A Maltese captain, Cliff Chetcuti, will be at the controls of the giant Airbus A380 when Emirates operates its inaugural flight to John F. Kennedy Airport in New York today.

Together with Capt. Chetcuti in the cockpit will be Emirates Airline's chief pilot Abbas Shaban and Patrick De Roeck, another airline captain. Capt. Chetcuti, who is Emirates' chief flying instructor and was responsible for the training of 36 pilots who are now qualified to fly the A380, told the Khaleej Times, a newspaper in the United Arab Emirates: "I had butterflies thinking I'm going to be flying that in 10 minutes.

"You really feel its magnitude. It's a pleasure to fly". Capt. Chetcuti has been flying for at least 22 years. Emirates is the largest customer for the A380 superjumbo with 58 of the aircraft currently on order with Airbus at a reported cost of $18.8 billion.

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