History-making 8216;superjumbo8217; order

8220;Our latest commitment signals Emirates8217; confidence in the growth to come in a thriving aviation sector,8221; chief executive Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum said as he announced the order at the Berlin Air Show ILA in Germany.

8220;The A380 is our flagship in terms of passenger comfort,innovation,operating and environmental efficiency and revenue generation.8221;

Emirates already serves eight destinations with its current 10 A380s including London Heathrow,Toronto,Seoul and Sydney,and hopes to serve more as airports adapt to accommodate the world8217;s largest passenger aircraft.

Other airlines,still licking their wounds from the downturn,have been more reluctant to order the monster airliner,fearful that they would not have enough passengers to cover the huge purchase price and operating costs.

But Emirates,which was the first airline to order the A380 and whose 10th delivery was on show at the ILA,has reason to be confident,having bucked the trend last year as it chalked up almost a billion dollars in net profit.

The order comes also as a huge relief meanwhile to its maker Airbus,the Franco-German arch rival of US aerospace giant Boeing,as it attempts to make what it calls the 8220;iconic flagship of the 21st century8221; a commercial success.