The October 25 maiden commercial flight of Airbus' A380 (operated by Singapore Airlines) attracted worldwide media attention. The A380, the world's largest commercial passenger jet, is the epitome of luxury. Singapore Airlines promoted the inaugural flight from Singapore to Sydney, but the plane was the main attraction, garnering plenty of positive attention for Airbus.

"Over the past three years, the public [has gone] from [thinking] Airbus runs shuttles between park- ing lots and terminals to" knowing Airbus as the ...