Two and a half years after its first flight, the Airbus A380 airliner entered service late in October with Singapore Airlines (SIA). While SIA has received the only example of the super large airliner slated for 2007 delivery, next August Emirates Airline is slated to get the first of the 55 A380s it has ordered to date. The high-profile Dubai carrier claims not to be perturbed about this delivery sequence, despite having been the official launch customer for the aircraft.
Airbus plans to deliver a total of 13 aircraft next year to SIA, Emirates and Australia’s Qantas. Neither Emirates nor Qantas has revealed initial service plans for the A380, preferring to keep their powder dry before courting public attention nearer the time. But SIA has been able to generate maximum publicity from the A380 introduction through two final dress-rehearsal flights operated a few days before the first scheduled flight, carrying passengers who had bid for their tickets at auction. SIA attracted offers that included a $100,380 bid for a first-class “package,” while the minimum successful bid was just $560.
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