The first delivery comes just days after US rival Boeing announced trouble with its flagship project, the mid-sized 787 Dreamliner, which is now six months behind schedule.

The A380, the world's biggest passenger jet plane, is one of the most exciting new airliners in nearly 40 years.

It is to be delivered to SIA on Monday before entering service on a Singapore-Sydney route 10 days later.

Capable of carrying from 555 to more than 800 passengers, the double-decker plane is Airbus' most ambitious project to date. But it has been racked by problems and has laid bare the difficulties of European industrial cooperation.

'It's not the end of Airbus' problems, but it's a significant step to deliver the first A380,' said aviation analyst Leigh Bailey at ratings agency Standard and Poor's.

Airbus announced slips to the A380 schedule on three occasions, principally due to wiring complications. It estimates the cost of the accumulated 18 months of delays at about US$6 billion (S$8.8 billion).

Lack of cooperation between French and German engineers was partly to blame. The group has since launched a severe restructuring plan with 10,000 job cuts expected.

After delays, management changes, sniping between the group's French and German shareholders and financial losses, EADS - the Airbus parent company - is now embroiled in an insider trading scandal linked to the A380 problems.

The launch of the plane therefore gives EADS and Airbus a chance to turn the corner.

Airbus will hold a ceremony on Monday at its headquarters and main factory in Toulouse, south-west France, with 500 guests expected to witness the hand-over and departure of the aircraft.

About 15 airlines have placed firm orders for the A380. Dubai-based Emirates is the leading client among a customer list that includes predominantly Asian, European and Gulf-based carriers.

Around 170 firm orders and 20 preliminary agreements for the A380 are now on the books. But Airbus says it needs to sell 420 of the planes at catalogue prices to cover its costs - up from 270 when the programme was launched in 2000.

Boeing, meanwhile, has no acceptance problems for its 787, with more than 600 orders so far. But the US group is now following in Airbus' footsteps by making embarrassing admissions of delivery delays.

Japan's All Nippon Airways Co was first in a line of 50 customers that have ordered the long-haul jets.

It was expecting to get the first of its 50 planes next May. But on Wednesday, Boeing announced it was postponing the 787's initial delivery by at least six months, mostly because of problems in its supply chain that have complicated assembly of the first planes on the production line.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, ASSOCIATED PRESS