Last ever Airbus A380 superjumbo assembled in France

A magnificent beast made of four million parts from 30 different countries, the Airbus A380 is the world's largest passenger airliner, and its era is almost at an end.<br/>Initial assembly has recently been completed on the last ever superjumbo, after it was announced in 2019 that the European airplane manufacturers were discontinuing the plane.<br/>The craft was spotted by freelance photographer Aviation Toulouse (@FrenchPainter) at the Jean-Luc Lagardere plant, a purpose-built Airbus facility at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport in southern France. Since the superjumbo's first delivery to Singapore Airlines in 2007, more than 240 A380s have rolled off the line here. Initial assembly of the final double-decker jet, serial number 272, has been completed, with manufacturing station 40 now out of work. It's now off to station 30, where, Airbus media relations manager Anne Galabert tells CNN Travel, the engines will be installed and tests carried out on electrical and hydraulic systems, on-board computers, landing gear and moving parts. "The final tests are performed outside," she says -- with the checks including fuel gauge calibration, cabin pressurization, radios, radar, navigation systems and fuel tank sealing -- and "the aircraft is then prepared for flight." After engine tests are performed, the aircraft will make its first test flight to Hamburg, Germany, where the cabin will be installed, fitted out and the plane painted in the customer's livery: Emirates Airlines. The last convoy to the Final Assembly Line (FAL) took place in February this year, with hundreds turning out in the French village of Levignac to see the wings, fuselage sections and horizontal tailplane transported by truck. Story has more.<br/>