TOULOUSE, April 25: The new Airbus A380, the largest commercial airliner ever built, is expected to make its long-awaited first test flight on Wednesday at the production facility in Toulouse, France, the company said on Monday.

The A380, a twin-deck behemoth capable of carrying up to 800 people, is due to be flown by two veteran French test pilots, Claude Lelaie and Jacques Rosay, the company said.

More than 50,000 people are expected to witness the maiden flight, which will be broadcast live.

“The first flight will take place Wednesday, if weather permits and excluding a last-minute technical glitch,” a spokeswoman said.

The new aircraft, which makes extensive use of electronic flight systems and composite materials, is set to be the first serious challenger to the 747 jumbo jet produced by Boeing of the United States.

The European consortium’s first fully operational A380 has been undergoing ground tests since early April.

Airbus said the plane that is due to fly on Wednesday will have Rolls-Royce engines. Clients are able to choose between Rolls-Royce and power units made by the US consortium Engine Alliance, which brings together General Electric and Pratt and Whitney.

The first plane to fly will have no passenger seats, but will instead be packed with electronic equipment to test all aspects of the plane’s performance, Airbus said.

Thanks to an intensive testing process involving several aircraft, the consortium is hoping to achieve flight certification for the new craft within a year, allowing the first commercial flights to take place in 2006.

The key hurdles will be certification by the US Federal Aviation Authority and its European Union equivalent, the European Air Safety Agency.

Singapore Airlines is due to take delivery of the first planes to come into service.

The first production aircraft, which is the one that will be flying on Wednesday, was shown to the press on January 18 at the main Toulouse plant, in southwestern France.

Airbus Industrie is 80 percent owned by the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) and 20 percent by BAE Systems of Britain.

The maiden flight has been postponed several times. Airbus had initially wanted it to take place at the end of March or early April, then in early April it said it would happen in the second half of the month.—AFP