The first of the 58 Airbus A380 planes Emirates Airlines ordered was delivered Monday in a handoff ceremony in Hamburg, Germany

The first of the 58 Airbus A380 planes Emirates Airlines ordered was delivered Monday in a handoff ceremony in Hamburg, Germany; it should accomplish its first commercial flight on August 1, between Dubai and New York’s JFK airport. The Dubai-based airline chief executive Sheikh Ahmed bin Saaed Al-Maktoum said he is confident Airbus will stick to its revised delivery schedule for the 57 remaining aircrafts. The overall investment by Emirates in the A380 alone exceeds €32 billion, according to Sheikh Ahmed, ‘confident’ that Middle Eastern aviation will continue to grow. He also announced the signature of a letter of intent for 30 A330-300 aircraft, as well as 30 A350 XWBs with Airbus, for an amount of approximately €8.3 billion ($13 billion). This new order is part of the contract Emirates signed in November, for the acquisition of 70 A350 planes with an option to buy a further 50. No delivery schedule was disclosed. AFX, AFP, Reuters, (28/07), International Herald Tribune, The Wall Street Journal Europe, la Tribune, les Echos, Handelsblatt, Suddeutsche Zeitung, Hamburger Abendblatt