Fourth Airbus A380 for Lufthansa

Lufthansa's fourth A380 enters service today after arriving from Europe

The delivery of the latest A380 will allow Lufthansa to replace Boeing 747 and Airbus A340 services on selected routes.

The new aircraft are powered by the latest Rolls Royce Trent 900 engines.

The A380 will operate three flights a week (previously one flight) on the Frankfurt-Beijing route.

And it will serve Johannesburg five times a week (previously twice weekly) from Frankfurt.

The super jumbo has been in the spotlight recently after one of four Rolls Royce Trent 900 engines on a Qantas A380 blew up shortly after takeoff from Singapore on November 4, forcing an emergency landing and damaging a wing.

The blast prompted Qantas to ground its fleet of A380s, while Singapore Airlines has returned its 11-strong fleet to service after checks.

Rolls Royce says it has identified the problem with the engine although it now appears that it will be next month at the earliest before the first Qantas A380 returns to the air following modifications.