The Emirates Airbus A380 arrived at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru on Friday at 3.40 pm, marking a historic occasion for the city. The biggest passenger plane in the world took off towards the city in southern India for the first time on a commercial voyage. Captain Nikhil Thigarajan and Sandeep Prabhu were the pilots of the plane.
Sandeep’s older brother Satyendra Prabhu told IndianExpress.com: ‘My brother gave the ‘welcome’ address in Kannada. He contacted our parents, Arathi Prabhu and Shivaraya Prabhu, to write the announcement in Kannada and properly and sincerely welcome the people aboard. After arrival, he contacted me right away to say how much he had liked the entire trip’. Sandeep has been a pilot for almost 15 years at this point. The plane landed on the south runway and was accompanied by three ‘follow me’ cars to the north runway, where it docked at Gate 44.
Watch: World’s largest passenger aircraft touches down in #Bengaluru https://t.co/E1URXpuh4e pic.twitter.com/Ntl03QylEZ
— Express Bengaluru (@IEBengaluru) October 15, 2022
At 10 a.m. local time, the plane took off from Dubai and arrived seven minutes early in Bengaluru. The superjumbo was originally expected to arrive on October 30, but the date was advanced by more than two weeks. ST Somashekar, the minister of cooperation for the state of Karnataka, H.E. Dr. Ahmed Abdel Rahman AlBanna, the ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to India, and Hari Marar, the managing director and chief executive officer of Bangalore International Airport Limited welcomed the 224 passengers on board the flight at the welcome reception in Bengaluru (BIAL). After 7 o’clock in the evening, the double-deck wide-body aeroplane took off again.
Chief Strategy and Development Officer of BIAL Satyaki Raghunath stated: ‘Emirates’ flagship A380 services have begun to serve Bengaluru, making it the first city in south India to get such services. This wide-body aircraft’s arrival today demonstrates BLR Airport’s operating capacity and the growing demand from travellers. The new A380 service’s improved premium experience on the Dubai-Bengaluru route would not only satisfy the high demand for travel but also encourage travel between the two markets’.
Bengaluru is now the second city in the nation to be served by the renowned aircraft since The Emirates began flying the route between Dubai and Mumbai in 2014. Emirates’ A380 flights between Dubai and Bengaluru will begin flying under the flight numbers EK568 and EK569 on October 30. The daily flight is planned to depart from the airline’s hub at 21:25 and touch down in Bengaluru at 02:30 local time the following morning. At 04:30, the return flight leaves from Kempegowda International Airport and arrives in Dubai at 07:10 (local time).
The Boeing 777, The Emirates’ other widebody aircraft, is used for two more daily trips. The A380 is already flown by Emirates to more than 30 locations across the world, and the airline intends to use the well-liked aircraft at more than 40 locations by March 2023. The superjumbo weights between 510 and 575 tonnes, according to Emirates. It is five giraffes tall and two blue whales long. The plane can travel a distance of up to 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km) and cruise at a height of 43,100 feet. There are around 480 seats available on the aeroplane.
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