The first A380, the world’s largest commercial aircraft delivered by Airbus to Singapore Airlines, took off on Thursday from Singapore to Sydney on its inaugural flight.
The aircraft departed from Changi Airport in Singapore at 8:16 AM local time, landing in Sydney after approximately seven and a half hours. On the first commercial flight of the A380, delivered with an 18-month delay, seats auctioned off raised $1.3 million, a sum intended for charitable purposes. The most generous passenger, Julian Hayward, a Briton living in Sydney, paid €73,000 for two first-class seats "to participate in this historic day," he said before takeoff. Hayward occupied seat 1A on Thursday morning. Singapore Airlines opted for a luxurious and spacious version of the aircraft with only 471 seats on this first flight. In the standard version, however, this super-jumbo can carry 525 passengers, and in the charter version up to 853. To date, there have been 189 orders for the aircraft from 16 customers, mainly from the Gulf, Asia, and Europe. (H)
