Come October, Singapore Airlines (SIA) will become the first airline to fly the world’s largest commercial aircraft, Airbus A380. In an unprecedented move, the airline decided to donate the entire proceeds from the sale of tickets of the historic flight to charity.

SIA General Manager for its India operations C W Foo told Deccan Herald on Thursday: “Bids will be invited for seats on this historic flight, and winning bidders will know that every dollar they pay will go to worthwhile charities. All customers will receive a personalised ceremonial certificate confirming they were part of the first-ever commercial A380 flight.”

Mr Foo said the double decker jumbo would fly the high-density Singapore-Sydney sector. The SIA A380s will have 480 seats in three-class configuration. The airline has ordered 19 big birds which will be delivered over the next three years. Its future destinations include London, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

Special flight
He added: “We at SIA are excited. The first flight is not going to be a part of the scheduled service. It will be a special flight. As for the revenue generated on that flight, sky is the limit. Tickets would be auctioned worldwide and we are expecting good collection.”

Singapore Airlines has secured support from three partners for this charity event.

One of the airline’s strategic fuel suppliers, and a key partner, ExxonMobil Aviation, will donate the fuel for the flights.

The SIA will auction the seats on global online marketplace, eBay, which will subsidise the fees and charges from this auction. PayPal, a global leader in online payment solutions, will rebate a portion of its fees and charges to help support the charities.

The actual date of the flight will be fixed soon after final notification from Airbus about the delivery date.