Lately, there is a renewed excitement in air travel, and the cause of excitement is from Singapore Airlines. Those of you who have traveled on SIA would know that it is famous for its good service and excellent facilities.

However with all the competition using SIA as their new benchmark for service and quality, what does SIA do to try and stay ahead of its competition? Well, it went and purchased and recently took delivery of the new Airbus A380, dubbed the Queen of the Skies!!

No big deal you say, its just another aircraft right? Well, only if you consider the A380, which is the largest commercial plane built to date, and can take more than 555 passengers, as  just another aircraft ! Oh and did I mention that they have a new class called the suite class, which is one up from its First Class.

Let me share with you more details about the Airbus A380:-
The aircraft has 3 floors, connected by stairs in the front and rear. Passengers occupy the top 2 decks with cargo at the bottom deck.

This plane was designed to take 555 passengers, but SIA has decided that there is no point squishing everyone together like plebian cattle class, so it has opted to go with 471 seats instead, giving each seat more space in between. This aircraft is probably also the first to offer the Suite Class, which features an armchair, and a full length bed, with a huge flat screen TV.  There are 2 type of suites to choose from, the Double Suite and the Single Suite. The suite class features an armchair and a separate foldable full-length bed in each cabin, making it the bona fide bedroom in the skies. Yup, you read it correctly… it’s a true blue BED…. Not a reclineable chair which just reclines to a certain degrees but an actual comfortable separate bed!!

Each suite is separated by a pair of sliding door and pull down blinds which offer privacy to a passenger in this space.

The business class is also the widest at 34 inches. Each seat also comes with a power point and a USB port. In addition, there is also a refreshment bar where passengers are free to help themselves to snacks and drinks placed at this passenger corner. We are talking fully-stocked pantry and not just a small table top area.

Even the amenities are all well-known brands: leather by Poltrona Frau, pajamas and linens by Givenchy, toiletries by Ferragamo, and, naturally, refreshment by Dom Perignon and Krug.

Its Economy class is 2 inches wider than the Boeing jumbo, at 19 inches. In addition, the in-flight entertainment screens are 10.6 inches wide.

Before it starts flying, the airbus super jumbo jet has already visited 50 airports worldwide. Of these, 24 are fully prepared for the new jet, including Changi Airport Singapore , which is the  first to receive the A380. Changi Airport Singapore has had to spend $68 million to modify the existing facilities at terminal 1 and 2 and build new ones at the new Terminal 3 , with bigger passenger holding areas and new catering trucks to service the double-decker giant bird.

The aircraft's first commercial flight will take place on 25 October, when the A380 takes off for Sydney.

And the price of such luxury? For the Suite, it would be around $10,000SGD, $7500SGD for first class, $6000SGD for business class and economy class would be around $1400SGD.

In an unprecedented move, all proceeds from the sale of tickets on the first flight will be donated to charities. The proceeds of the auction will be split evenly between the following exceptionally worthwhile organizations:

• One-third to Singapore's Community Chest
• One-third split between the Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick, and The Children's Hospital at Westmead, both in Sydney
• One-third to Médecins Sans Frontières, also known as Doctors Without Borders

For its inaugural service, celebrity chefs from Singapore Sam Leong and Australia’s Matthew Moran would also be onboard to whip up a special menu, complete with champagne.

But like any pioneer technology, there were some teething problems with the flight. There were long delays and billions of dollars in cost overruns, as there were 2 separate teams one in France and one in Germany, working on the aircraft wiring and assembly respectively, resulting in slight integration and communication problems.  Airbus also has internal issues, losing 3 chiefs and 2 A380 customers and they also had a net loss of 572 million euros last year. Hence the biggest challenge for the airbus now, is to ensure it is able to deliver its slated 13 A380 next year, 25 in 2009 and 45 by year 2010. As you can see, it is not going to be an easy task, but certainly not one that is impossible to fulfill.

Although most analysts are doubtful about whether the A380 will eventually be profitable, but we should celebrate the innovation and creativity behind it and think about profits later. After all, the Airbus A380 is definitely going to revolutionize flying comfort.

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