THE SINGAPORE AIRLINES AIRBUS A380 RETURNS TO DELHI 

by Suman Gupta

A month after the relaunch of the Singapore Airlines (SIA) Airbus A380 from Mumbai, the Airline’s iconic superjumbo aircraft returned to Delhi on Friday 15 April 2022, replacing the B777-300 on SQ403/406 services.

As SIA’s check-in counters opened, an auspicious lamp-lighting ceremony was conducted to mark the occasion, officiated by senior officials from both, the Airline as well as Delhi International Airport.

General Manager India, Mr. Sy Yen Chen said, “India always was and continues to be a very important market for us, and an aircraft as iconic as the A380 continues to hold its position as a favourite among our customers. Now, with increasing demand for international travel, bringing it back to Delhi was the natural choice.

The return of the superjumbo to India is part of SIA’s larger effort to progressively bring our frequency and capacity back to pre-Covid levels in the coming months. In fact, in January this year, we also introduced the new B737-8 from Hyderabad, Kochi and Kolkata, which means that we now offer refreshed products along with fully-flat beds in Business Class from all 8 cities in India – a testimony to our commitment to this key market.”

Passengers travelling on the A380 inaugural flight SQ401 were welcomed with balloons and banners at the check-in counter, while each passenger also received a celebratory gift welcoming them back on board.

At the boarding gate, a cake-cutting ceremony was officiated by Mr Simon Wong, High Commissioner of Singapore to India, together with senior members from the High Commission of Singapore, Singapore Airlines and Delhi International Airport Limited.

More details about SIA’s retrofitted Airbus A380 can be found here:https://bit.ly/3JEIVFN

SIA currently operates 66 weekly flights from 8 cities across India to Singapore, which is approximately 67% of its pre-Covid operations. In addition, SIA’s low-cost subsidiary, Scoot, currently operates 33 flights from 6 cities across India, making the SIA Group the only international airline to collectively operate from 13 points across the country.