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Singapore Airlines continues to operate the Airbus A380, despite acknowledging that the aircraft is aging and will eventually be retired from its fleet. The airline currently operates 12 A380-800s, with two undergoing maintenance. Since becoming the launch customer for the type in 2007, Singapore Airlines has taken delivery of 24 A380s but has already retired half of them.
Joey Seow, Regional Vice-President for Europe at Singapore Airlines, said in an interview with Simple Flying, “The A380 is a much-loved plane by many of our customers. This is in part because the fuselage is the widest in the industry today. We can do more through the real estate of the A380. For example, in our Suites, we have a separate bed with a separate chair and that's all primarily because the space that we have on that plane is wider than any other in the industry. So consequently, it is much loved, but at the same time, it is also an aging plane.”
The airline uses its A380s on routes where airport slots are limited or demand is high. Current destinations include Mumbai and Delhi (both daily), Frankfurt (daily), London Heathrow (double daily), Sydney (double daily), and Auckland. Seow explained how this helps address capacity constraints: “It helps in the sense that we can put in more passengers without having to get additional slots. We operate the A380 not just to Frankfurt and to London, but also to other connecting points. We talked about how important is to connect through Singapore, so many of them to go on to Australia, where we have the A380s as well so that we can actually fit in the capacity to meet the demand.”
