Heathrow will have to wait until next spring for the world’s biggest airliner, the Airbus A380, to begin services from the airport.
Singapore Airlines confirmed this week that Heathrow-Singapore will be the second route on which it operates the aircraft nicknamed the Superjumbo.
The carrier will launch the A380 on daily services between Singapore and Sydney this Sunday, following a charity flight on the same route on Thursday. The launch follows a 19-month delay in delivery.
The A380 will carry 471 passengers – 100 more than its biggest rival, the Boeing 747. But the carrier aims to have those passengers off and another 471 departing within 100 minutes of landing at Sydney.
The size of the A380 has required adjustments to piers, gates and taxiing runways at airports scheduled for its use, with Heathrow next on the itinerary following the completion of Pier 6 at Terminal 3 this year.
Singapore has signed to take the first four A380s, with the next two due for delivery in the first quarter of 2008 and the fourth in the summer.
The airline will await delivery of both the second and third aircraft before commencing flights from Heathrow, since the length of the flight to Singapore would allow departure of a single A380 only every other day.
A spokeswoman confirmed the A380 would operate the morning flight of Singapore’s three daily departures from Heathrow.
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