The Airbus A380 received its Type Certification jointly from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), 10 months before launch customer Singapore Airlines is due to receive its first commercial model.

The EASA A380 Type Certificate was signed by EASA’s Executive Director, Patrick Goudou, and the FAA A380 Type Certificate by John Hickey, FAA’s Head of Certification. The documents were handed over to Airbus’ Executive Vice President of Engineering, Alain Garcia. The Ceremony, held at the Airbus facilities in Toulouse, France, was attended by the Honorable Marion Blakey, FAA Administrator, and by senior officials from aviation authorities from several countries worldwide.

Louis Gallois, Airbus President and CEO, stated “the A380 is the largest civil airliner and the first full passenger double-decker ever developed and certified. It will make history in this century. From a technical point of view, we can now confirm that it is meeting — or even exceeding — expectations in terms of performance, range, environmental friendliness and cabin comfort. The support of our customers is the best evidence that this product will become the flagship in many airline fleets.”

The A380 certification is the first to be jointly completed by EASA and the FAA. “Our cooperation on the A380 should be an example for future projects,” said EASA Executive Director Patrick Goudou.

A feeling echoed by FAA Administrator Marion Blakey: “What brings us here is an example of superb cooperation among Airbus, EASA and the FAA… An example of what happens when there’s a resolution to get the job done.”

“The A380 is not only the most spacious civil aircraft ever built, but it is also the most advanced — representing a unique technology platform from which all of our future aircraft programmes will evolve,” said Alain Garcia.

The spirit of the occasion was summed up by Marion Blakey: “The size of this aircraft is indicative of just how big dreams can be… When you bring great minds together, safety is the natural by-product. And safety, after all, is what gives man wings to fly.”