By ADAM PLOWRIGHT
TOULOUSE: Airbus on Monday made the first delivery of its A380, the world’s biggest passenger jet, handing it over to Singapore Airlines (SIA) 18 months behind schedule but with both sides hailing a major advance in air travel.
SIA revealed its “new standard” in first-class cabin design in the 73m-long superjumbo.
The plane will have 12 private suites, each with a large, first-class size seat and a real bed with full-size mattress.
Each suite has a 58cm (23in) flat-screen television and sheets by French designer Givenchy.
The “suite class” seats on the Singapore-Sydney route, on which A380 flights will begin regularly from Oct 28, are to be 40-80% more expensive than first class on a Boeing 747, a spokesman told AFP.
The price of a suite on this route is to be about €8,000, roughly €1,000 per hour of flying according to an AFP calculation.
SIA staged an internet auction for tickets on the inaugural flight of the A380, raising €910,000 for charity.
A mystery bidder who paid more than US$100,000 for a ticket was unveiled on Monday as a thrill-seeking British internet entrepreneur who sought a “little bit of history”.
Although the A380 is capable of carrying more than 800 passengers in an all-economy configuration, SIA has chosen to install just 471 seats to offer more space, particularly in business and first class.
“We are obviously extremely proud to deliver the first A380 to Singapore Airlines, but this is the latest milestone in a long journey,” Airbus chief executive Thomas Enders said.
Rollout of the jet, which can carry up to 853 passengers, is a year and a half behind schedule because of production problems that embarrassed the European firm, the bitter rival of Boeing Co of the United States.
“Although it has taken more time than initially anticipated, the A380 is well worth the wait,” Chew Choon Seng, chief executive of SIA, in one of several references to the plane’s delayed delivery, said.
Airbus had major problems with the wiring of the more than 530km of cable in each aircraft and Enders admitted on Monday the group had “greatly underestimated the complexity of this plane”.
Lack of cooperation between French and German engineers – Airbus has plants in Britain, France, Germany and Spain – was blamed and the group has since launched a restructuring plan aiming to cut 10,000 jobs.
The SIA chief was more upbeat when he stressed the “new chapter in the history of aviation” being opened by the A380, which is to make its first commercial flight on Oct 25 between Singapore and Sydney.
“The piece de resistance will be our new premier cabin which will introduce a travel experience beyond first class,” Chew promised.
Enders later said he was “convinced that the A380 will be the dominant aircraft in the large aircraft market,” breaking the Boeing 747’s near 40-year monopoly for large jets.
The first delivery came only a few days after Boeing announced trouble with its new plane, the midsized B787 Dreamliner, which is now six months behind schedule.
The operational difficulties experienced by both Airbus and Boeing demonstrate the complexity of making modern airliners.
Enders has also said that deliveries were “on target”.
Sixteen airlines have placed firm orders for the A380, with Dubai-based Emirates the leading client among a customer list that includes predominantly Asian, European and Gulf-based carriers.
EADS chief Louis Gallois stuck to the A380s delivery schedule for next year.
“The whole company is mobilised. We should deliver 13 next year, 25 in 2009 and 44 in 2010,” he said. – AFP