Welcome to L.A., Airbus A380

The Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger plane, makes its first-ever descent into Los Angeles. (Al Seib / LAT)

Sept. 16, 2014 8:37 AM PT

The Airbus that landed in Los Angeles was virtually empty of people, with 22 crew members, but full of added instrumentation for the test flight.

Spectators lined up around the runway to watch the Airbus arrive. (Al Seib / LAT)

The Airbus A380 made a slow landing through murky skies. (Luis Sinco / LAT)

Roxanne Roccano, Rob Richardson and their son Ian Richardson, 4, await the Airbus from the corner of Lincoln and Sepulveda boulevards in Westchester. (Luis Sinco / LAT)

A crowd at the corner of Lincoln and Sepulveda boulevards takes photos as the Airbus A380 lands. (Luis Sinco / LAT)

The super-jumbo jet landed onto Runway 24R on the north side of LAX. (Al Seib / LAT)

After it touched down at LAX, the aircraft taxied to the Imperial Terminal on the airport’s south side for a welcoming ceremony. (Al Seib / LAT)

The city’s airport agency has spent about half of the $121 million it has budgeted to improve LAX to handle the A380 by enlarging taxiway and runway intersections and building a double-deck gate at the Tom Bradley International Terminal. (Al Seib / LAT)

Spectators will not be allowed to approach the plane but can catch a glimpse of it at the terminal from about 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. by going to an airport-parallel road in El Segundo. (Brian Vander Brug / LAT)

Travelers from Los Angeles will be able to book flights on it through Qantas next year when the Australian airliner plans to begin A380 flights. (Brian Vander Brug / LAT)

Curious Los Angelenos watched the A380 land from a spot along Westchester Parkway. (Brian Vander Brug / LAT)

Airport workers roll out a red carpet for the double-decker plane. (Brian Vander Brug / LAT)

The super-jumbo jet lands as another airplane departs. (Brian Vander Brug / LAT)

Airbus A380 pilots wave to a crowd. (Brian Vander Brug / LAT)

An Airbus A380 pilot, left, greets Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. (Brian Vander Brug / LAT)

A welcoming ceremony will include Mayor Villaraigosa and Airbus and Qantas executives. (Brian Vander Brug / LAT)

A Boeing 747 cargo plane appears dwarfed by the A380. (Brian Vander Brug / LAT)

The first Airbus A380 glides into LAX this morning after a nonstop flight from France. This aircraft carried only the crew and flight technicians in a cabin full of instruments and ballast. (Don Bartletti / LAT)

LAX marks the spot for the first Airbus A380 passsenger jet on the West Coast. (Don Bartletti / LAT)

Engineers from Qantas Airways check out the newly arrived Airbus A380 on the tarmac at LAX. (Don Bartletti / LAT)

Allan McArtor, chairman of Airbus North America, addresses dignitaries at the inaugural arrival of the Airbus 380 to the West Coast. With him at the podium at LAX are, left to right, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Qantas Airways Senior Executive Vice President Wally R. Mariani and Peter Chandler, a development pilot from Airbus. (Don Bartletti / LAT)

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa grabs the throttle of the first Airbus A380 passenger plane to visit LAX. The back-seat driver is Wally R. Mariani, senior executive vice president of Qantas Airways. (Don Bartletti / LAT)

Allan McArtor, chairman of Airbus North America, conducts an upper-deck tour of the first A380 double-decker passenger jet to visit LAX. Steel containers of liquid simulate the weight of a loaded aircraft. For the inaugural flight, the lower deck was filled with instruments for monitoring the plane’s performance. (Don Bartletti / LAT)