A380 too much plane for airports to handle?

The fact that the Asian tour to showcase and test the brand new superjumbo jet, the Airbus A380 included Chiang Mai on its list of destinations is if not impressive than perhaps slightly unlikely. Nonetheless, the A380 visited Chiang Mai International Airport as planned on Saturday, albeit with a slight delay.

The massive jet collided with a hangar door as it attempted to back out of its space at its previous stop, Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok. The plane touched down in Chiang Mai around 4 o’clock pm and carried VIP passengers the likes of the President of Thai Airways.

The left winglet was damaged and workers removed its counterpart on the right wing so the plane could continue its journey.

The delay meant that there were only a few die-hard enthusiasts on hand to cheer the plane as it landed as part of Airbus’ ‘ smooth entry into service tour’. Edouardo Ullmo of Airbus, explained the choice to land in Chiang Mai as, ‘We want to prove with the flight to Chiang Mai that the A380 is capable to operate also on so-called secondary airports.’

Why the plane never taxied to a jet way but instead parked outside the Thai Airlines hangar was not discussed.