TOULOUSE, France -(Dow Jones)- China received its first Airbus A380 superjumbo airliner Friday when European commercial aircraft builder Airbus handed over the first of five planes ordered by China Southern Airlines Co. (ZNH). China Southern will receive another double-decker aircraft in December, another two in 2012 and a fifth in 2013. China Southern will operate the planes initially on domestic routes before shifting them to international routes later in the year. The Chinese airline, Airbus's biggest Chinese customer, is the seventh customer to operate the A380. Airbus Chief Executive Tom Enders told participants at the handover ceremony at Airbus headquarters in southwest France that China will remain the biggest or second-biggest market for commercial airliners in the next 20 years, and predicted that there will be demand for over 200 A380s in China during that period. So far, however, China Southern is the only Chinese airline to have ordered the plane that typically can accomodate 550 passengers. -By David Pearson, Dow Jones Newswires; +33 1 4017 1740; david.pearson@dowjones.com
