The crew of the A380's first flight pose in front of the tail.

The world's largest passenger plane, the A380, is scheduled to make its maiden flight from Toulouse, France.

Weather permitting, the "superjumbo" will take off at approximately 10 a.m. local time, and could be airborne from anywhere between one and five hours -- possibly longer.

Made by European company Airbus, the A380 will challenge the Boeing 747's long dominance of the jumbo jet market.

France, Britain, Germany and Spain all invested heavily in the 10-year, ？0-billion-plus program to make the plane.

The 555-seat aircraft is massive, consisting of four aisles in its passenger build, and has a range of up to 15,000 kilometers (8,000 nautical miles ).

A freight version, which has been ordered by UPS and FedEx, is to be unveiled at a later date, and will be able to carry cargoes of 150 tons over 10,400 kilometers.

Some passenger planes will have cocktail bars, double beds and massage parlors, while the company has hinted that selected jets may even have jacuzzis and mini-casinos.

According to Airbus, the A380 has been designed with the environment in mind; it has about a 13 percent lower fuel burn than the 747; and is the first long-haul aircraft to consume less than three liters of fuel per passenger over 100 kilometers -- said to be as efficient as your average family car.

Carbon fibre components and fuel-efficient technology also mean the cost per passenger should be up to 20 percent less than on a 747, raising the possibility of cheaper tickets.

But Boeing has talked down the threat posed by the A380, notably by saying that few airports in the world were modified to take the bulk of the new superjumbo, despite Airbus's claims that 50 were ready.

The U.S. company has also embarked on a midsize long-range aircraft it is calling the 7E7 Dreamliner.

Boeing is also looking at further modifying its ageing 747 to take 450 passengers.

Although the A380 project has run some $1.4 billion over budget, Airbus believes it will recoup its costs in 2008 and be an extremely profitable flagship product for decades to come.

Airbus chief Noel Forgeard told CNN in January the aircraft had already nearly covered its costs.

Thirteen companies have already placed firm orders for 149 of the aircraft, which comes with a catalogue price of between U.S. $263 and $286 million (？00 and ？18 million.)

China signed contracts on April 21 to buy five Airbus A380 super-jumbo jets and 25 other Airbus jetliners in a series of deals totaling more than $3.2 billion.

The A380 was originally unveiled at a star-studded event on January 18 in France.

(BBC)

nautical mile: （海里）

jacuzzis: a large whirlpool bathtub with underwater jets that massage the body（佳骨肌泡沫浴裝置）

recoup : reimburse or compensate (someone), as for a loss（賠償，補(bǔ)償）