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It took just 17 minutes to board the 471 passengers for the historic flight after a fierce electrical storm had forced a two-hour delay in departure, but this did little to dent the festivities, fuelled by lashings of champagne (the real stuff).
I was in seat 50H in the economy cabin on the main (lower) deck, just behind the massive wings and engines. In a normal three-class configuration, the aircraft is capable of carrying 555 passengers. Singapore Airlines has opted for more space for a plane to operate the “kangaroo route” from Australia to London, via Singapore.
The roll along the Sydney runway to the north was noticeably smoother than that of the 747 and once liftoff occurred under full power it was evident Airbus has created an aircraft that is a complete new generation in terms of engine noise. This should go a long way to ease the fatigue occasioned by the roar of jet engines.
There’s certainly enough that’s new in the economy cabin to make an incentive or corporate travel program an exciting option. Let’s start with economy as that’s where most A380 passengers will be travelling. There are 399 seats over the two decks which are connected via a staircase at the rear. The speedy boarding is made possible by three separate gates servicing the premium paying customers of the business cabin and suites, and air bridges to the main and upper decks for economy cabin passengers.
In the economy cabin the entertainment system is the standout feature for me. The programs offered are uniform throughout the aircraft, with only the screen size varying between the classes. The economy screen is as big as the business-class screens on many airlines. The inflight entertainment controller now sits below the screen, and no longer does one have to scrabble with the armrest fixture.
With the larger screen and the volume turned up you can “zone out” everything around you. As a perennially restless passenger, my ability to endlessly channel surf, enjoy a huge choice of on-demand movies, TV shows and masses of music channels has plenty of appeal. You’re able to work without having to haul out a computer notebook as all seats are powered. So take along a USB flash drive and you can use your handset to create documents, presentations and view digital photography and save it all back to the flash drive.
You can access world and regional news and the flight information is more comprehensive than ever, with satellite imagery of the kind you get on Google Earth. In addition you can research some 25 international cities, access business information and learn more about the culture you may be experiencing come touchdown. I did a live radio interview back to Sydney from my seat and it was a crystal clear connection.
Web surfing and email access is not available just yet, but the “road warrior” executive will soon be in a position to manage and be managed in the heavens.
One of the intriguing features is the tray table which can fold in half and there’s a mirror embedded into the topside of the folded section, allowing for running repairs in the make-up department.
There’s also a dedicated entertainment channel for kids with movies and a swag of interactive multi-media games.
While the A380 is quieter than the competition there’s still a good argument to invest in noise cancelling headphones if you travel regularly.
The seats are slightly wider than on the 747, there’s better legroom and a little more space in the aisles, but don’t get your hopes up too high, as there’s still blue sky between this and life in the business cabin on the upper deck.
The inaugural flight showed food preparation technology has also moved along. Sydney celebrity chef and consultant to SIA Matt Moran was on board to supervise the service of a dinner which included a perfect medium-rare steak – a rare achievement in any class.
The throng down the back who had secured their seats on an eBay charity auction also vocally approved of the shepherd’s pie prior to landing.
The “Suites”, the SIA term for first-class, are deeply luxurious, but the inhabitants seemed a tad lonely in their cocoons, comfortable as they were. There’s a complete bed, not just a reconfigured seat for slumber time, though one wonders if anyone would want to sleep at those prices.
The 60-seat business cabin is clearly where the battleground for the “seat wars” will be in years to come.
The cabin effectively provides everything that the top airlines do in first-class and is light years ahead of the business product on the competition which also offers the lie flat option. The business cabin on the A380 will have an approximate 20 per cent premium on the regular business cabin price. This will no doubt change as more of the aircraft come into service.
The most luxurious aspect of the business-class cabin is the space it provides. Where there’s usually a two-two-two seat configuration, the SIA A380 has one-two-one, with space aplenty in the aisles. It’s a very convivial space and one can see this will become an informal business networking space for years to come. There’s a galley area where guests can help themselves to drinks and snacks outside of meal services. A colleague did, however, comment there was a lot of noise emanating from the galley where the meals were being prepared.
The A380 will shuttle from Singapore to Sydney until the New Year when the delivery of two more of the 19 A380s on order for SIA will see the launch of the service to London. Emirates has more than 45 on order and Qantas is due to take delivery of its first A380 in late 2008.
SIA are clearly milking the opportunity of being “first to fly” for all its worth. The flight commander, Captain Robert Ting and SIA CEO Chew Choon Seng tirelessly worked the cabins, posing for countless photographs. SIA is talking up the environmental features of the aircraft, claiming it uses less fuel per passenger than a small hybrid car and has a noise footprint half that of large commercials jets.
Every passenger received a signed certificate commemorating the day as well as a carry bag of “goodies” which included a scale model of the A380, a pair of beautiful Cerruti pens from Rolls Royce (engine suppliers) in a leather case, customised luggage tags and a luggage lock.
A small army of “Singapore Girls” was on hand to bestow garlands of orchids on every passenger arriving into the home port.
It will be a challenge for any other airline to launch their A380s with the razzmatazz of the historic first return flight of SQ380.
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