Thai Airways takes delivery of first A380 \'Superjumbo\'

Thai Airways has taken delivery of its first Airbus A380 giant carrier and is now the ninth global airline to be operating the high-capacity plane, Airbus Industry said Thursday. Thai Airways International has ordered a total of six A380, each with a passenger capacity of 507 in a three-class layout. The A380 is capable of carrying some 850 passengers in its most economical layout. The airline, which has a reputation for luxury service, will inaugurate commercial service with the A380 in early October on the Bangkok-to-Hong Kong and Bangkok-to- Singapore routes. As more aircraft are delivered, the airline will begin service to Frankfurt at the end of the year, followed by Tokyo and Paris early in 2013. The A380 is capable of flying 8,500 nautical miles or 15,700 kilometres non-stop. From Bangkok this enables non-stop service with a full payload to any destination in Europe or one-stop service to anywhere in the United States.