India has lifted restrictions on foreign airlines operating A380 services to its airports.
According to a statement by India’s Civil Aviation Ministry, A380s will now be allowed to land at the country's four main airports - New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
These four are the only airports in India with the infrastructure equipped to handle the world’s largest passenger airline.
Emirates and Singapore Airline have both said they are reviewing their A380 plans for India following the announcement.
The ban on the carrier was introduced due to concerns foreign airlines could grab a high share of international traffic, further hurting state-run Air India.
The decision to lift the ban was taken after the Ministry consulted with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Air India.
“The operation of A380s will help airports to generate more revenue, give more comfortable and luxurious travel to passengers, liberalise the civil aviation milieu in India and boost the image of Indian civil aviation in the international market,” the Ministry’s statement said.
The lifting of the ban will allow other airlines including British Airways, Emirates, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines to operate the aircraft to India.
An Emirates spokesperson said: “We welcome the decision of the Indian aviation authorities to allow A380 operations.
“We will be reviewing our existing operations, and look forward to serving Indian travellers with our flagship aircraft in the near future.”
Lufthansa said it already has the new Boeing 747-8 intercontinental jet, the next biggest plane, flying into India but did not rule out pressing A380s into service too.