Paris, France — France honoured the A380 superjumbo with a place in its national aerospace museum on Tuesday, granting it equal status with the Boeing 747 even as questions pile up over the future of the industry’s biggest jets.
The A380 test plane, the fourth to be built and the second to actually fly in 2005, flew to Le Bourget near Paris from Toulouse with 50 technicians who will spend months adapting it for public view.
It is the first time Airbus has transferred one of its test planes to a museum and a victory for curators who for years have coveted the world’s largest jetliner, designed to carry up to 853 people in all-economy seating or 544 in standard layout.
The plane will see out its retirement alongside a vintage 747 once flown by Air France and is expected to become a popular tourist attraction when it goes on display in 2018.
But after fewer than 10 years in service, the A380’s double-decker design is less successful commercially than designers hoped.
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