Saturday, October 27, 2007

A380- A First


Singapore Airlines comissioned its A380 fleet yesterday with its first flight from the Changi Airport in Singapore to Sydney Austrailia. For weeks there had been signs posted at Changi announcing this milestone in history. The flight has been described by BBC News as a "party".


This party started at the ticket counter where professional photographers were on hand to provide souvenirs for the occasion. The party continued at the gates with a buffet for the passengers and a stage for dignitaries to put there "two cents" in on this occasion. This was where the A380 made its debut. Not exactly sleek, but certainly impressive. The massive hulk sitting outside the window must have been an amazing site. Two rows of cabin windows stretching the length of the plane paralleling the double decker buses of London. The party ended with a final gift to all passengers. A"goody bag" like those given out at press junkets for movie premiers.


Now I don't know about you guys, but I think this is a little much. Sure this plane is huge and it is most definitely a milestone in aviation history, but it's not exactly the Wright Brothers' first flight. I'm fairly possitive the Boeing 747 didn't get this kind of attention when it was the largest plane on the market, so why should Airbus be granted this publicity. My only thought is that Singapore Airlines has sunk too much money into these planes and is now having second thoughts on how many passengers it will take for them to have per plane to turn a profit in the long run. My advice to readers is to watch Singapore Airlines they may not exist five years from now.

1 comment:

Cute-lil'-Yaris said...

It is a "party" really since the first class passengers get cabins with double beds. recent news states that Singapore Airlines have requested first class passengers that are couples to not have intercourse during the plane ride. I believe in one flight, it got fairly noisy since the walls are not sound proof.