Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines rolled out a major upgrade Monday on their Singapore-Frankfurt-New York JFK service, shedding the previously used Boeing 747-400 for the larger Airbus A380 super jumbo aircraft.

Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 (9V-SKK) on short final for New York JFK. (Photo by moose135)

Government dignitaries and airline and airport brass along with selected media were on hand for the event at JFK’s Terminal 4 for the inaugural departure. The new aircraft represents a 25% increase in daily capacity on the route to the Big Apple, and offers a range of additional comforts that only an airplane nicknamed the whale jet can provide.

Already known for their industry leading product and exceptional in-flight service, the airline’s A380 fleet is built to please the passenger. Featuring a three-class configuration, the aircraft comfortably seats 471. The economy sections are located on the main and upper rear decks, featuring 399 seats with 19in width and 32in of pitch along with personal entertainment systems for all. The much-touted Singapore Business class features the largest seat width of any business class around at 34 in-wide—with 55 in of pitch—and covers almost the entire upper deck. Only the A380 can accommodate this gargantuan business class seat to begin with, nevermind in a 1-2-1 configuration. The first class cabin, located on the forward main deck, contains twelve jaw-dropping suites.

Waiting at the gate for passengers.

Frankfurt and New York represent the ninth and tenth destinations, respectively, for Singapore’s A380 service. The flight—SQ26—arrives at JFK at 11:10am local time and departs for Frankfurt as SQ25 at 8:10pm local. The carrier currently has 15 of the superjumbos in service with four more on firm order.

Singapore becomes the fourth airline to operate scheduled A380 service at JFK, joining Emirates, Air France and Korean Air. Lufthansa previously operated the A380 to JFK but has downgraded the flight to smaller equipment for the winter season.

Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 (9V-SKK) parked at JFK Airport in New York.

Qatar Airways Flight To Budapest Celebrates First Anniversary

"One year, 241 flights and five stars. These are the numbers that can be used to describe the Budapest-Doha flight launched by “the world’s five-star airline” exactly one year ago. The new long haul flight not only links the nations of the Persian Gulf with Central Europe, but also reduces travel time from Budapest to India, China, Southeast Asia and the Pacific region by about five hours.

There is no better indication regarding the popularity of the flight than the fact that since 14 September 2011, Qatar Airways has been commuting between Doha and Budapest on a daily basis and directly, without the stopover in Bucharest. The Airbus A 320 aircraft of “the world’s five-star airline” make the journey between the Hungarian and the Qatari capital in five hours.

The A 320 aircraft are fitted with a seating arrangement of 144 seats, split between business and economy classes. For the comfort of passengers, Qatar Airways offers 12 business class seats and 132 economy class seats on board the aircraft capable of accommodating a maximum of 180 passengers.

Qatar Airways’ elegantly painted aircraft, decorated with the emblem featuring the Oryx antelope, arrive at Budapest Airport at 12:25 every day and depart at 16:15. In order to better utilize this long parking period and to reach more passengers, the carrier plans to fly to Zagreb during this time, to be able to make the return journey from Budapest to Doha with passengers from Croatia also on board.

“We are delighted to celebrate the first anniversary of the day when we were first able to welcome the passengers of Qatar Airways, the world’s five-star airline, to Budapest,” said Kam Jandu, aviation director for Budapest Airport. “The fact that only eight months after the launch of the flight Qatar Airways is already commuting to Budapest on a daily basis shows just how much demand there is for this flight in Hungary and the region. With the handover of the SkyCourt last year, Budapest Airport not only increased the capacity of Terminal 2, but is also able to provide much better services for passengers, including those flying Qatar Airways.”

Qatar Airways has not only reduced the travel time from Budapest to Doha and the Persian Gulf region. A large number of passengers are transferring in Doha en route to Thailand, China, Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, South Africa and Kenya. With the new route, their journey has become four or five hours shorter.

Numerous businessmen, pop and film stars use the services of Qatar Airways, who are highly appreciative of the carrier’s on-board and ground services, as well as the high level of discretion it offers. Thus, we can only provide information about one VIP passenger, the latest acquisition of the Budapest Zoo, an Australian wombat (a rare marsupial mammal), which also arrived in Hungary as a Qatar Airways “passenger”, although it made the journey not in the cabin, but in a special cage in the cargo hold