When was the date of the very first A380 arrival into JFK? Also, what was the flight # ? I witnessed the first DLH arrival but I believe it came after UAE & AFR.
Printable View
When was the date of the very first A380 arrival into JFK? Also, what was the flight # ? I witnessed the first DLH arrival but I believe it came after UAE & AFR.
Judging from this image, the first departure was on March 21,2007. It was one of the test fleet A380s doing route proving and airport validation.
http://www.nycaviation.com/media/thumb/VDrwu2CQNr.jpeg
The first arrival at JFK was on March 19, 2007. It was in town for a couple of days for local flights. It was in Airbus house colors, however it was flown by a Lufthansa crew.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Airplanes...WJB_006-XL.jpg
https://photos.smugmug.com/Airplanes...WJB_002-XL.jpg
John Leahy, Airbus COO, addressing the media during the Airbus/Lufthansa press conference marking the first A-380 flight to New York. The LH captain and first officer (both 4-stripers) are to the right.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Airplanes..._LH_003-XL.jpg
LH cabin crew for the flight.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Airplanes..._LH_001-XL.jpg
It came to JFK that week to give New York the honor of having the first A380 landing in North America. I know it did a local flight or maybe went to Chicago or something. Then it went back to Europe and flew into Dulles the next week. It was on an LH flight number.
F-WWJB, c/n 007, now A6-EDF with Emirates.
The first commercial A380 service to JFK was Emirates in the summer of 2008.
As I remember, there was also one going into LAX at the same time. I managed to find my way on to the media bus to shoot the landing, and as we were heading back to the terminal, they announced that the LAX flight hadn't landed yet, so JFK did indeed have the first US landing.
I completely forgot about that aspect of it, but that's exactly what happened. http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-trw...r19-story.html
I saw that ship in house colors at MSP in January '08
Thanks; nice to be back. I suffered a stroke last year caused by AFib so I can no longer go spotting but I still follow the aircraft via the Internet and can often see aircraft out of my window approaching the CRI VOR. I miss spotting so much but life goes on. Hope all is well with you.