Singapore First City to Welcome Airbus A380

SINGAPORE will be the first city outside Europe to welcome the new Airbus A380 superjumbo when it arrives at Changi Airport next month.

The double-decker jet – the wings for which are made on Deeside – is to fly non-stop to Singapore Changi to test its long-range flight capability.

It will then fly on to Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane before going on display at the Dubai airshow in the second half of November.

The visits will give customers a chance to see it at first hand and give airports an early opportunity to check their preparedness to handle the A380 when it enters commercial service. The A380 flight test campaign involves more than 2,500 hours of flight tests conducted across three continents on five A380 development aircraft.

Singapore Airlines will be the first carrier in the world to operate the A380 on its London/Singapore/Sydney route at the end of 2006. It has10 A380s on firm order and options on a further 15 of the pounds 150m jets. Sixteen airlines, including Qantas and Emirates, have ordered a total of 159 A380s.

Modifications costing more than pounds 20m are being made to Changi airport to make sure it can handle the A380, the world’s largest jet