Photos: World's biggest passenger jet makes first scheduled Denver landing as Lufthansa begins service

Updated at 4:12 p.m. on Thursday, May 1, 2025.

The world’s largest passenger jet made its first-ever regularly scheduled landing at Denver International Airport on Wednesday, when a Lufthansa German Airlines Airbus A380 touched down after a nonstop flight from Munich, Germany.

Its arrival marks the beginning of regular service of the Airbus A380 between the two cities, at least through September.

Just how big is this super-sized jumbo jet? If the workhorse Boeing 737 passenger jet were a Labrador Retriever, the Airbus A380 would be a Great Dane. Depending on configurations, the single-level 737 has seating for anywhere up to just over 200, while the A380 is capable of holding as many as 853 people on two decks. Though airport officials said Lufthansa's A380 is configured with 509 seats. And it needs two gates to board flyers efficiently: Its wingspan is about 261 feet — about 100 feet wider than a football field.

Phil Washington, DIA’s chief executive, welcomed the behemoth from Munich, Germany, during a quick speech at the gate on Wednesday, surrounded by the Lufthansa flight crew, television cameras and curious onlookers. He pointed out that Denver’s airport — one of the busiest in the world, the second largest in the world, and the site of the longest commercial runway in North America — is more than capable of handling the A380 and its regular non-stop round trips to Munich.

Wednesday’s event marked the second time an A380 landed in Denver, but that was a medical emergency landing for an Air France flight going from Los Angeles to Paris.