A US legislative proposal to equip the future Airbus A380, the world's largest commercial airliner, with anti-missile devices is "silly," a senior Airbus official said here Thursday at the Paris Air Show.
"It is silly," declared Airbus commercial director John Leahy, adding that if the A380 had anti-missile defences, so should all other aircraft.
"The bigger the plane is, the more secure it will be," he said.
Republican Representative John Mica, head of the House of Representatives aviation sub-committee, has asked US civil aviation authorities to require protective equipment against surface-to-air missiles on the A380, which he said could be an irresistible target for terrorists.
The first commercial flight of the A380, which can carry up to 840 passengers, is scheduled for the end of 2006.
