To Begin Regular Service October 28

She's home. The first Airbus A380 superjumbo slated for passenger service arrived at Changi Airport Wednesday, eight days before the plane is scheduled to carry its first passengers in the service of Singapore Airlines.

"This week, the game changes and we in Singapore Airlines are very proud to be the launch customer," said SIA Senior Operations VP Bey Soo Khiang, reports Agence-France Presse. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong added the plane's arrival was "a milestone in aviation history."

As ANN reported, Airbus handed off the keys to the noteworthy plane in a relatively low-key ceremony Monday... nearly 22 months later than originally planned, before a series of production delays hit the A380 program.

On Wednesday, Airbus COO John Leahy thanked Singapore Airlines for its "patience, understanding and unrelenting confidence" throughout the ordeal.

The plane -- MSN007 -- will make its first commercial flight from Singapore to Sydney October 25... carrying passengers who bid for their seats through an online charity auction.

Regular revenue service is slated to begin October 28. The planes will gradually phase out SIA's current fleet of Boeing 747s, Bey said.

The aircraft was flown to Changi by veteran SIA pilot Captain Robert Ting... who has become something of a local celebrity for the feat.

"Although it's bigger and heavier, the A380 does not pose any special problem that the pilot has to cope with... the extended training on the ground with the airplane should suffice," Captain Ting told Channel NewsAsia. "It's a good feeling... it's a nice aeroplane. It's fantastic in its response.

"Despite its size and its weight, the aeroplane is very agile," Ting added. "It has a fantastic engineering design."

Airline Touting Luxury, Exclusivity

SIA chose to emphasize luxury over sheer size for its first A380. While the plane can carry over 800 passengers in a single-class configuration, Singapore Airlines installed "only" 471 seats on its first plane, to give first- and- business-class flyers more room.

MSN007 sports 399 economy seats, 60 business-class seats, and 12 "Suites" -- first-class compartments sporting 23-inch flat screen TVs, and full-length beds dressed in Givenchy sheets (try not to think of this when battling a fellow passenger for a flimsy pillow on your next US Airways flight -- Ed.)

SIA will have exclusive rights to offer A380 service for the first year, until Australia's Qantas gets its first A380.

FMI: www.a380.singaporeair.com, www.airbus.com