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Title: Airbus A380 flight to America today
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Blog Entry: From yahoo, For plane builder Airbus and German airline Lufthansa AG, the A380's first flight to North America, which took off on time at 9 a.m. (0800GMT) Monday, is a chance to show off the superjumbo to potential U.S. buyers and to the airports they hope will be flight bases for the double-decker jet.The air show began early Monday at Frankfurt International Airport when the more than 239 foot-long plane took off as Lufthansa Flight 8940 for the eight-hour flight to New York's JFK Airport, scheduled to land at 12:30 p.m. (1630GMT). Some 550 people, including four pilots, four Airbus crew members, 23 Lufthansa cabin crew and 519 passengers, mostly Airbus and Lufthansa employees along with some reporters, were to be onboard.The A380, which burns about four liters (one gallon) of gas per passenger every 80 miles and can fly some 8,000 nautical miles, can seat as many as 550 passengers. Airbus has 166 orders from 15 airlines for the new plane, which has already made tests flights in Europe and to Asia.Amazing..