World’s Largest, Most Luxurious Airliner Makes Aviation History
Posted October 25, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
They made history, and they did it in style.
The world’s largest and most luxurious passenger plane completed its first commercial flight Thursday, travelling from Singapore to Sydney. With 455 passengers and 30 crew aboard, including four pilots, the Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 took off from Changi Airport and landed seven hours later in the Australian city.
The so-called superjumbo jet, filled with posh suites and double beds, runs on four Rolls Royce Trent 900 engines. Flight attendants passed around champagne to flyers, some of whom shelled out thousands of dollars to be part of the craft’s maiden journey.
“I have never been in anything like this in the air before in my life,” said Australian Tony Elwood, who with his wife dined on marinated lobster and double boiled chicken soup before sipping on Dom Perignon Rose.
“It is going to make everything else after this simply awful.”
Elwood paid US$50,000 for two tickets.
Singapore Airlines waited a long time for this flight to happen – Airbus fell 18 months behind schedule in construction and experienced cost overruns in the billions. The carrier is the plane’s exclusive operator for 10 months.
Seven storeys tall with wings big enough to hold 70 cars, the A380 replaces the Boeing 747 jumbo jet as the world’s biggest passenger airline. It’s capable of carrying 853 passengers if the plane was configured purely for economy class. However Singapore Airlines decided instead to provide 471 seats in three classes – 12 private suites, 60 business class seats, and 399 economy-class seats.
The suites feature a leather upholstered seat, a table, a flat-screen television, laptop connections and a bed that folds up into the wall. Business class seats can be transformed into beds, while even the economy class spaces have more leg and knee room.
Chief pilot Robert Ting was excited about the opportunity to be at the reins for the first flight.
“Not even three or four years ago had I dreamed of flying this airplane, so this is a blessing that I am flying it today,” he said.
The plane is valued at US$320 million. Not everyone is convinced the jet will be a success however – Standard & Poor’s Equity Research analyst Shukor Yusof noted the A380 has received only 165 orders so far, compared to more than 700 for the Boeing 787.
Singapore Airlines tour of the Airbus
Take a virtual tour of the plane
What’s it like inside the world’s biggest passenger jet?
