Inaugural A380 flight to London

QX179R SG

Channel NewsAsia - 1 hour 4 minutes ago

SINGAPORE : Some flight enthusiasts who flew on the inaugural Airbus A380 to Sydney in October last year will now also be on the plane’s first commercial flight to London on Tuesday.

The group, which calls themselves "First to Fly", consists of 18 people — mostly guys and two women — from different countries.

To commemorate the flight, T—shirts and caps have been made to remember their latest feat.

Ian Goodwin, Team Leader, "First to Fly", said, "We got together on the internet forum first, then these flights came up and we booked. A lot of us met for the first time last year on the Sydney flight and now we are back together again for the London flight."

Most in the group are flying economy class.

However, two members are not scrimping — they are flying first class again.

One of them, Gino Bertuccio, said, "14 hours — I will have a lot more time to just enjoy it because the flight to Sydney was really short. All the excitement of getting up and down the plane and just looking around did not allow me to enjoy as much as I could."

However, before the group gets on the first flight to London, they have another aerial journey right here in Singapore.

Singapore Airlines sent them details by email in mid—January of the first flight to London.

On Monday night, the enjoyed a whole capsule on the Singapore Flyer to themselves — with drinks included.

And just like they did for their first flight to Sydney, the group has set up a website to commemorate their flight to London; as the site says, "history only records the names of those who were there first." — CNA/ms

QX179R SG

AP - Tuesday, March 18

SINGAPORE - A Singapore Airlines A380, the world's biggest airplane, took off Tuesday from Singapore for London on its first commercial flight to Europe.

With 449 passengers on board, flight SQ308 was scheduled to land at Heathrow Airport in the British capital at 3:05 p.m. local time (11:05 a.m. EDT).

The carrier hosted a send-off event for passengers at Singapore's Changi Airport to commemorate the double-decker plane's European commercial debut. Passengers took pictures and helped themselves to breakfast ahead of boarding.

"I booked an extra ticket just for this experience," said Christian Ernst, 25, of Germany, who made a special stopover in Singapore on his way from South Korea to Frankfurt. "I'm very excited to be on the first flight of the A380 to Europe."

The A380, as tall as a seven-story building, can seat more than 800 passengers in an all-economy class configuration. Singapore Airlines has opted for 471 seats in three classes _ 12 Singapore Airlines suites, 60 business class and 399 economy class seats.

Each luxury suite is equipped with sliding doors, a 23-inch LCD TV, a full bed and a leather seat. Two of the suites can be joined to provide double beds.

Powered by four Rolls Royce Trent 900 engines, the A380 ends the nearly 37-year reign of the U.S.-made Boeing 747 jumbo jet as the world's most spacious passenger plane. The 747 jumbo jet generally carries about 400 passengers.

Airbus, the European manufacturer of the A380, says the new plane is the most fuel efficient and quietest passenger jet ever built, from inside and outside.

"I'm really interested in this technology," said Ernst, a mechanical engineering student who booked an economy seat on the main deck. "I've also visited the production line in Hamburg and now I really want to experience the plane flying in the air."

Singapore Airlines took delivery of the jet, the carrier's third, at the Airbus delivery center in Toulouse, France, last Tuesday and will fly it daily between Singapore and London.

Currently the plane's sole operator, the carrier has deployed its two other A380s on daily services between Singapore and Sydney. It has firm orders for a further 16 such planes.

Singapore Airlines will also start flying another A380 jet, its fourth and yet to be delivered, on its Singapore-Tokyo route from May 20.

The first A380 was delivered to Singapore Airlines on Oct. 15, 2007, 18 months behind schedule because of wiring problems and after billions of dollars in cost overruns for Airbus.

Dubai-based Emirates will become the second airline with the plane when it takes its first delivery in August.