TOKYO -- Japan's leading airlines will be under pressure to buy the airbus A380 superjumbo once their rivals introduce it on Tokyo-bound flights, the chief commercial officer of the European aircraft maker said here Monday.

"We are in discussions with JAL (Japan Airlines) and ANA (All Nippon Airways), and I hope they will buy (A380) but whether they buy it or not, it will fly to Narita in 2006," said John J. Leahy at a business forum organized by the Nihon Keizai economic newspaper.

Four of the nine companies which have so far ordered the A380 -- 97 aircraft in all -- will be operating services to Tokyo's Narita Airport, Leahy said.

"The Japanese public will see that it is a world class aircraft and it will be preferred by the public. JAL and ANA will be under pressure to have a similar product," he told AFP later.

Leahy claimed the arrival of the A380 scheduled for 2006 would have a similar impact to the launch of the Boeing 747, which caused the McDonnell Douglas DC8 and DC10 jets to become "obsolete almost overnight".

"We expect the same thing in 2006 with the A380 ... passengers are going to prefer a bigger airplane compared to the 747 with a 30-year-old design," Leahy said.

He stressed that the A380 will have one third more space than the largest jumbo jets currently flying, and will be capable of carrying up to 1,000 passengers in the seating configuration used by Japanese airlines.

He argued the aircraft would be more fuel efficient and less noisy, making landings at Narita possible after 11:00 P.M. and before 6:00 A.M., when the airport is currently closed.

The first version of the $250 million A380 which will have the capacity to carry 555 passengers in a standard three-class service -- first, business and economy -- is expected to enter service in the first half of 2006.