A380 in town again for extensive tests by SIA, authorities
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SINGAPORE: The exact date of Singapore Airlines' maiden A380 commercial flight to Sydney in October will be announced by next week.
For now, the jumbo aircraft, which is in town again, is being put through extensive tests by airport authorities and SIA to ensure all its systems are working well before that maiden flight.
Over 400 people from Temasek Polytechnic and the People's Association were passengers in simulation tests of an A380 flight arrival at Terminals 2 and 3 on Monday.
These tests allow airport staff to test a variety of areas, from passenger disembarkment, cargo and luggage unloading to security screening.
Four such trials have been conducted so far since the plane flew in on National Day, 9 August.
Airport authorities said it takes only about 100 minutes to do a full turnaround for the A380, about 10 minutes more than what it takes for the Boeing 747.
A full turnaround includes disembarking the passengers, cleaning the plane and getting a new batch of passengers on the plane.
While the tests have been going well, some fine-tuning processes will be needed for the double-decker aircraft.
Foo Sek Min, director of Airport Management at Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, said: "It's mainly about how to communicate to people which deck they are supposed to board because there is an upper deck."
SIA's engineers and ground staff are also testing the jumbo aircraft during this week-long visit, to help cut down the time between delivery and the first flight.
Stephen Forshaw, vice-president of Public Affairs at SIA, said: "This is something we would normally do after the delivery of a new type of aircraft, but when we were told about the delays, we sat down with Airbus and worked out ways that we could minimise the impact of that delay together.
"So, instead of waiting for a month before entering an aircraft into service, we will be bringing that timetable back ten days or so."
Once the plane is delivered, there will be more familiarisation time, especially for the cabin crew.
"The crew have to be familiar with the layout of the aircraft. That'll take a few days for them to do that progressively and then we'll be using the aircraft ten days or so after delivery," said Mr Forshaw.
It is also at the delivery of the first aircraft that SIA will reveal what the A380 interior looks like, as the airline has a few pleasant surprises up its sleeve.
- CNA/so -
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Singapore Airlines reveals delivery date for first Airbus A380.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) is to take delivery of its first Airbus A380 on 15 October and has set 25 October as the date for the first commercial flight.
Star Alliance carrier SIA says in a statement that the first A380 will be handed over to it by Airbus on 15 October at a ceremony in Toulouse.
It says the first commercial flight, flight SQ380, will depart Singapore on 25 October for Sydney in Australia. It will return to Singapore the following day.
The airline announced recently that it planned to auction tickets for the first commercial flight and says today that bidding will begin on eBay on 27 August.
“Seats in all three classes will be sold progressively, across both legs of the flight,” it says.
“Bids will be staggered to finish at various times over a period of just over two weeks, with the auction cycle being completed on 10 September 2007.”
SIA says its A380s will have 471 seats in three classes. It says that in addition to economy and business classes it will have a “Singapore Airlines Suites” class, which will be “a class beyond first”.
The carrier is scheduled to take delivery of the first four production A380s before the next operators Emirates and Qantas start taking delivery of their A380s in the second half of next year.
SIA was originally due to have taken delivery of its first A380 in the first half of last year but there have been extensive delays to the programme. -
cool........
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anyone here gonna try bidding?
how much are u willing to pay?
sell a kidney? empty your piggybank?
remember... it's all going to charity... and a chance to be part of this historic flight.
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Channel NewsAsia - Sunday, August 26
Countdown clock set up in Sydney for SIA A380's arrival
SYDNEY: A countdown clock has been installed at the main entrance of Terminal 1 at Sydney Airport for the day when the jumbo double-decker Singapore Airlines A380 plane arrives.
The first passenger flight will take off from Singapore's Changi Airport on 25 October for Sydney's airport, which has invested over AU$100 million to be 'A380-ready'.
Present at the launch of the countdown clock were young representatives from two children's hospitals which will benefit from the proceeds of the auction of seats on the first flight. - CNA/so -
Sounds like fun - another charity event.
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This charity doesn't comes cheap.
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Hamilton Sundstrand Latest to Land SIA A380 Support Contract.
Singapore Airlines selected Hamilton Sundstrand to provide asset management and maintenance support for Hamilton Sundstrand-supplied equipment on the Airbus A380.
More here... -
time to install side mirrors! ouch in BKK !!
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SIA releases more A380 tickets for sale for inaugural flight
By Glenda Chong, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 11 September 2007 0021 hrs
SINGAPORE : It is still not too late to be among the first to fly on Singapore Airlines' inaugural Airbus A380 flight - but you have to be quick.
Although bidding for the first batch of tickets has ended, SIA released more seats on eBay on Monday evening.
The auction for these seats will end on Wednesday.
SIA said this is to allow buyers one last chance to be part of the historic flight.
Last Monday, an Australian paid over US$100,000 for two one-way tickets for the maiden commercial flight of the A380.
SIA will be the first commercial airline to fly the double-decker A380 when it departs Singapore for Sydney on 25 October.
All proceeds from the auction will be donated to charity. - CNA/ms
Link
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is it a hidden megatron?
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hidden?Originally posted by DjMatrix:is it a hidden megatron?
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like the movie?Originally posted by megatron:hidden? -
(SINGAPORE - BT) An Australian has snapped up his personal slice of aviation history by paying more than US$100,000 for a pair of tickets on Singapore Airline's inaugural Airbus 380 flight from Singapore to Sydney on Oct 25.
Julian Hayward picked up the two First Class Suite tickets for US$100,380. That is exactly US$100,000 more than the US$380 figure used as the baseline to set the bids rolling for First Class tickets.
'It's been so long since we've had an aeronautical feat of engineering - the 747 or even Concorde,' said Mr Hayward. 'I'm extremely excited to have the opportunity to be the first ever passenger on such a large feat of engineering and (it's) even better that charities are benefiting from the maiden flight.'
SIA has put up a bulk of the 471 seats on the inaugural flight of the world's largest passenger plane for auction on eBay, with the proceeds going to charity.
The move has caught the fancy of aviation enthusiasts. Some individual bidders have bid as high as US$20,800 for a single First Class Suite ticket, US$8,303 for a Business Class seat and US$5,000 for a one-way seat in Economy Class. These are huge premiums compared to the normal cost of $1,200 for an Economy Class seat, $5,000 for Business Class and $7,200 for First Class.
And these are for new generation, specially-designed seats they have never even seen yet!
Meanwhile, SIA yesterday opened up bidding for the Sydney-Singapore return leg, which kicked off at 10 pm, Sydney time (8 pm Singapore time) last night.
Bidding will continue until Sept 10.
Stephen Forshaw, SIA's chief spokesman, said he did not expect the bidding for the Sydney-Singapore seats to match the highs of the outbound leg.
'There is a novelty value in being on the first ever A380 flight in the sky, which is reflected in the high bid prices,' he said. 'The bid prices for the return leg should settle down a bit, we think.'
The return leg of the charity flight will depart Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport on Oct 26 at 4 pm (Sydney time) and arrive in Singapore at 10 pm (Singapore time).
Meanwhile, bidding for the few remaining seats on the Singapore-Sydney leg will end this Friday.
SIA, the first airline to fly the A380 super-jumbo, is putting up about three-quarters of the 471 seats in each leg of the flight - roughly 350 seats in all - across all three classes for bids. With seats auctioned on both legs of the flight, about 700 seats in all will be released for sale.
The airline has placed an order for 19 of these planes, and will take delivery of the first aircraft on Oct 15.
All proceeds of the auction will be donated to charities, with one-third of the funds going to Singapore's Community Chest; one-third split between Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick and The Children's Hospital at Westmead respectively; and one-third to Medecins Sans Frontieres, also known as Doctors Without Borders. -
rofl ur name is megatron ah i nv see i mean is the a380 megatron? or any other decepticon?Originally posted by megatron:hidden? -
if the bidding start frm 1 dollar i think next day all finish liao the tickets all singaporean cope finish
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Singapore Airlines reveals A380 cabin configuration
Singapore Airlines (SIA) has revealed the full configuration of its Airbus A380s through the release of detailed cabin drawings on its website.
The drawings have been posted under the fleet information section of SIAÂ’s website. The seating configuration had been a closely guarded secret until this week.
SIA’s A380s will seat 471 passengers in three classes, seating 12 in what it calls “Singapore Airlines Suites” class, 60 in business class and 399 in economy class. By comparison, most of SIA’s 21 Boeing 747-400s seat 375 passengers, with 12 in first class, 50 in business and 313 in economy.
The 12 A380 “Suites” seats will be on the main deck at the front of the aircraft and SIA’s spokesman says the carrier is not calling it first class as the new class “is in a league of its own” and will have a class code of ‘R’.
He says business, or ‘J’ class, and economy, or ‘Y’ class, will be similar to the upgraded classes that it introduced on its new Boeing 777-300ERs late last year.
http://www.singaporeair.com/saa/en_UK/content/company_info/siastory/fleet.jsp
“The A380 business class is modelled on the 777-300ER business class with slight differences to take into account the larger size of the aircraft,” says the spokesman. “It is generally the same for economy class.”
The drawing shows there are four main cabins on the main deck of the aircraft, with “Suites” class at the front and three economy cabins with 311 seats stretching to the rear in 3-4-3 configuration. Much of the upper deck is filled with the 60 business class seats in 1-2-1 configuration in two cabins, followed by 88 economy seats, most of them in 2-4-2 configuration.
SIA is due to be the first operator of the A380 when it takes delivery of the first of 19 that it has on firm order on 15 October. It will take delivery of the first four production aircraft, after which Qantas Airways and Emirates start taking delivery of their A380s.
The first commercial flights will be operated over 25-26 October between Singapore and Sydney, although those will be special services for which seats have been sold through an auction for charity. Scheduled services between Singapore and Sydney start on 28 October. -
SIA's A380 auction raises nearly $1.3 million
Singapore AirlinesÂ’ (SIA) auction for seats on the first two commercial flights of the Airbus A380 has raised nearly S$2 million ($1.3 million).
The Star Alliance carrier says in a statement that nearly all seats are now sold and just 24 remain for ‘last chance’ bids. They will remain open for bids until the end of this week.
SIA announced in July that it planned to auction seats on the first two commercial A380 flights that will take place over 25-26 October, between Singapore and Sydney, and bidding started two weeks ago through online marketplace eBay. All proceeds are to be donated to charities.
The carrier says the auction has raised more than S$1.9 million to date and the highest bid was $100,380 for a first class seat package. The cheapest single economy class seat sold for $560.
SIA is due to take delivery of the first production A380 on 15 October.