Largest passenger plane in the world, Lufthansa Flight 400, makes inaugural flight to New York City

 

ABOARD LUFTHANSA FLIGHT 400 - It may be the largest passenger plane in the world, but the gargantuan new Airbus A380 soars through the air with the ease of a glider.

The double-decker jet that can carry 526 passengers made its inaugural flight from Frankfurt, Germany, to New York for Lufthansa this week in what will soon become a daily trip.

 

The whisper-quiet, wide-bodied plane was an immediate hit with passengers and crew.

"The plane was awesome," said Cassandra Coins, a music consultant from Harlem. "It has that new airplane smell."

Pilot Geert Pruess said flying the mega-plane was a breeze.

"The plane flies very easily. It's very agile, it turns easily and doesn't feel like a large, heavy plane," he said.

The plane is arranged in three sections, with 106 business and first-class seats and 420 economy seats.

 

 An inside look at the bathroom in first class (Handschuh/News)

Coins said sitting in row 92 was no bother.

"For someone sitting four rows from the back it was great," she said.

To unload passengers from the flying behemoth takes three separate gangways and required modifications to JFK Airport to accommodate it.

The plane uses newly designed seats and a divided cabin layout that makes the massive economy section seem more manageable.

"[The dividers] give you the feeling like you are in your own compartment and not on a plane with 500 other people," said Iordanka Katardjieva, a media buyer from Astoria, Queens.

"I like the seats," she added. "They are more roomy and they seem to go back a little more. It seems you can fit more luggage in the overhead bin."

Once on the ground, a cleaning crew of 38 - twice the size of that for a normal plane - scurry on to prepare it for another flight in just 50 minutes.

 

Iordanka Katardjieva, 28, of Astoria, won a trip on the inaugural flight