A prototype of the long-delayed Airbus A380, the world's biggest passenger jet, on Thursday wrapped up an around-the-world series of test flights crucial for its certification, which is expected in a few weeks.
Airbus confirmed that it expects certification by mid-December based on the successful tests, which were designed to put the 555-seater through the kind of operating conditions it will experience with airlines.
"At each destination, the A380 performed as expected," the company said in a statement after the plane landed in Airbus' home city of Toulouse in southern France, where it had departed from Nov. 13 for a journey that took it to 10 cities.
The European planemaker has struggled to get the A380 finished and deliver it to airlines.
Airbus and parent company European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. have blamed wiring problems for delays that are set to wipe 4.8 billion euros ($6.3 billion) off EADS profits over the next four years and complicate plans for the mid-size A350 jet, meant to compete with Boeing Co.'s upcoming 787.
Singapore Airlines will be the first carrier to fly paying passengers aboard the A380 after it receives its first superjumbo in October next year - a year later than originally planned. Subsequent deliveries have suffered longer delays, averaging two years.
The test flights took the A380 to Singapore, Seoul, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing, Johannesburg, Sydney and Vancouver. It flew 150 hours.
Representatives of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and the European Aviation Safety Agency traveled aboard the final series of test flights.
At the A380's stop in Vancouver on Wednesday, Airbus' troubles seemed far away. The plane drew gasps from assembled onlookers as it landed with a whoosh in subzero temperatures, and test pilot Frank Chapman called the plane "delightful" to fly.
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