Iqaluit (Feb 13/06) - Iqaluit's winter weather may seem brutal to many, but for one group, it's ideal.

The world's largest airplane is in Iqaluit to see how it stands up to extremely cold and dry conditions, which are consistently below -25C this time of year.

The A380 Airbus dwarfs aircrafts typically seen on the airstrip. The 75-metre-long plane, which seats 550 people in two levels, arrived in Iqaluit last Monday for five days of testing.

Iqaluit's deep freeze will challenge the aircraft's cold start ability, for example. A team of 50 people including flight pilots and aircraft engineers from around Europe accompanied the Airbus.

While here, they poured thousands of dollars into the economy through hotels, restaurants, retailers, and individual craftspeople, said Iqaluit Airport manager John Graham.

Graham, along with Department of Transportation and Economic Development deputy minister Alex Campbell and assistant deputy minister Methusalah Kunuk, say they want to promote Iqaluit as "the" place for cold-weather testing. According to Graham, they're well on their way.

"We've got the market pretty well sewn up. That sounds bold doesn't it?"