PARIS_European plane manufacturer Airbus said Tuesday that its hulking A380 superjumbo jet has received approval from European and U.S. authorities to operate on most of the world's runways.

The European Aviation Safety Agency and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration gave the nod to the A380 for 45-meter (147-feet)-wide runways following airport compatibility checks and flight testing, Airbus said in a statement.

"This aircraft has been shown to be safely controllable and to be compliant with applicable airworthiness requirements when operating on runways with a width of 45 meters or more," the FAA's head of flight standards service, James J. Ballough, wrote in a July 19 letter to Airbus.

Airbus is counting on a glitch-free introduction of the 525-seat plane after a series of delays caused shares in its parent company, European Aeronautic Defense & Space Co. NV, to plunge and wiped billions of euros (dollars) off profit forecasts.

While Airbus insists that the A380 can operate on all runways, some airports have been enlarging runways to accommodate the plane's larger wingspan and making other modifications as part of facility upgrades.

The cost of expanding runways and bridges and building new boarding lounges suitable for the massive A380 has run into millions of euros (dollars) for airports in San Francisco, London, Sydney, Singapore and Frankfurt.

The A380, scheduled for its first delivery to Singapore Airlines Ltd. in October, has already made test flights to more than 40 airports, including Paris Charles de Gaulle, Frankfurt, New York John F. Kennedy, Los Angeles and Sydney.