The crew of the A380’s first flight pose in front of the tail.[Photo]
　　The world’s largest passenger plane, the A380, is scheduled to make its maiden flight from Toulouse, France.

　　Weather permitting, the "superjumbo" will take off at approximately 10 a.m. local time, and could be airborne from anywhere between one and five hours -- possibly longer.

　　Made by European company Airbus, the A380 will challenge the Boeing 747’s long dominance of the jumbo jet market.

　　France, Britain, Germany and Spain all invested heavily in the 10-year, billion-plus program to make the plane.

　　The 555-seat aircraft is massive, consisting of four aisles in its passenger build, and has a range of up to 15,000 kilometers (8,000 nautical miles ). A freight version, which has been ordered by UPS and FedEx, is to be unveiled at a later date, and will be able to carry cargoes of 150 tons over 10,400 kilometers.

Learn more from this article