Business

First A380 is Delivered

By Aviation.com Staff

posted: 15 October 2007 02:21 pm ET

: The first A380 superjumbo bearing the colors of Singapore Airlines is seen during the delivery ceremony at the Airbus plant at Toulouse Blagnac Airport in Colomiers, near Toulouse, southern France, on Monday, Oct. 15, 2007. The aircraft is the first A380 to be delivered to a customer. The A380's inaugural commercial flight was set for Oct. 25 from Singapore to Sydney. Credit: AP Photo/Remy Gabalda
: A Singapore airlines stewardess stands in the passenger cabin of the first production Airbus A380 superjumbo for Singapore Airlines -- the first A380 to be delivered to a customer -- during the delivery ceremony at Toulouse Blagnac Airport, near Toulouse, southern France, on Monday, Oct. 15, 2007. The A380's inaugural commercial flight was set for Oct. 25 from Singapore to Sydney. Credit: AP Photo/Remy Gabalda

Airbus has delivered its first A380 superjumbo to an airline customer.

The company officially handed over the first A380 today to Singapore Airlines, in a ceremony held at its Henri Ziegler Delivery Centre at Toulouse Blagnac Airport, France.

Tom Enders, Airbus' president and CEO, handed over the aircraft to Singapore Airlines CEO Chew Choon Seng in the presence of Sir John Rose, the CEO of engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce. More than 500 guests were present at the delivery ceremony.

UK-based Rolls-Royce is providing the Trent 900 engines for the first 10 A80s in the Singapore Airlines order. Each Trent 900 engine generates 72,000 pounds of thrust. The airline hasn't yet selected an engine type for the subsequent nine A380s in its 19-aircraft order.

Singapore Airlines (SIA) will be the first airline to fly the A380 on regular scheduled service when it begins daily service between Singapore and Sydney later this month. The airline used the opportunity of the delivery ceremony to reveal its new A380 cabin interior, which features 471 seats in three classes: Economy, Business and its new "Singapore Airlines Suites; a class beyond first."

SIA first announced its intention to become an A380 customer in September 2000, with an order for 10 A380s and options on a further 15. That firm order was increased to 19 in July 2006.

At catalog prices, the 19-aircraft firm order is valued in the order of US$5.7 billion, including engines and spares. However, as an early customer and a volume customer (SIA is the second-largest customer for the A380 after Emirates Airlines), Singapore Airlines is widely believed to have paid far less than catalog prices for its A380s.

The aircraft delivered today will enter commercial service on Oct. 25, 2007, on a special return flight between Singapore and Sydney. The majority of seats on this flight were sold at auction on eBay, the global online marketplace, and all auction proceeds are being split among charities in Singapore, Sydney and Doctors Without Borders.

On Oct. 28, 2007, the A380 will begin scheduled service between Singapore and Sydney on one of SIA's three daily return flights.

Deliveries of subsequent aircraft will allow SIA to introduce the A380 on one of its three daily flights between Singapore and London's Heathrow Airport from the first quarter of 2008.

During the last few years, Singapore Airlines has joined with Airbus and other A380 customers to work with the world's major airports to ensure they are A380-ready. Many airports to which A380s will operate are now ready for the aircraft, or in the final stages of preparation.

Singapore's Changi Airport, which will be home to the Singapore Airlines A380 fleet, was the first airport to be ready. When Changi's new Terminal 3 opens early next year, 19 gates across the three terminals will be fully A380-ready. Modifications to each gate include providing air-bridge access to both decks of the A380 so it can be loaded as if it were two separate aircraft.

The A380 has a range of more than 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 kilometers). Airbus claims the huge jet has seat-mile costs 20 percent lower than the former largest passenger aircraft, the Boeing 747-400.

SIA and Airbus claim that emissions per passenger are the lowest of any aircraft to date and that the A380 is the quietest large passenger jet ever built. They also say there is significantly lower noise throughout the A380's passenger cabin than in any previous jet airliner.

The A380 is the largest fixed-wing passenger aircraft ever built, though the six-engine Antonov An-225 Mriya cargo aircraft is larger and heavier. The An-225 was built originally to carry the USSR's Buran shuttle spacecraft piggyback-style on its back, along with equipment for the spacecraft in its cavernous interior cargo cabin.

At present the only Airbus aircraft in SIA's mainline fleet are five A340-500 very-long-haul jets, which the airline uses to operate its nonstop Singapore-Newark flights, among the longest nonstop scheduled passenger flights in the world. However, SIA has 19 A380s, 20 A350s and 19 A330-300s on order.

Total orders and commitments for the A380 stand at 189 from 16 customers. Subsequent aircraft will be delivered to Singapore Airlines, Emirates Airlines and Qantas in the next few weeks.