 "Singapore Airlines announces A380 flights to Mumbai, Delhi")
The airline's A380 superjumbo will operate daily to both Mumbai and New Delhi with effect from May 30, replacing two daily flights that currently serve each city using smaller Boeing 777s. Another daily flight will continue to be operated with B777s. In total, 14 flights will serve each city per week.
“We have been keen to operate the Airbus A380 to India and are glad that the Air Services Agreement between Singapore and India now allows us to do so,” said Singapore Airlines Senior Vice President Marketing Planning, Lee Wen Fen.
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“India is a particularly important market for Singapore Airlines and we are very pleased that more of our customers will soon be able to experience the spaciousness and comfort of the world’s largest aircraft.”
David Lau, General Manager - India, further added, “Singapore Airlines was the first airline in the world to operate the A380. The Singapore Airlines A380 not only has immense public appeal but also showcases our commitment to offer the best in-flight experience to our Indian travellers. Customers from India will now be able to enjoy the complete A380 experience from Delhi and Mumbai to our onward A380 destinations including Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Melbourne, New York, Paris, Shanghai, Tokyo Narita and Zurich.”
Singapore Airlines has 19 A380s at present and is pulling out the super jumbo plane from other routes to operate them to India.
Commenting on the operations of the A380 from Delhi, I P Rao, Chief Executive Officer, Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd said, “We enjoy a close relationship with Singapore Airlines and the carrier remains a valued customer of our airport. A scheduled A380 service connecting Delhi to Singapore daily demonstrates Delhi’s emergence as a true world-class airport, supporting the world’s largest passenger commercial aircraft. Delhi was the first major airport in India to be A380 ready and today, I am glad to welcome Singapore Airlines A380 on its historic inaugural flight.”
Rajeev Jain, CEO - MIAL said, “It’s an honour and a privilege to host the arrival of Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 at CSIA, Mumbai. Scheduling of A380 services further demonstrates Mumbai’s emergence as a world-class airport, which now supports routes to established and emerging markets across the globe. We congratulate Singapore Airlines on the launch of its daily Airbus A380 service at Mumbai.”
A380 in facts and figures
124 A380s have been delivered to 10 operators. ( Lufthansa, Air France, Emirates, Qantas Singapore Airlines, Korean Air, China Southern Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Thai Airways and British Airways)
4 new customers will operate the A380 as from 2014: Skymark, Asiana, Qatar and Etihad
Total firm orders for the A380 stand at 324 aircraft from 20 customers
The first flight took place in Toulouse on April 27, 2005
The A380 first entered into commercial service with Singapore Airlines in October 2007
Some 170 flights are performed each day by the A380 over the world, and 2 million passengers fly on the A380 each month
The combined A380 fleet around the world has accumulated more than 1.3 million revenue flight hours in
155,000 commercial flights and more than 55 million passengers have already flown on the aircraft
An A380 takes off or lands in the world every 5 minutes. The A380 operates at 35 airports
Airports with highest number of A380 flights - Dubai, Singapore, London, Frankfurt, Paris, Sydney
Shortest A380 route - Bangkok-Hong Kong (1687 kms). Operated by Emirates
Longst A380 route - Los Angeles- Melbourne ( 12751 kms) Operated by Qantas
Source: Airbus, Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation