier has ten A380s on order and will become the eleventh airline to operate the superjumbo when it takes delivery of this aircraft in 2014.
It was first glimpsed in Toulouse in June (see news, June 12). The traditional Oryx logo, which appears on the airline's fleet of 124 aircraft, graces the 24-metre high tailfin of the double-decker A380.
The A380 first entered service in 2007 and has now clocked up over one million flight hours with more than 120,000 commercial flights.
To date, there are 108 A380s in operation and 44 million passengers have flown onboard the aircraft.
Graham Smith
