SINGAPORE, Oct 12 — All slots for a dining experience aboard Singapore Airlines’ (SIA) largest aircraft were snapped up within half an hour of bookings opening at midnight today.
The experience, dubbed Restaurant A380@Changi, allows customers a chance to dine and explore the Airbus A380, which is the world’s largest passenger aircraft, on Oct 24 and 25. Prices for seats range from S$50 to S$600.
An SIA spokesperson told TODAY that customers unable to make a reservation were invited to join a waitlist, which has since been closed.
It added that given “strong demand and interest from customers”, the airlines will reopen the waitlist on SIA’s KrisShop website for a limited time from 6pm today for customers who are still keen.
“Those on the waitlist will be contacted by SIA should there be additional availability for the Restaurant A380 @Changi experience,” said the spokesperson, who declined to specify how many people are on the waitlist.
The national carrier, which has been hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, announced its plans to host a dining experience on board the A380 last month as part of a slew of initiatives for members of the public while overseas travel remains at a standstill.
Two aircraft will be deployed for the dining experience with diners taking up about half of the seats in each aircraft to adhere to safe distancing guidelines.
While the spokesperson declined to reveal the number of seats which have been sold citing “commercial sensitivities”, SIA had said in 2017 that it had adopted a 471-seat configuration for its A380 fleet.
There are six seats in suites, 78 in business class, 44 in premium economy and 343 in economy class.
Customers will be served lunch in a cabin of their choice for three hours.
Diners may choose from SIA’s signature international cuisine as well as from a special Peranakan menu designed by Singaporean chef Shermay Lee.
Prices, before taxes, are S$50 for economy class seats, S$90 for premium economy, S$300 for business and S$600 for suites.
SIA said it was grateful for the “extremely strong support” from customers.
When asked if it plans to extend the dining experience given the strong response, the airlines would only say: “We are currently looking into accommodating all who have made reservations, as well as potentially some of those on the waitlist, for this unique dining experience.”
Full-time national serviceman Marcus Chan, 22, managed to snag a business class dining ticket before they sold out.
The self-declared “aviation geek” said that he has yet to experience flying business class on the national carrier despite having done so on other airlines.
“I’ve definitely heard good things about SIA’s business class products through friends. They swear by SIA airlines. Perhaps that’s what drew me to try (for the tickets),” he said.
Dining onboard the aircraft will also give him the experience of going on a trip and “enjoying plane food”, he said.
He added that with safe distancing going to be the norm for air travel, this is the appropriate time for passengers to get used to these measures before travel resumes.
“Through this (initiative), the airlines can also produce a better service plan before they start receiving more passengers onboard,” he said. — TODAY
