Airbus' big bird keeps its secrets as delays dampen delivery schedule

The giant Airbus A380 aircraft visited Asia for the first time last week giving the media a sneak preview but the European manufacturer and hosts Singapore Airlines (SIA) did not surrender many of its secrets.

With only a smattering of seats overshadowed by banks of flight test equipment, the vast interior of the US$292 million aircraft promised new levels of comfort from first class to the cheap seats. But lots of space does not necessarily translate into comfort when an aircraft is certified to carry 853 passengers.

Nor does it guarantee cheaper flights. When a senior Airbus executive described the A380 as the 'lowest ticket price aircraft around', senior SIA executives - the guys with the authority to set the price of a ticket - called that assertion 'premature'.

One analyst probably got it about right last week when he said the A380's novelty factor could be expected to keep demand high for the initial period. But once enough enter into service - they will be introduced at a rate of about one a month - a glut in capacity will drive down ticket prices.

The first sector where this is likely to happen is on the 'kangaroo route', from Europe to Australia. SIA, Qantas Airways and Emirates - which between them have ordered 65 A380s - all intend to use the aircraft on their sectors of that route, adding at least 100 seats for every B747 they replace.

With cabin configurations tightly guarded, no one can be sure how much seating capacity will be added across the world.