Airbus A380 lands in Sydney on first commercial flight

By Michael Smith

SYDNEY (Reuters) - The world's biggest jumbo jet landed safely in Sydney on Thursday, completing its long-delayed first commercial flight from Singapore.

The double-decker A380 emerged from low-lying cloud to fly over Sydney's famous harbor before touching down on time, a contrast to two years of delays which pushed its European manufacturer Airbus into a loss.

Watched by hundreds of airport staff and aviation enthusiasts lining fences outside the airport, passengers on the inaugural Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight disembarked without a hitch.

The wet Sydney afternoon did nothing to dampen passengers' enthusiasm.

"It was great being a part of history," Michael Sim, who said he had paid about 30 percent more for his ticket than he would have on other flights, told Reuters television.

Passengers paid between $560 and $100,380 for seats on the inaugural flight, after bidding for the tickets as part of a charity auction to drum up publicity.

"It was a very smooth rise, and much quieter than the 747," Rainer Silhavy told Reuters.

During the flight, first-class passengers reclined in suites modeled on luxury yacht interiors and slumbered in proper beds which the airline said can be converted into doubles.