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.

More Money Than Sense Or A Very Generous Man?

by Brett Atkinson on

Aussie businessman Julian Hayward has just forked out US$100,380 for two first class seats on the inaugural flight of the new Airbus A380 from Sydney to Singapore on October 26. Singapore Airlines is the first airlne to run scheduled services on the 471-seat super jumbo, and for the first flight sold tickets in an online auction. Proceeds of the auction will be donated to charity, and so far more than $400,000 has been raised.

We first reported the online auction here.

Sydney to Singapore is around 8 hours flying time, so My Hayward and his lucky flying partner will be paying more than US$6000 per hour. At a hundred bucks a minute we hope they get their fill of honey roasted peanuts and other assorted first class goodies.

Oh, did we mention the hundred grand was only for one way flights?

Click here if you’re interested in picking up a cattle class fare in the online auction.

Dying Mid-flight. First Class or a Storage Bin?

by Jamie Rhein on

I was at potluck tonight of Central Ohio Returned Peace Corps volunteers (CORVA) when someone mentioned the person who died on the British Airways flight last week. The dead woman, as described in the post by gadling blogger Jonathon Morgan, was strapped into a first class seat for the rest of the journey from India to Great Britain. Another first class passenger woke up to find the elderly dead woman sliding out of the seatbelt to the floor next to him and the serenity of his expensive seat being disrupted by the wails of her grieving daughter. This passenger, according to my friends, has decided to sue the airlines.

After Jonathon’s post on March 19, there have been other accounts and blogs written. Evidently, a person dying on a flight is not that uncommon. It’s never happened on one of the flights I’ve been on that I’ve been aware of, but some airlines have contingency plans if someone does expire after take-off.

According to an article I came across, on average, 10 people a year die on British Airways flights. On Virgin Atlantic, there were 2 in the past twelve months. Supposedly, on its 17 hour flights, Singapore Airlines’ planes have a special cupboard for a dead person if need be.

On some airlines, an overhead bin might be used. It depends on the circumstances, the airlines, and I suppose, how much carry-on luggage is already stored. If someone dies in flight, it’s not so easy to turn the plane around. A person who takes off alive, and returns to the departure point dead, generates a mountain of paperwork. Also, people who are still alive might like to get where they were planning on going in a timely manner. Forging ahead is often the best solution.