To Begin Regular Service October 28
She's home. The first Airbus A380 superjumbo slated for
passenger service arrived at Changi Airport Wednesday, eight days
before the plane is scheduled to carry its first passengers in the
service of Singapore Airlines.
"This week, the game changes and we in Singapore Airlines are
very proud to be the launch customer," said SIA Senior Operations
VP Bey Soo Khiang, reports Agence-France Presse. Prime Minister Lee
Hsien Loong added the plane's arrival was "a milestone in aviation
history."
As ANN reported, Airbus
handed off the keys to the noteworthy plane in a relatively low-key
ceremony Monday... nearly 22 months later than originally planned,
before a series of production delays hit the A380 program.
On Wednesday, Airbus COO John Leahy thanked Singapore Airlines
for its "patience, understanding and unrelenting confidence"
throughout the ordeal.
The plane -- MSN007 -- will make its first commercial flight
from Singapore to Sydney October 25... carrying passengers who
bid for their seats through an online charity
auction.
Regular revenue service is slated to begin October 28. The
planes will gradually phase out SIA's current fleet of Boeing 747s,
Bey said.
The aircraft was flown to Changi by veteran SIA pilot Captain
Robert Ting... who has become something of a local celebrity for
the feat.
"Although it's bigger and heavier, the A380 does not pose any
special problem that the pilot has to cope with... the extended
training on the ground with the airplane should suffice," Captain
Ting told Channel NewsAsia. "It's a good feeling... it's a nice
aeroplane. It's fantastic in its response.
"Despite its size and its weight, the aeroplane is very agile,"
Ting added. "It has a fantastic engineering design."
Airline Touting Luxury, Exclusivity
SIA chose to emphasize luxury over sheer size for its first
A380. While the plane can carry over 800 passengers in a
single-class configuration, Singapore Airlines installed "only" 471
seats on its first plane, to give first- and- business-class flyers
more room.
MSN007 sports 399 economy seats, 60 business-class seats, and 12
"Suites" -- first-class compartments sporting 23-inch flat screen
TVs, and full-length beds dressed in Givenchy sheets (try not
to think of this when battling a fellow passenger for a flimsy
pillow on your next US Airways flight --
Ed.)
SIA will have exclusive rights to offer A380 service for the
first year, until Australia's Qantas gets its first A380.