The New Airbus A380
It's been a long time coming. The much ballyhooed Airbus A380 has endured months of delays, but the world's largest passenger plane is now in the fleet of its first customer. Singapore Airlines took delivery of the jet on Monday at a ceremony in Toulouse, France.
Here's what business class looks like in Singapore Airlines' new A380. The plane has 471 seats in three classes. The 60 passengers in business class get 15-inch LCD screens, while those in the 399-seat economy section get 11-inch screens, according to a story in The New York Times.
The A380 also has a dozen private compartments with adjustable leather seats, a foldout bed, and a 23-inch LCD screen that provides access to movies, TV channels, games and office software. Over the past several years, bragging rights have swung back and forth between Europe's Airbus and its U.S. rival, Boeing. The two aircraft manufacturers have traded press releases, debut ceremonies and air-show appearances as they variously touted new features and new deals for their marquee planes. In Boeing's case, it's the 787 Dreamliner --which faces a newly announced delay of its own, with first delivery now scheduled for late 2008.
The presence in premium class of double beds, strewn for the debut with rose petals, prompted The New York Times to say that the Singapore Airlines A380 "sometimes resembles a luxury hotel rather than an airliner." The A380 departs for Singapore on Tuesday and will enter service on a Singapore-Sydney route at the end of October.
Singapore Airlines, known for its attention to service, is a natural as the first to fly an A380 decked out for spacious, comfortable, even luxurious travel. Some critics of the plane, however, charge that it could also be fitted out to simply squeeze a much larger crowd of passengers into cramped quarters.
The cockpit of the A380 stands at the ready for pilot Robert Ting. Airbus says it has orders for 189 of its A380s from 16 customers.
