The new Airbus A380 super-jumbo touched down in Frankfurt early Saturday on its first trip to a major airport, as part of a series of tests the airliner must undergo before it enters commercial operation next year.

The world's biggest passenger jet landed at 8:57 am (0657 GMT), three minutes earlier than scheduled, on Frankfurt airport's misty north runway and parked at its allotted gate 10 minutes later, an AFP correspondent reported.

Earlier, an engine overheating problem had forced Airbus to replace the original airliner earmarked to make the test landing, a spokesman for the European manufacturer said.

After eight hours of tests at Europe's second-busiest airport after London Heathrow, the jet was set to return early Sunday to Toulouse in southern France, where Airbus is headquartered, chief executive Gustav Humbert said.

Around half the expected 20,000 spectators seem to have been put off by the poor weather. The overcast sky made the almost spotless white plane very difficult to make out.

Only about 10,000 members of the public turned out to watch the landing from a specially built public compound at the south end of the airport, the site of the former military Rhein-Main air base.

"Some 14,000 jobs will be created, most of them in Frankfurt," said the airport's director Wilhelm Bender, who watched the landing along with the Airbus chief and the Christian Democrat leader of Hesse state Roland Koch.

The successful landing marked a great day for Airbus, Frankfurt and the regional economy, the officials said.

German carrier Lufthansa has ordered 15 of the giant jets to be delivered in 2007, which will all operate out of Frankfurt.

Frankfurt airport was chosen for the A380 tests because it is currently investing about 100 million euros (121 million dollars) in renovating its two terminals, not least in order to be able to handle the new super-size jet.

The A380 will go through in the minutest detail all the routine procedures of airline travel, from embarking and disembarking, to the loading of food and drinks, luggage and fuel.

One test will try out the double-decker boarding bridges, designed and built especially for the A380, which allow simultaneous boarding of economy and higher-class passengers.

The A380 is scheduled to enter commercial operation at the end of 2006, when Singapore Airlines will be the first air carrier to use the jet.

Airports currently able to handle the Boeing 747 will not need to build extra long runways for the A380, since its take-off and landing distance is shorter than the jumbo's.

Nevertheless, taxi-ing space for the jet on the ground will have to be increased to take into account the larger wingspan.

And given the heavier weight of the new aircraft, up to 540 tonnes, the runways will have to be reinforced.

Saturday's myriad tests are part of the year-long certification process of the new airliner, which measures 80 metres (262-feet) in wingspan and 73 meters in length and which was unveiled for the first time in April in Toulouse.

The A380 is capable of carrying between 555 and 840 passengers, about 40 percent more than the Boeing 747, and the European producer hopes the model will help end Boeing's supremacy in the jumbo market.

Boeing, however, sees the future not in such high capacity airliners but in the growth of direct flights using long-haul but medium-sized airliners such as its "Dreamliner".

Airbus in turn hopes to launch its A350 model to compete with the Dreamliner.