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A380 lands in San Francisco (photos)

Road Trip at Home: Germany's Lufthansa is the first to bring the A380--the world's largest passenger plane--to SFO.

Daniel Terdiman
Daniel Terdiman is a senior writer at CNET News covering Twitter, Net culture, and everything in between.
Daniel Terdiman
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1 of 18 Daniel Terdiman/CNET

Welcome

SAN FRANCISCO--This afternoon, a Lufthansa A380 landed at SFO, marking the first regular service here of the world's-largest passenger plane.

But Lufthansa won't be the only airline flying the giant Airbus here for long. Airport officials said that on June 8, Air France is scheduled to begin its own A380 service here.

In this shot, we see the Lufthansa A380 rolling towards the gate at SFO with a fire hose welcome.

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Final approach

The Lufthansa A380 is seen here on final approach at SFO.
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Balloons

Lufthansa throws a party for the A380's arrival, complete with balloons.
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Special Event

Signage for the A380 event is visible throughout SFO today.
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Turning in

The A380 turns in toward the gate area from the tarmac at SFO.
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With fog

San Francisco's famous fog is seen in the background, with the Lufthansa A380 in the foreground.
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Turning for gate

The plane turns towards the gate at SFO.
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Three jet bridges

In order to accommodate the A380, the gate is fitted with three jet bridge connections. SFO has four gates ready for the A380, with two more coming.
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101B

The first jet bridge is extended out to the A380 just after pulling into the gate.
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A380 and 747

The Lufthansa A380 is seen with a Boeing 747 in the background.
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TSA and A380

Several members of the Transportation Security Administration watch the arrival of the A380 at SFO.
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Balloons and inflatable plane

To celebrate the arrival of the Lufthansa A380 at SFO, balloons and inflatable A380s are hung throughout the airport.
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A380 with three jet bridges

The A380 is seen here with three jet bridge connections.
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Ground crew shooting

A member of the SFO ground crew shoots a photo of the giant airplane.
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Cockpit

The cockpit of the A380.
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Model

A scale A380 model is seen at SFO.
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Welcome Lufthansa

Signs welcoming Lufthansa's A380 to SFO are seen at the airport.
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Boxed A380

Boxed scale-model A380s are on the ground in the gate area.

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