India will soon have the first super jumbo Airbus A 380, with the government giving Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines to import five of the world's largest passenger aircraft into India.
In addition, Kingfisher has also been given permission to import 15 wide-bodied aircraft and a business jet.
According to civil aviation ministry officials, the approval to import A 380 aircraft come with certain conditions including, Kingfisher finding parking and landing slots in Indian airports.
This makes Kingfisher the first airline in the country to have permission to buy the super jumbo aircraft, which has not yet gone into commercial services.
Mallya's airline will also become the first carrier in the country to own and fly an Airbus A 380.
Interestingly, airports in India are not equipped to handle this aeroplane. They need longer runways and better parking facilities to accommodate a super-jumbo like Airbus A 380.
In addition, runways needs to be widened to accommodate these aircraft and parking bays will have to be re-done to allow faster embarkation and disembarkation of passengers. Airports across the world are spending billions to modify facilities to accommodate these aircraft.
According to aviation experts, an aircraft such as A 380, which has a seating capacity of over 500 passengers, can be typically put to use in high capacity routes.
