Report: Lufthansa Airbus 380 visits Vienna |
On June 02, 2010 the first ever Airbus 380 landed at Vienna International Airport. The event had been announced for weeks and the media in Austria had reported about it big during the days immediately before the visit.
The main purpose of the flight was Lufthansa crew training, as after between 60 and 70 hours in the simulator each crew member has to perform 10 sectors training on real flights. But besides the training aspect the visit to Vienna, which is not yet ready for regular visits of Airbus 380 aircraft, also served as a publicity event for Lufthansa.
For the event the airport offered reduced fares on the City Airport Train, organized additional VisitAir apron tours for free and offered no-fare parking in the parking lot 4, which offers a splendid view of tha A380's parking position H48 on the eastern apron.
Large crowds of spectators showed up there and - despite of the rain - also alongside the airport fences near the planned landing runway 34. On the two parking positions adjacent to H48 the airport administration had closed an area for the parking of vehicles of airport workers who wanted to have a close look at the "Mega Airbus".
At 10:38 the Lufthansa A380 registered D-AIMA and christened "Frankfurt am Main" touched down as flight LH 8921 on runway 34. It was immediately followed by a check car of the airport authority, conducting a runway check, as required by local procedures after the landing of a so called "very large aircraft".
The A380 was ordered by air traffic control to vacate the runway almost at the end at intersection B2 in order to minimize the distance to taxi in the taxiway system. A marshaller car guided D-AIMA to it's parking stand, assisted by a team of so-called wing-tip observers, who checked for lateral clearance of obstacles.
The aircraft stayed on ground for two and a half hours. A privileged group of around 50 people were allowed on board of the aircraft, to take a close look at it's interior.
At around 12:50 the giant started up it's engine and a short time later taxied to the holding point of runway 34. After about ten minutes of waiting for several landings LH 8921 was allowed to line up on the runway. At about 13:15 the Lufthansa A380 took to the air for the next leg of the training tour to Dresden in Germany. The low noise emission of the four Rolls-Royce Trent 900 eninges was a stunning experience.
Soon D-AIMA disappeared in the low clouds and more than 1.500 spectators left the scene, satisfied to have witnessed the first visit of an Airbus 380 at an Austrian airport.