October 25, 2007
An Airbus A380, the world’s biggest jumbo jet, landed safely in Sydney on Thursday, ending its first commercial flight from Singapore.
The Singapore Airlines’ Airbus A380 superjumbo emerged from low-lying cloud to touch down on time on a damp Sydney afternoon, completing its flight from Singapore’s Changi Airport.
The aircraft will return to Singapore on Friday.
Earlier, watched by hundreds of airport staff and passengers who gathered around the airport lounges with their pocket cameras and camera phones, the A380 superjumbo took off from Changi Airport on the seven hour flight.
“I’m a big airplane freak and I love everything about planes,” said Ernest Graaff, an A380 passenger as he waited to board the jet among beaming Singapore Airlines flight attendants.
Graaff paid USD$40,000 for two business-class tickets on the jet. “I’m excited about being a part of history.”
Passengers paid between USD$560 and USD$100,380 to be on the inaugural flight, after bidding for the tickets as part of a charity auction.
Airbus’s new aircraft — which boasts two passenger decks and, in Singapore Airlines’ version, first-class suites with proper beds — suffered two years of delays caused by wiring glitches.
Singapore Airlines is to take delivery of another five A380s in 2008.
(Reuters)