Updated on Thursday, June 21, 2007, 00:00 IST

France, June 21: Hollywood actor and pilot John Travolta said at the Paris air show he found it easy to fly Airbus' troubled A380 superjumbo and hoped to outdo rival Tom Cruise as a real-life 'Top Gun'.

The disco-dancing star of 'Saturday Night Fever' is a qualified pilot with more than 5,000 flight hours under his belt and he took the controls of the world's largest airliner as a co-pilot in Australia in November.

"I did fly that A380 you know. I was the first non-test pilot to fly that and I'm telling you it's a very easy plane to fly but technically complicated," he told reporters on Thursday.

"But it was a privilege to be able to be the first (non-test) pilot to fly it," he said at the Paris air show, which opens to the public on Friday.

Delays to Airbus' A380 superjumbo caused a slump in the 2006 profits of parent company EADS, although the company has since fought back with a series of high-profile orders at the Paris event.

Travolta, looking relaxed and wearing sunglasses and trainers, said he hoped to be able to fly Boeing's F/A-18 fighter jet at the show at Le Bourget near Paris.

"I've been invited to fly an F18 on Saturday. I'm hoping I'll be able to do that but I don't know if time permits."

Hollywood's love affair with aviation peaked with the 1986 movie 'Top Gun' about the training of a naval flying ace starring Travolta's friend Cruise.

Asked whether he would buy any planes at the show, Travolta replied: "Oh, no, no, no."

Bureau Report