Canada will receive its first Superjumbo commercial flight at Pearson International airport, Toronto when Emirates Airline lands here with the Airbus 380 on June 1st, 2009.

The Airbus A380 is a double-decker, wide bodied aircraft with four engines produced by Airbus.  The largest passenger airliner flew its maiden flight on April 27, 2005 from Toulouse in France.  The first commercial flight was introduced by Singapore Airlines from Singapore to Sydney, Australia on October 25th of the same year.

With 50% more floor space than the next-largest aircraft; Boeing 747-400, the double-decker can offer up to 525 seats in standard 3 class configuration.  If operated with all economy, it can take up to 853 passengers. With design range of 15,200 km or 8,200 nautical miles, it can fly comfortably from Boston to Hong Kong.

Emirates, the airline from Dubai, United Arab Emirates will upgrade its current 3 x weekly Boeing 777 operations, that it began flying in October 2007 with A380.  Versus 360 seats on its B777 plane, the A380 will operate with 489 seats.

The airline is expected to operate with 14 suites in first class and 76 flat-bed seats in the business class on the upper level and 399 seats in the economy class on the lower deck.

In a statement Emirates said the Superjumbo aircraft will have an onboard lounge.  The services will include an extensive menu of multi-course meal options, the award-winning in-flight entertainment product ‘ICE’ with over 1200 channels of entertainment, SMS and email facilities as well as seat-to-seat calling.

Whilst the fares are subject to change, the airlines is expected to offer round-trip prices to Dubai starting at $1,130 for economy class, $6,550 for business class, and $10,000 for first class, which includes a lounge and two shower spas.

Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal are the only airports in Canada that have made the necessary adaptation to handle the world’s largest aircraft’s passenger configuration and wide wingspan.