Airbus A380 flight is a really big deal

Test-flight passengers got their first look at Catalina’s unmistakable outline, Big Sur’s jagged cliffs and row upon row of nondescript urban neighborhoods from the generous windows on the world’s largest passenger jet after it took off from Los Angeles International Airport into a picture-perfect sky early today.

About 150 hand-picked business people, aircraft suppliers, airline employees and airport-area residents took advantage of what some considered this week’s hottest ticket in town, lounging in a cabin configured for 519, sipping on champange and munching canapes while exclaiming at the remarkable absence of noise on the Airbus A380.

Watching the jet from a camera mounted on its enormous tail as it took off from LAX, passengers applauded as it lumbered out over the ocean, jumping out of their seats as soon as the seat belt sign switched off to take pictures of one another.

The eight-story behemoth, with a wingspan that stretches nearly the length of a football field, is in town through Friday on its second visit to Los Angeles this year. Airbus, which manufactured the massive plane, brought a stripped-down test aircraft to LAX in March.

Here’s what some of those on board today had to say about their historic ride:

“Can you imagine that this thing can get off the ground?” said Westchester resident Danna Cope as she boarded the plane. “It flew right by my house last time, and I missed it, so it must not have been very loud.”

“I want to go with the people in coach,” said Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, while touring the aircraft with his entourage before being hurried off by airport employees remarking “we’ve got eight minutes to make sure we get our takeoff spot!” The mayor groused about not being able to take the trip because of a state law that bars public officials from accepting free public transportation.

“Everyone at work was jealous. I had to take the day off,” said Jose Hernandez, who works for an airport contractor providing wheelchair service for passengers. Councilwoman Janice Hahn had invited Hernandez to take the flight. “It’s very exciting.”

“It feels like a 747 with more head room,” said Michael C.R. Collins, executive vice president of LA Inc., the city’s convention and visitors bureau. “The loudest noise is the air conditioning, and I think that will be its appeal.”

“It speaks for itself,” said Ross Webster, president of Jetabout, a travel agency. “There are many, many customers who would want to travel on this plane. In the long term it will create more opportunities for people to travel by holding prices at their current levels longer.”

jennifer.oldham@latimes.com