PNoy welcomes world's largest passenger plane at NAIA

[Terpe]

The world's largest passenger aircraft landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on Tuesday night and was welcomed by President Benigno Aquino III.

Footage from Radio and TV Malacañang (RTVM) showed Aquino inside the NAIA Terminal 3 as the Emirates Airbus A380 arrived from Dubai past 10 p.m.

The President later talked to officials of Emirates Airline.

In an earlier post on its official Facebook page, Emirates said it took its flagship Airbus A380 aircraft to Manila to celebrate the airline's move to the international terminal.

Based on the RTVM footage, the Airbus A380 was given a water cannon salute while Aquino met the plane's Filipino pilot, Capt. Franklyn Desiderio,

According to television reports, Aquino also welcomed the passengers of world's largest plane and observed the operations of the Terminal 3.

The A380's landed at the NAIA after the country's main gateway was named by US website The Cheat Sheet as among the world's worst airport.

“This Manila-based airport struggles with the 32 million passengers who use its facility each year. That shouldn’t come as a shock, though, considering it only has the capacity for six million passengers, according to CNBC,” it said.

Source

[grahamw48]

I'm looking forward to boarding an Emirates A380 for the first time next month.

[Ako Si Jamie]

Send my love to Pangasinan, Graham.

[grahamw48]

Will do.

[Ako Si Jamie]

By the way, there's a bus that goes direct from Dagupan to Olongapo, should you wish to head off that way.

[tiger31]

Wow! Filipino pilot - this must be the highlight of his career so far - well done.

[grahamw48]

By the way, there's a bus that goes direct from Dagupan to Olongapo, should you wish to head off that way.

Yes, thanks mate.

I won't be going to Subic again...just part of showing Mercedes some of the 'sights' last time.

Plenty of nicer beaches etc up near her home town.

[Terpe]

Wow! Filipino pilot - this must be the highlight of his career so far - well done.

First Filipino A380 pilot

At 10:26 pm on Tuesday, October 7, Filipino captain Franklyn Desiderio safely landed the Airbus 380 – Emirates’ flagship aircraft – at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3.

Desiderio, the first Filipino certified to fly A380, helmed that rare appearance of the world’s largest passenger airliner at a Manila airport, and which left the country at 1:15 am on Wednesday, October 8.

The flight from Dubai – flight EK334 – was a one-off, commercial flight to Manila, to celebrate the Dubai-based Emirates' transfer to NAIA 3. President Benigno Aquino III and other government officials were there to welcome the passengers.

“I’m happy, I’m happy. I can’t describe how happy I’m now,” Desiderio beamed about the opportunity to be part of the rare service of Emirates, for which he is a pilot for about 9 years.

Flying since 16

At 41, the Desiderio has been a pilot for 25 years, with over 18 years and 14,000 hours of commercial flying experience. Before flying A380, he was a captain for A330 and A340 airplanes. He has been flying the A380 since January 2014.

Boeing 777 is Emirates passenger airliner that flies to Manila. Emirates started flying between Manila and Dubai in 1990 and as of 2013, the airline welcomed over 820,000 passengers on its 3 daily Dubai-Manila services.

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