Frankfurt, March 19 (DPA) An Airbus A380, the world's largest commercial airliner, left Frankfurt Monday for New York on its first flight to the US carrying passengers.

The flight from Frankfurt is the first with near capacity passengers for the 555-seat standard version, while its counterpart that left Toulouse had only the crew on board.

The flights are being used to test docking facilities at airports as well as in-flight operations.

The plane that left Frankfurt, billed as a Lufthansa flight, was also used a test of check-in procedures. Most of the passengers on board were invited guests and Lufthansa employees.

The super jumbo has already landed at 40 airports on a series of test flights across the globe. By 2011 some 70 airports are expected to be capable of accommodating the 73-metre-long plane.

Delivery of the A380 has been hit by delays of up to two years, which have cost the company around 4 billion euros ($5.3 billion).

Singapore Airlines, the first customer, is due to take delivery of its first super jumbo in October.

Last month Airbus announced a restructuring programme, which will see the loss of 10,000 jobs in Germany, France, Spain and Britain.