Airbus Courts US Carriers

Airbus's first A380 superjumbo jet is making calls a long way from its home base in Toulouse, France—in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, and Sydney—as representatives make another push for orders for the slow-selling 555-seater. Northwest Airlines executives plan to look over the aircraft, despite having already ordered rival Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, USA Today reports.

Northwest flies exactly the kind of long-haul, high-volume flights to Asia for which the A380 is designed, but it is unlikely to bite, an analyst says. "They have a pretty good chance of selling them A350s and, of course, more narrowbodies anytime. But A380s, that's selling coal to people who have an oil-burning furnace." United has already passed on the plane. The aircraft made its first commercial flight last month, nearly two years behind schedule. (More Airbus stories.)