- Sunday, March 09, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
The Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru, India’s information technology capital, remained witness to history on Friday (14) as the world’s biggest passenger plane — Airbus A380 — landed on its soil for the first time ever.
The massive double-decker plane, which is owned by Emirates Airlines, landed in Bengaluru, around 3.40 pm local time after taking off from Dubai, UAE. The aircraft was earlier expected in the southern Indian city on October 30, said reports.
Apart from Bengaluru, only Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad airports in India can accommodate the gigantic plane.
The KIA authorities had been preparing for the aircraft’s landing for a while and when it happened, they shared updates on their official Twitter handle.
What a wonderful sight! Emirates Airbus A380 (EK562) landing at Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru@DubaiAirports @emirates #Bengaluru #Dubai #EK562 @AAI_Official @sandeeprrao1991 @LiveFromALounge @BLRAviation @NammaBengaluroo @BLRAirport pic.twitter.com/KesP8mnQBo
— Hubballi-Dharwad Infra (@Hubballi_Infra) October 14, 2022
Before the landing, the KIA authorities tweeted, “The Emirates Airbus A380 will land at #BLRAirport on Oct 14. Our teams are gearing up for this historic maiden flight to #BLR. Our engineers and operations team are testing infrastructure and processes. We are waiting for the big day with bated breath. #Emirates #Smoothlanding.”
The caption was accompanied by an Airbus A380’s photo on a runway.
The Emirates Airbus A380 will land at #BLRAirport on Oct 14. Our teams are gearing up for this historic maiden flight to #BLR. Our engineers and operations team are testing infrastructure and processes. We are waiting for the big day with bated breath.#Emirates #Smoothlanding pic.twitter.com/Ly0hUK3CFb
— BLR Airport (@BLRAirport) October 12, 2022
After the plane landed, it tweeted, “Now that’s how you make an entrance! @emirates A380, the largest passenger airliner in the world has just touched down at #BLRAirport”
Now that’s how you make an entrance! @emirates A380, the largest passenger airliner in the world has just touched down at #BLRAirport #Emirates #EmiratesA380 #A380 #Airbus #Bengaluru #Dubai #Kempegowdainternationalairport #Karnatakatourism #BLRConnects #Aviationgeeks #Aviation pic.twitter.com/L3sDj5dp40
— BLR Airport (@BLRAirport) October 14, 2022
The flight, EK562, took off from Dubai at 10 am local time and reached Bengaluru after flying for almost four hours to cover 1,701 miles.
The aircraft would make its maiden flight from Bengaluru to Dubai.
Airbus A380 measures 72.7 metres in length, weighs between 510 and 575 tonnes, and stands 24.1 metres tall.
Although Airbus has delivered its final A380 to Emirates and will no longer manufacture the aircraft, it is still in use by a number of airlines, the largest being Emirates.
