By DPA
Singapore : The world’s biggest commercial jetliner, the Airbus A380, embarked Thursday on a history-making flight to Sydney after production setbacks caused an 18-month delay.
The Singapore Airlines (SIA) super-jumbo took to the skies at 8.16 a.m. from Changi Airport with 471 passengers from 35 countries who were the lucky bidders in an online auction that raised $1.3 million for charity.
Of Thursday’s passengers Thomas Lee and his wife and daughter from California, Thomas had also been on the first Boeing 747 commercial flight from New York to London.
“I was only 17 at the time,” said Lee, 55, who could not resist the opportunity to be aboard “landmark flights in different generations”.
“We’ve over the moon,” his wife added.
SIA, the first carrier to fly the jetliner, selected a configuration of 12 passengers in the all-new “beyond first class suites”, 60 in business class and 399 in economy to assure that those in the least expensive section have more legroom than on other flights.
A specially created champagne brunch was whipped up for those in all classes with culinary creations from two of SIA’s panel of chefs.
The suites are each equipped with a bed, 58 cm flat-panel television, working table and reclining chairs. Drinks for the maiden flight included “some of the world’s finest wines”, SIA said. Among them was an award-winning Dom Perignon Rose 1996.
Since the airline flew the plane on Sep 17 to Changi Airport from Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, France, tests and trials have been carried out.
“More than simply a big aeroplane, the newest industry flagship will change forever the way the industry operates,” said Peter Harbison, managing director of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation.
Singapore’s national carrier is the first to fly the jetliner, but 16 other airlines worldwide have ordered 189 A380s, which can each carry more than 500 passengers in a three-class configuration, an increase of more than 100 passengers over rival Boeing’s 747.
The seven-and-a-half-hour maiden flight is scheduled to arrive at Sydney Airport to a welcoming ceremony. The plane will return Friday to Singapore and start regular service on the route.
The largest group aboard were Australians constituting 28 percent, followed by Singaporeans at 14 percent, Britons at 11 percent and US citizens at eight percent.
Australian Georg Burdicek, who paid $560 for an economy seat, held the distinction of forking over the least during the two-week auction.
Burdicek, a 25-year-old engineer, said being on the A380’s first commercial flight was an “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity.
The top bidder was Julian Hayward, 38, a Briton living in Sydney, who paid more than $100,000 for a pair of first-class suites.
The oldest passenger was Leong Lou Teck, a 91-year-old Singaporean whose son promised his father three years ago he would take him on the inaugural flight. The youngest passenger was a 10-month-old boy from the city-state.
SIA has ordered 19 of the super jumbo jets.
In an all-economy configuration, the plane could carry more than 850 passengers.
The entry of the super jumbo to the market is expected to help ease capacity constraints and meet demand for travel fuelled by a buoyant economy, aviation analysts said.
“Although many have focussed on the aircraft’s delays in production for the past two years, as of today, those lost months will be irrelevant,” Harbison said.