16
Jan
2008
Guest post: What’s it like to actually fly the Airbus A380?
Posted by: Mark Ashley

singapore-a380.jpg

Give a warm welcome to guest poster Ben Curtis, who spends half of every year traveling. Ben leads tours for Rick Steves, gives culture and history lectures onboard cruise ships, and recently started putting his passion for the Adriatic, one of his favorite destinations, into blog form at adriaticfanatic.com.

Today, Ben offers some feedback from his recent flight onboard Singapore Airlines’ super-behemoth Airbus A380.

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The A380 is changing passenger air travel as we know it. Once you’ve flown in it, you are forever changed. It’s a revelation, nothing less.

Or so the hype would have it. My reaction, having flown Singapore Airlines’ route between Sydney and Singapore back in December? It’s just a plane. A ridiculously well-hyped plane.

Boarding and disembarking however many hundred passengers proceeded very smoothly and quickly. But don’t expect to get a peek at the high life. Those flying in cattle class like me can’t even get a peek at infamous suites; they are totally cordoned off from the hoi polloi.

The overhead comparments are spacious, but when they’re down it’s very easy to bonk your head on them.

I was on the lower deck, in the back not far from the stairs to the upper level. If you fly the A380 and in you’re in economy, try to get a seat on the upper level. There are fewer people up there so it’s just a bit more “intimate,” if you will.

Also towards the rear of the plane there was a relatively decent-sized area by the galley for standing and stretching. The drawback is that if you’re seated way back in economy, the WC doors open right into this standing area and I found that people had a habit of opening the door before the toilets were finished flushing. That means noise.

The seats were comfortable enough, and Singapore Airlines’ entertainment system is the best I’ve ever encountered. There are noticeable air vents all along the ceiling in coach class, so I’m hoping that translates to better air circulation. I also did enjoy the simulated dawn lighting effects as we got closer to Sydney–but other newer planes have that as well.

All in all, it’s a plane. Probably not going to change your life. Unless perhaps you’re fortunate enough to be in a suite…

— Ben Curtis

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Categorized in: Airbus A380

5 Responses to “Guest post: What’s it like to actually fly the Airbus A380?”

  1. From the Mind of J Says:
    January 17th, 2008 at 1:34 am

    I said this long ago. The A380 was going to be a huge letdown. What happened to the casinos, gift shops, bars, and gyms?

    Until that stuff gets put aboard the plane, I shall not be using the A380.

  2. Julia Rosien Says:
    January 17th, 2008 at 9:19 am

    Interesting. The more I hear about these uber-wonders in the sky, the more I’m disappointed.

    The A350 and Boeing’s 787 seem to be following the same path - a lot of hype but no delivery:

    http://www.gogirlfriend.com/travel-news/clash-titans-boeing-787-vs-airbus-a350-5290

  3. m Says:
    January 17th, 2008 at 4:46 pm

    the hoi polloi

    “hoi polloi” = “the many” (in ancient Greek)

    “the hoi polloi” = “the the many”

    It’s like referring to the El Cid or the Il Duce.

  4. RC Says:
    January 17th, 2008 at 8:42 pm

    Wow, that comment by “m” is pretty pedantic.

    If you go to dictionary.com there’s this note with the definition of “hoi polloi”:

    Usage Note: Hoi polloi is a borrowing of the Greek phrase hoi polloi, consisting of hoi, meaning “the” and used before a plural, and polloi, the plural of polus, “many.” In Greek hoi polloi had a special sense, “the greater number, the people, the commonalty, the masses.” This phrase has generally expressed this meaning in English since its first recorded instance, in an 1837 work by James Fenimore Cooper. Hoi polloi is sometimes incorrectly used to mean “the elite,” possibly because it is reminiscent of high and mighty or because it sounds like hoity-toity. Since the Greek phrase includes an article, some critics have argued that the phrase the hoi polloi is redundant. But phrases borrowed from other languages are often reanalyzed in English as single words. For example, a number of Arabic noun phrases were borrowed into English as simple nouns. The Arabic element al- means “the,” and appears in English nouns such as alcohol and alchemy. Thus, since no one would consider a phrase such as “the alcohol” to be redundant, criticizing “the hoi polloi” on similar grounds seems pedantic.

    Seems pedantic indeed.

    Welcome, Ben!

  5. From the Mind of J Says:
    January 17th, 2008 at 10:25 pm

    Since I feel the geek vibes flowing…

    PWNED.

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