The Airbus A380's First Commercial Flight On Singapore Airlines

"It's a great, GRAND way to fly!"
Image by Slivester Chua
Flight SQ380 of Singapore Airlines left for Sydney a little after 8am October 25 to be the first commercial voyage of the biggest airliner in aviation history - the Airbus A380. The historic 7-hour-plus flight of the "Superjumbo" carried 455 passengers from Singapore's Changi Airport to Sydney Airport, which was reportedly modified to handle the new giant of the skies.

Tickets to the maiden flight of the A380 were auctioned off under special arrangements with eBay, which raised around $1.3 million for charity. Passengers paid from $550 to as much as over $100,000 to be part of the inaugural flight.

Boeing's decades of dominance in the large long-haul jetliner category with its flagship 747 line of jumbo jets is now officially challenged with the entry of the Airbus A380. The A380-800, with a maximum capacity of 853 people, is also expected to fill the growing demand for air travel which have already started to outgrow current facilities and is projected to double in the next 30 years.

While undoubtedly an aviation marvel, industry analysts however are wary of the A380's projected performance business-wise. At $320 million dollars, the A380 may be a tad too hefty for commercial airliners. With a current order of 165, it would take more than 2 and a half times more orders for Airbus to break-even. In contrast, Boeing's upcoming Dreamliner 787, although mid-sized and can carry only around 250 passengers, already have orders reportedly upwards of 700. Both the Airbus A380 and the Boeing Dreamliner 787-8 are specified for travel up to 8,200 nautical miles - that's enough for flying non-stop from Hong Kong to New York.

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Known for their world-class service, Singapore Airlines (SIA) now touts the tagline "First To Fly A380". SIA Flight SQ380 is the first to offer the airlines' latest features found only on the A380 - cabin suites said to be "beyond first class". Each of the twelve lavishly endowed suites feature their own sliding doors, a 23-inch flat screen TV, and a fold-away full-sized bed.

Talk about flying at the height of luxury!

Singapore Airlines is set to receive 18 more A380 deliveries. Interestingly, SIA is also expecting 20 Boeing Dreamliners starting on 2011. Emirates Airline, have 55 orders for the A380 in the pipeline making it the largest customer of Airbus to date. The Dubai flag-carrier, Emirates is set to receive their first delivery of the titan aircraft on August 2008.

Airbus A380 Superjumbo Jet Arrives in Manila

"Get off my bus...err, plane!"
Photo by Paolo V. Guinto, PFSG

For the first time ever, the world's largest airliner - the Airbus A380 - touched down at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila, Philippines at about 2:45 PM October 11 (Manila time). The visit is part of it's route proving flight in Asia to show that the mammoth aircraft can be accommodated at existing airports without the need for special modifications.

The "Superjumbo" aircraft dwarfed other commercial airliners parked nearby runway 24 where it made a smooth landing according to visiting planespotters from the Philippine Flight Simmers Group (PFSG) at the Philippine Skies Forums. Mon, a PFSG member said that it was "a pretty quiet plane for its size."

The MSN009 A380 test flight is now at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (Clark International) and will depart for Dubai on October 13.

Here is a video of the A380 landing in the Philippines.


There were discussions on whether the international airport in Manila can hold the enormous weight of the A380. During initial flight tests, the A380's take-off weight was recorded at over 420 tonnes. The aircraft is measured for a maximum take-off weight of 650 metric tonnes. In this instance, the 3,737 meter long runway 24 at Manila withstood the burden of the massive eight-storeys high flying machine.

Airbus (aka Airbus, S.A.S), is a subsidiary of European Aeronautic Defence and Space company (EADS, N.V.) based in Toulousse, France. Development of the A380 began as early as the 1990's. It was destined to rival the dominance of Boeing's 747 in the large commercial jet airliner category. Moreover, the A380 is Airbus' anticipated response to the projected doubling of demand for air travel in the coming years.

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Said to be "cleaner, greener, quieter and smarter", the A380-800 model comes in 2 double-deck configurations. The standard three-class design can carry 525 people while the full-economy configuration can hold up to 853 passengers. In contrast, the Boeing 747-8 carries up to 467 people just a little more than half that of A380's capacity at full-economy mode. The A380 is designed to fly non-stop from Hong Kong to New York with a maximum capacity of 310,000 liters of jet fuel.

Airbus encountered numerous delays in the production of the A380. Currently 17 airlines have a total 165 orders for the aircraft. Airbus projects to break-even at 420 units. The first official delivery of the A380 is scheduled on October 15 for Singapore Airlines.

You can watch the live stream of the delivery at A380Delivery.com.


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