A380's First Flight 'Phenomenal'

The Airbus A380 touched down in Sydney this morning, completing the festive maiden voyage of the world's largest jet. After a 2-year delay, passengers who boarded in Singapore say the champagne-fueled, 7-hour trip was worth the wait. “It's going to make everything else after this simply awful,” one told the BBC. The jet, dubbed the Superjumbo, carried 450 passengers who paid between $560 and $100,380 in an auction on eBay.

The A380 can carry 850 and has a wingspan the length of a soccer field. “The space is bigger than anything you can imagine,” said one passenger. Stairways run between two economy-class floors; lush sleeping suites sport beds “you can really sink into”—and even join to make a double. One man, who paid $55,000 for his family’s tickets, said it was “every penny worth it.” (More Airbus A380 stories.)