IT WAS all eyes to the sky as the world’s largest commercial airliner lit up a spectacular air show at the Airbus plant in Broughton.
About 2,000 people turned out to catch a glimpse of the A380, the wings for which are made in Broughton.
The breathtaking fly-past came as workers marked the aerospace company’s 40th birthday.
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Broughton was visited as part of a whistle-stop tour of the UK, which also saw the 525-seat superjumbo wow crowds at Birmingham, Prestwick, Portrush and Belfast airports.
A five-man crew performed an ‘approach-and-go’ manoeuvre at Broughton, in which the aircraft came in as if to land before ascending again without touching down.
The airshow, which took place on Saturday, also featured a parachute display by the Red Arrows and a fly-past by Second World War jets, including a Hawker and a Vulcan.
Airbus bosses say the A380 sets new standards in terms of fuel efficiency, and have described it as the ‘flagship jet’ of the 21st century.
An A380 first flew past the Broughton plant in 2006 in a salute to employees who spent six years working on it.
To date, 18 A380s have been delivered to three airlines; Emirates, Qantas and Singapore Airlines.
The in-service fleet has flown more than 6,450 commercial flights carrying more than 2.5 million passengers.
This colourful slideshow of images was taken by one of our readers, photographer Karen Oliver:
Send your pictures of the Airbus celebration to digitalnews@nwn.co.uk