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Singapore – November 15, 2007– They certainly got more than a bag of peanuts.
The 455 passengers onboard Singapore Airlines' A380 that made its first commercial flight on Oct. 25 were given the red carpet treatment complete with champagne to celebrate the occasion.
But limited-edition goody bags and commemorative certificates helped to ensure they wouldn’t forget the occasion. Singapore Airlines did it up one better, however. They made sure that the star chefs who had designed the menus for the flight were on hand to sign passengers' menus.
Singapore Airlines' Chief Executive Chew Choon Seng, who welcomed passengers as they boarded, described the flight as "a new milestone in the timeline of aviation."
The A380, the largest passenger airliner in the world, departed Changi International Airport at 8:18 a.m. local time Oct. 25, as hundreds of airport workers lined the runway waving goodbye, and arrived in Sydney about seven hours later.
But as soon as the "fasten seat belts" signs were switched off, passengers explored both decks of the aircraft and gave interviews to the media on board. One person said the flight resembled "a rock concert or movie premiere" where the stars of show were the A380, Chew and Chief Pilot Robert Ting, who was making history as the first to fly the A380 commercially.
"She is agile and gentle to handle,” Ping told Sky News. “You just never get the feeling you're flying the biggest commercial airline in the world.”
The majority of those on board flight SQ380 had bought their seats in a charity auction that raised more than $1.3 million for select causes in Singapore and Australia. Some paid tens of thousands of dollars for their seats.
American Tommy Lee was one of the passengers. But he knows a bit about maiden flights. At 17, he was on the inaugural service of the first Boeing 747 jumbo jet from New York to London.
"There's a real sense of excitement today. You're part of history," he told Sky News. "The Boeing 747 was a wonderful aircraft and it's such an honor to be on the maiden flight of the next generation of wide-bodied planes."
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Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 takes off from the runway at Changi International Airport for Sydney. Photo: AP
The Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 superjumbo comes in for a landing at Sydney Airport, seven hours after take-off. Photo: Robert Pearce
Singapore Airlines Captain Robert Ting, who is commanding the flight SQ380, in the check-in area before the Airbus A380 superjumbo took off from Singapore's Changi Airport. Photo: Reuters
The double suites class seats converted into a double bed inside the Singapore Airlines superjumbo Airbus A380. Photo: AFP
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