Post by corsair67 on Jun 6, 2006 15:01:55 GMT 12
From today's The Australian.
Melbourne will be spewing about this!
First superjumbo service ... and the winner is Sydney
Steve Creedy, Aviation writer
June 06, 2006.
SYDNEY has beaten London to become the world's first destination for a scheduled service by one of the new double-decker Airbus A380 superjumbo planes.
Singapore Airlines expects to take delivery of the first commercial aircraft in November and to begin flights to Sydney in December.
The airline confirmed yesterday its first flight would be into Sydney and said Singapore-Sydney would be its first route when scheduled services started, probably in late December.
"We've decided on Sydney for two reasons," airline spokesman Stephen Forshaw said. "Firstly, the aircraft flight time is shorter than London. And the crewing requirements are lower than for London - we require a double crew to do London flights and the turnaround time for crew is longer for London than it is for Sydney."
Sydney airport has spent $120million preparing for the giant airliner and has built one of five planned double-storey gates that will allow the huge A380s to unload passengers from three doors and both decks.
Singapore Airlines will fly the Airbus with fewer than 480 passengers in three classes - about 100 seats more than a jumbo jet, but well below the plane's optimum three-class passenger load of 555.
Several other operators serving Sydney with A380s have also indicated they will be flying with 500 passengers or fewer.
This and the fact they will be phased in over time means airport authorities are confident the combination of lower passenger loads and the new gates will make unloading the big planes as quick, if not quicker, than emptying a Boeing 747.
Mr Forshaw said he was confident the airport would be able to handle the new plane and said it would generate excitement with new on-board products.
"The co-operation and support we've had from Sydney airport has been fantastic," he said. "I think they're as keen to receive the first flight as we are to operate it."
The main reason for introducing the bigger plane on the Kangaroo route between Britain and Australia was to boost seat capacity without having to increase the number of flights, particularly into Sydney.
Melbourne was also on the agenda but no decision on timing had been made.
Melbourne will be spewing about this!
First superjumbo service ... and the winner is Sydney
Steve Creedy, Aviation writer
June 06, 2006.
SYDNEY has beaten London to become the world's first destination for a scheduled service by one of the new double-decker Airbus A380 superjumbo planes.
Singapore Airlines expects to take delivery of the first commercial aircraft in November and to begin flights to Sydney in December.
The airline confirmed yesterday its first flight would be into Sydney and said Singapore-Sydney would be its first route when scheduled services started, probably in late December.
"We've decided on Sydney for two reasons," airline spokesman Stephen Forshaw said. "Firstly, the aircraft flight time is shorter than London. And the crewing requirements are lower than for London - we require a double crew to do London flights and the turnaround time for crew is longer for London than it is for Sydney."
Sydney airport has spent $120million preparing for the giant airliner and has built one of five planned double-storey gates that will allow the huge A380s to unload passengers from three doors and both decks.
Singapore Airlines will fly the Airbus with fewer than 480 passengers in three classes - about 100 seats more than a jumbo jet, but well below the plane's optimum three-class passenger load of 555.
Several other operators serving Sydney with A380s have also indicated they will be flying with 500 passengers or fewer.
This and the fact they will be phased in over time means airport authorities are confident the combination of lower passenger loads and the new gates will make unloading the big planes as quick, if not quicker, than emptying a Boeing 747.
Mr Forshaw said he was confident the airport would be able to handle the new plane and said it would generate excitement with new on-board products.
"The co-operation and support we've had from Sydney airport has been fantastic," he said. "I think they're as keen to receive the first flight as we are to operate it."
The main reason for introducing the bigger plane on the Kangaroo route between Britain and Australia was to boost seat capacity without having to increase the number of flights, particularly into Sydney.
Melbourne was also on the agenda but no decision on timing had been made.
