DENVER — People gathered at Denver International Airport (DEN) on Wednesday not to take a flight but rather to watch one land.
The Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger aircraft, landed in the Mile High City Wednesday afternoon from Munich, marking the beginning of a new, temporary route.
"This is a fantastic thing for Denver. We're opening the world to Denver. And I tell you, for young people that live in the region, for old people that live in the region, for middle aged folks that live in the region, you're witnessing the opening of the Rocky Mountain region to the rest of the world, and that's a fantastic thing — with an aircraft that dwarfs everything that has flown in here before," said Phil Washington, CEO of Denver International Airport.
The Airbus A380 is a double-decker plane that can carry more than 850 passengers. It has four engines, measuring 73 meters (239.501 feet) long with an 80-meter (262.467 feet) wingspan.
The "King of the Skies" was able to land at DIA because the airport has the longest runway in North America at 16,000 feet.
Derek Roy listened to scanner traffic so he could be ready for the special aviation moment.
"It's the biggest airplane in the world, and seeing that giant double-decker airplane coming down [to] land, I mean, you see something like that, you almost think it should not be able to fly, and then it does. And it's one of those things, just a spectacular sight to see it come in and land," Roy said.
"The plane takes up two gates. We're happy to give those gates up. You'll notice that we have just refurbished this area of the airport, with new carpet and all of that, and so it is fantastic," Washington said.
Mathiu Shippy and Sarah George admired the plane from inside DIA.
"This is a huge deal, great huge milestone for both Denver and for Lufthansa as industry partners that they've been working together for years, over two decades, I believe. So seeing this here, it shows that the market's growing, and that we have the demand for travel," Shippy said.
As exciting as the arrival of the A380 was to passengers, it was also significant for the two involved airports. DIA and Munich International Airport (MUC) have a longstanding history, and even signed an agreement to be "sister airports" in 1991.
"It's more than 30 years now, really, that Denver Airport and Munich Airport entered into this very special Sister Airport agreement, and today, I would say these ties [are] much, much closer than ever expected," said Jost Lammers, CEO of Munich Airport.
The Airbus A380 previously landed at DIA in November 2018 when an Air France flight had to divert to Denver for a medical emergency. Wednesday, however, marked the first scheduled landing.
The plane will be in operation for regularly scheduled service through September 30.
