A380 flies one millionth passenger
Manchester airport to Singapore 3 times a week from May[February 19th 2009]
Singapore Airlines has flown its one millionth passenger on the Airbus A380 superjumbo, just 16 months after introducing the new plane.
The lucky passenger, Royston Pollard from Bristol, flew from Heathrow airport to Singapore on the A380 accompanied by his wife. To mark the milestone the couple were upgraded to business class where they were able to enjoy what Singapore Airlines’ claims is the world’s widest business class seat plus a choice of more than 1000 in-flight entertainment options on a 39cm LCD screen.
On arriving at Changi airport the Pollards said: “It was a bit overwhelming when they first said we were the ones. It was just absolutely fantastic, a really, really lovely experience. It was sort of one of those memories you’ll never ever forget.”
As well as being upgraded the couple received other treats including a three night stay at the legendary Raffles Hotel in Singapore, a spa experience sponsored by the Sentosa Resort & Spa, and the choice of either a safari adventure tour with The Night Safari or a wild discovery tour at Singapore Zoo.
The other passengers on the Pollards flight received special treatment too. At the gatehold room at Heathrow they were able to enjoy champagne, wine, chocolates and fruit, and were presented with a Singapore Airlines model aircraft and luggage lock.
Singapore Airlines now has six A380s in its fleet and flies the plane twice daily between Heathrow and Singapore, plus daily between Singapore and Sydney and Singapore and Tokyo. On June 1st the airline will also launch daily flights on the A380 between Paris and Singapore.
Earlier this week Singapore Airlines announced an 11% reduction in capacity for the period from April 2009 to March 2010 which will mean the suspension of flights on a range of routes, and use of smaller aircraft on others.
The three times daily service from Heathrow to Singapore will be maintained, but the daily Boeing 747-400 service will be replaced with a Boeing 777-300ER from the end of March resulting in a seat reduction of 97 a day.
Flights from Manchester airport to Singapore will be reduced from five times a week to three times a week from May.
Written by: Nick Purdom
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