The SIA A380 lands on the Continent

[Kurt A]

The SIA A380 lands on the Continent

The world of civil aviation witnessed another milestone yesterday, with the first A380 flight to London operated by Singapore Airlines.

The world’s largest passenger aircraft carried 449 customers on flight SQ308 from Changi Airport, Singapore, at 9am to land at Heathrow Airport, London at local time 3pm.

The first return flight is to arrive in Singapore today, at 3:35pm.

As the first carrier to operate an A380, Singapore Airlines have captivated global consumer interests, who are keen to experience the cabin and in-flight service quality.

Mr Huang Cheng Eng, Singapore Airlines Executive Vice President, Marketing and the Regions, said that “the strong demand we are witnessing highlights the superiority of the Singapore Airlines A380 product.”

“We are extremely heartened that customers all over the world are relishing the opportunity to experience comfort and luxury when they fly with us.”

The Singapore Airlines A380 boasts the new Singapore Airlines Suites, providing first class passengers with a personal cabin at 10 000 feet.

Any seat on the A380 is an experience, as the award-winning Business Class is configured 1-2-1, providing spacious luxury on the upper deck, as well as the comfortable legroom provided in New Economy Class.

The Singapore Airlines A380 features in-flight entertainment options number in the thousands, international cuisine and attentive service.

Following the inaugural London flight, Singapore Airlines will operate daily A380 flights to and from London.

-sq

[Nathan Long]

I can't wait until the 7th...

[Kent Broadhead]

From the title, I thought there must have been some sort of diversion - when did London move onto the Continent?

Kent

[Mark D]

And I thought Australia was a continent? Oh no, we're an Island... ummmm :-)

[Andrew W]

Well, I probably should have had a good view of SQ308 arriving the other day in canary Wharf Imissed it, so watched BBC News 24 at 9pm nothing for the next hour, and I think they only ended up having a small piece at some point during the 10pm news. I know there was market turmoil etc going on, but a shame there was not the anticipation as with the first flight. I got the best pics of it from The Age website. Anyway, hopefully I wil see it soon




Next Flights - April 08
BA 15 LHR to Syd
QF164 Syd to AKL
QF163 AKL SYD
a bit of SYD PER MEL PER action
QF71 PER SIN
BA12 SIN LHR

[Grahame Hutchison]

I was looking at the Singapore Airlines timetable this morning and if you want to fly on the A380 from Sydney to London you have almost a 10 hour stop over in Singapore.

SQ220 Departs Sydney at 0850 and Arrives in Singapore at 1345
SQ322 Departs Sinapore at 2320 and Arrives in LHR at 0525 +1 Day

You can also depart Sydney on SQ232 at 1245 and still easily make SQ322 at 2320 (you arrive in Singapore at 1740).

On the return from London to Sydney you can take SQ319/SQ221 on the A380 with a 5 hour stopover in Singapore.

This is not ideal, and I assume it is because they only have the two A380s (or did I miss the third arrival).

[Nigel C]

The third one is about to depart Sydney as I type. 9V-SKC has pushed back off Bay 57 and will taxi soon for a 16R departure.

[Daniel F]

From 2 May, the A380 flight will be SQ 222 instead of SQ 220, arriving in Singapore at 21:40. That will have a much better connection to the SIN-LHR flight.

[Robert S]

Originally Posted by Daniel F

From 2 May, the A380 flight will be SQ 222 instead of SQ 220, arriving in Singapore at 21:40. That will have a much better connection to the SIN-LHR flight.

Except the return flight won't connect... the May times seem to be:

SYD-SIN
SQ222 15:25/21:40

SIN-LHR
SQ322 23:30/05:55+1

LHR-SIN
SQ317 11:55/07:45+1

SIN-SYD
SQ221 20:35/05:55+1


My logic could be out, but it looks like all three aircraft will have to be flying full round trips between Sydney and London via Singapore, repeating the cycle every 72 hours, with that 13 hour layover in Singapore while eastbound being the longest time they'll have on the ground for a maintenance window if required.

Using UTC times, it looks like the mission for each aircraft would have to be:

Dep SIN 12:35
Arr SYD 19:55
Dep SYD 05:25+1
Arr SIN 13:40+1
Dep SIN 15:30+1
Arr LHR 04:55+2
Dep LHR 10:55+2
Arr SIN 23:45+2

[Ash W]

Originally Posted by Grahame Hutchison

...
This is not ideal, and I assume it is because they only have the two A380s (or did I miss the third arrival).

Yep you must have missed the arrival of the 3rd a/c. It is this a/c that makes London flights possible.