March 20, 2007	Tuesday	Safar 30, 1428

LOS ANGELES: The giant Airbus A380 superjumbo landed on US soil for the first time on Monday, with crowds turning out to witness the arrivals of the world's biggest passenger plane in New York and Los Angeles.

The 555-seat double-decker behemoth, which has a wingspan the size of a football pitch, descended smoothly through grey, overcast skies to touch down at Los Angeles International Airport at approximately 9.28 am (1628 GMT).

A few minutes earlier, another Airbus A380 flying from Frankfurt landed at New York's Kennedy Airport. The flight is being conducted in conjunction with Qantas Airways of Australia, which has ordered 12 A380s and may buy eight more.—AFP