Malaysia Airlines A380 Plane First Landing at KLIA

Malaysia Airlines A380 Plane First Landing at KLIA took place at about 3.45 pm on the 30th of May 2012.

This was indeed a historical moment for the company as it has been quite some time since the purchase of these six planes.

This is also the first of the six planes that made its inaugural flight from Toulouse in France to KLIA, Malaysia.

As many of the airline staff and technicians were patiently waiting out at Hanger 6 in KLIA, I made my way u[p the 30 feet scaffolding to secure a nice spot to capture the first few pictures of the A380.

Airbus A380 First Landing at KLIA Malaysia

malaysia-airlines-a380-flying Malaysia Airlines A380 Plane First Landing at KLIA

Malaysia Airlines A380 flying by KLIA

The scheduled landing for the Malaysia Airlines A380 was set at about 3.00 pm that day. While we waited it out in the hot sun, a false alarm was witnessed as an Emirates Airline A380 came in for a landing.

The anxious crowd started to clap until noticing the tail fin of the plane. A new timing was announced that the Airbus A380 would be landing at about 1530 pm.

Plane spotters who were specially invited made their way up an even higher scaffolding to get the best spots and unfortunately with my leg cast and crutches, I could only make my way up the 30 feet scaffolding.

malaysia-airlines-airbus-a380-landing Malaysia Airlines A380 Plane First Landing at KLIA

Malaysia Airlines A380 coming in for a landing at KLIA

The Malaysia Airlines A380 was initially seen from a distance. With my zoom lens, I took a picture and zoomed in. Yes, it was the plane and it came in majestically.

The pilot had radioed the control tower to say that they were going to do a ‘FlyPast’ where the aircraft will come in low and fly past the airport. After the fly pass, the plane made a circle and came in again.

Landing gears down, she glided slowly and vanished behind the hanger to land on Runway 32R. The pictures above were taken with a 300mm zoom lens just before the A380 landed.

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The Airbus A380 taxing towards Hanger 6 at KLIA

After landing, the A380 taxied its way towards Hanger 6 where everyone was waiting. A crowd of almost 500 people had gathered for this memorable moment in the airline’s history.

You could see Malaysia Airlines staff, technicians, pilots and even security people eagerly awaiting the arrival.

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A crowd approaching the first landing of the A380 outside hanger 6

Finally, the A380 makes a full stop outside Hanger 6 and the crowd applauds while making their way towards the aircraft.

By then, the Plane Spotters had already climbed down the scaffolding and blended in with the crowd.

As for me, I stayed up on my scaffolding due to mobility issues. So I continued with taking pictures from up there as the weather was simply beautiful.

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Malaysia Airlines A380 First Flight landing at Hanger 6, KLIA

malaysia-airlines-a380-first-passenger Malaysia Airlines A380 Plane First Landing at KLIA

First passenger out of the A380 at KLIA

A stair ramp was pushed to the main aircraft door while the crowd had gathered around the mammoth plane.

The ground crew who have been waiting for this day brought out their mobile phones and cameras, happily snapping away.

And then the main aircraft door opens to a cheering crowd. The first passenger comes out with two Malaysia Airlines flight attendants with two thumbs up. Cameras snap away as a red carpet awaits the special passengers.

Crowds were seen posing in front of the aircraft taking pictures and some even with iPad’s. Eventually, it got so hot up on the scaffolding, I slowly made my way down to head towards the aircraft.

As I got closer, I started to reminiscence about the time I was at the factory in Toulouse, France where I stood under the belly of this same plane. The white color looks so clean compared to the green that I saw in the factory.

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Plane Spotters on top of the scaffolding at KLIA

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View of the Malaysia Airlines A380 from inside Hanger 6

hanger-6-klia Malaysia Airlines A380 Plane First Landing at KLIA

Hanger 6 at KLIA

Malaysia Airlines A380 First Landing at KLIA Video

After the A380 landed and parked at Hanger 6

Here is an initial video of Malaysia Airlines A380 at the Airbus Factory in Toulouse, France I took when I visited in June 2011.

I also had a sneak preview of the Malaysia Airlines New Airbus A380 Plane in the factory while they were assembling it.

For your added information, the aircraft is still 80% complete as the body livery of blue stripes are not painted yet.

Inside the A380, there is still some seating arrangements that need to be rectified as I was told the super economy has been removed to make way for more business class seating.

The blue color on the tail fin is the final indicating a new premium design.

Conclusion

The inaugural flight for the A380 will also be on the 1st of July 2012 where the aircraft will fly to London.

But just before that on June 5th, 2012, a special joy flight and test flight will be conducted and a total of five winning bloggers who joined the ‘Big Flight Bloggers Contest’ organized by Malaysia Airlines will be on board this flight among VIPS, media, and other people.

Finally, after 11 months, the wait is over as I witnessed the Malaysia Airlines A380 plane first landing at KLIA or Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

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