Thumbing your nose at the Devil?

[losthills]

Or selling him your soul??



From correspondents in Singapore

October 25, 2007 08:25am

THE world's largest passenger jumbo jet, the Airbus A380, is on its way to Sydney as it completes the final leg of its inaugural commercial flight.

Singapore Airlines flight SQ 380 left Singapore at 10.16am AEST and is expected to arrive at Sydney Airport about 5.30pm AEST, although thunderstorms and bad weather could delay the arrival.

The take-off was watched by hundreds of airport staff and passengers who gathered in the airport lounge with their pocket cameras and camera phones.

Gallery: Luxury tour of the A380
Gallery: Superjumbo-mania

The giant aircraft, which can carry a maximum of 850 people, was officially launched by Singapore Airlines chief Choo Choon Seng in a pre-flight ceremony at Changi airport today.

"This is a new milestone in the timeline of aviation," he said.

"It is the first big aircraft to be designed and built since the Boeing 747."

Passengers aboard the flight include 38-year-old Sydney resident Julian Hayward who paid $US100,000 ($111,000) for a first class seat and American Thomas Lee, who was also aboard the inaugural Boeing 747 flight in 1970.

"I'm a big airplane freak and I love everything about planes," said Ernest Graaff, an A380 passenger as he waited to board the jet among beaming Singapore Airlines flight attendants.

Mr Graaff paid $44,000 for two business-class tickets on the jet.

"I'm excited about being a part of history."

The aircraft will return to Singapore on Friday.

Airbus' new aircraft - which boasts two passenger decks and, in Singapore Airlines' version, first-class suites with proper beds - suffered two years of delays caused by wiring glitches, which pushed the planemaker into a loss and led to 10,000 lost jobs.

Singapore Airlines is to take delivery of another five A380s in 2008.

- With Reuters, AFP


http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,22645739-5005361,00.html


Disclamer: It's not Solar Powered....

[Deja Q]

1. Not solar powered? Well, somebody ought to be caned for that...

:hide: