A380 Debuts With a ‘Rocking Party at 40,000 Feet’
Travel Blog • Michael Yessis • 10.25.07 | 9:37 AM ET
And why shouldn’t it have been a party? The debut of the superjumbo Airbus A380, the world’s largest commercial aircraft, has been anticipated by travelers and aviation geeks for years. The party for today’s successful inaugural flight from Singapore to Sydney began at the Singapore Airlines check-in, where according to the BBC’s Laurence Watts, “passengers were given red-carpet treatment, with photographers on hand to provide them with souvenir photos.”
He continues:
The departure gate looked more like a movie premiere, with a buffet for guests and photographers and cameramen as far as the eye could see.
Although a stage was set up for various dignitaries to recount the importance of the occasion, the real star of the show was sitting outside.
Indeed. The 455 passengers aboard the plane—a mix of press, airline officials and travelers who bought their tickets in a charity auction on eBay—“enjoyed a sumptuous in-flight brunch hosted by not one, but two, chefs,” writes Wayne Arnold in the International Herald Tribune. “Fueled by their excitement and 1996 Dom Perignon Rose, a festive atmosphere prevailed, passengers said, and flight attendants had their hands full navigating aisles clogged with passengers touring the new plane.” The Sydney Morning Herald has a slide show and video of the landing.
Among the passengers aboard the flight: Thomas Lee, who also flew on the inaugural 747 flight in 1970. “The flight was spectacular, just truly awesome,” Lee told Arnold. “I’m thrilled beyond words actually. Just extremely excited. On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d put it at 12.”
I guess he liked it.
Related on World Hum:
* Behemoth A380s Touch Down in U.S.
* Enough With the Superjumbo Jets. How About a Superjumbo Bus?
Photo of A380 landing in Sydney, AP.
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Michael Yessis is the cofounder and coeditor-in-chief of World Hum.
