October 31, 2011 - On Saturday, twelve days after China Southern Airlines put its first Airbus A380 into operations the company was forced to cancel a Beijing to Shanghai flight due to mechanical problems. Passengers were able to get a later flight on a Airbus A330. 

China Southern Airlines spokesmen stated "we need to transport air materials from abroad. “We are deeply sorry for the inconveniences brought to passengers. The safety of passengers is always our top priority. We will fix the problem and resume the normal operation of A380 as soon as possible."   

Back on October 15th China Southern Airlines took delivery of the A380 jumbo jet. "We are proud to become the first A380 operator in China,” said Si Xianmin, Chairman of China Southern Airlines.  

“The introduction of the A380 in our fleet is a very important step for the development of China Southern. This most spacious and modern aircraft enables us, to offer our passengers world-standard comfort on our flights. The economics offered by the A380 will undoubtedly improve our competitiveness on international routes and is the perfect asset to make China Southern Airlines achieve its goal of becoming a leading global carrier.” 

The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, wide-body, four-engine jet airliner manufactured by the European corporation Airbus, a subsidiary of EADS. It is the largest passenger airliner in the world. Due to its size, many airports had to modify and improve facilities to accommodate it.  

The A380 was designed to challenge Boeing's hold on the large-aircraft market, the A380 made its maiden flight on April 27, 2005 and entered commercial service in October 2007 with Singapore Airlines. The aircraft was known as the Airbus A3XX during much of its development, before receiving the A380 designation. The nickname Superjumbo has since become associated with it. 

The A380 has resulted in higher than average load factors and increased profitability on A380 flights, providing airlines with a key competitive advantage wherever they operate the type. Typically seating 525 passengers in a three class layout, the A380 is capable of flying 8,300 nautical miles. China Southern Airlines's A380 has a eight luxury first class suites, 70 flat-bed business-class seats and 428 economy-class seats for a total of 506-seat cabin seats.

The A380 has been involved in one aviation incident. On 4 November 2010, a Qantas Flight 32, en route from Singapore Changi Airport to Sydney Airport, suffered an uncontained engine failure, resulting in a series of related problems, and forcing the flight to return to Singapore. There were no injuries to the passengers, crew or people on the ground despite debris falling onto the Indonesian island of Batam.