As the A380 creeps closer to the USA, Brits wonder “why are there ash trays”?

by Grant Martin on

I’m sure that you’ve heard of the A380 by now, Airbus‘s super mega jumbo modern noah’s-ark behemoth of an aircraft, capable of carrying ten thousand passengers, flying around the world twelve times and curing myopia. It’s pretty sweet. And I mean that, it’s a magnificent creature.

I’ll bet you that many of you haven’t seen it in real life though, save for a few insiders in the industry and travelers in the South East Asian sector. Fact of the matter is, Singapore Airlines is the only customer with the aircraft right now and they aren’t flying the bird anywhere near our shores.

But they’re edging their way around the world. With delightful fanfare and general British hobknobbery the A380 made it’s first appearance in London last week and the redcoats are tickled pink. Swooning reviews are popping up left and right serenading the aircraft and telling us wild stories of how in business class they have two hooks for your coat on the seat in front of you. Two hooks! I could do anything with two hooks! They do go on to raise and answer an interesting question about ash trays though and why the heck modern airlines are still required to have them.

And honestly, I am looking forward to my first A380 flight, although unlike most reviewers I’ll probably be rolling like everyone else in cattle class. If you’d like to check out a review without the pleasure of the writer drooling all over himself though, check out The Cranky Flier’s experience.

Singapore Airlines to start business class only service between US and SE Asia

by Grant Martin on

As market trends have been predicting left and right, business-class-only flights are the new big thing. British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are scrambling to lock in routes between the East Coast and London, while Eos and Silverjet fight them off from Luton and Stansted.
But nobody has dared enter the transpacific market. Until now. Early Tuesday morning, Singapore Airlines announced the coronation of a new business-class-only service from New York and Los Angeles to Singapore. When they reconfigure their A340 aircraft, they will be the first of their kind, with 1-2-1 business-class seating throughout the entire cabin.

These are the same business class seats that they put on the A380, the ones that convert into a horizontal bed if you so desire. Coupled with the superior transpacific service that Singapore Airlines offers, this will definitely be a sought after flight.

Service is scheduled to start in May from New York direct to Singapore, while the Los Angeles flight will convert later in the summer. If you already had a flight during that time period, make sure you double check your schedule to make sure it hasn’t been tweaked.

All in all, it seems like a great product to me, although to be honest with you I’m a little scared to look at the price of seats. Once service gets rolling this summer I’ll try to get some good pictures and a real review for you guys.

Bad fuel pumps ground Singapore Air’s A380s

by Grant Martin on

It looks like the commercial Airbus A380s have hit their first snag. Singapore Airlines (SQ) announced today that it had to ground it’s only operational super jumbo because of an issue with the fuel pumps. Luckily the problem was detected while the aircraft was on the ground prior to departure and not sometime during transit.

SQ’s other A380 wasn’t rotated into the schedule because it was “undergoing maintenance.” No mention on this CNN article as to what that maintenance was, or whether or not it was related to the fuel pump.

As those in the know point out, however, what do you expect? With a new aircraft, new pilots and limited flight hours things are going to go wrong. It’s a good thing that enough checks are in place to rout out problems on the ground before they manifest in the skies.

First A380 flight in Europe: March 18

by Iva Skoch on

Singapore Airlines currently flies both of the only two operating Airbus A380 airplanes in the world on the Sydney-Singapore route. The third plane, also purchased by Singapore Airlines, will operate on the London – Singapore route, starting March 18. This will be the first commercial flight with the world’s biggest plane in Europe.

Tickets for this flight are already on sale, starting at 550GBP (approx. $1100). First class tickets have not been priced yet. The Singapore Airlines A380 has 471 seats available in three classes: 12 seats in their ultra-luxury suites (see picture), 60 seats in business class and 399 in economy.

Those luxury suites don’t look too bad. I don’t think I want to know how much they go for.

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The A380 makes its maiden voyage

by Grant Martin on

Earlier this Thursday, after numerous delays and management changes at EADS, the A380 finally made her maiden commercial voyage under the emblem of Singapore Airlines.

MSNBC reports that it was a landmark experience, with the short flight between Singapore and Sydney holding 455 passengers and about 30 crew members. Most of the seats were auctioned off on Ebay with the proceeds going to charity while some of the most expensive suites were going for over 100k.

Its going to be a while until the average westerner gets the pleasure of riding an A380; Singapore Airlines has unlimited rights to fly the bird for the next 10 months. After that, Emirates is the next customer. I suppose we’ll see a few on the SE Asia – USA routes that Singapore has license to, but the budget get-me-to-asia-as-cheap-as-possible traveler like myself will have to be patient.

As to the performance future of the A380, analysts still vacillate. Most still predict that the market calls for medium-long range super-efficient jets that will cut costs all around, something that the 787 is still crushing the competition at. I personally look forward to flying both jets, but have a feeling that in the end I’ll be spending more time on the 787.