Singapore — All the slots for a dining experience on Singapore Airlines (SIA) A380 aircraft were sold out in less than 30 minutes after bookings opened at midnight on Monday (Oct 12).
The SIA initiative, known as Restaurant A380@Changi, will allow customers to board, explore and dine in its largest passenger aircraft on Oct 24 and 25. Prices ranged from as low as S$50 to S$600, with an equivalent price in miles redemption if customers prefer to use their miles.
And for those who did not make the initial list of reservations, SIA’s KrisShop website has a request button which allows them to join a waiting list in order to get the chance to reserve for later dates.
Those on the waitlist will be contacted by SIA should there be additional availability for the Restaurant A380@Changi experience but it is not known how many people are on the current waitlist.
Early on Monday morning (Oct 12), scalpers began reselling tickets on the Carousell online market place. One listing offered two Suite tickets for S$3,000, while another offered two adult Economy tickets for S$188.
Due to the overwhelming demand, SIA said on the same day that it will add lunches on another two days — the weekend of Oct 31 and Nov 1 — and dinners on all four days.
In order to abide by the required safe distancing measures, two SIA A380 Airbuses will be used for the dining experience, which will allow guests to use about half of the seats on both aircraft.
A todayonline.com report said that, due to “commercial sensitivities”, an SIA spokesperson did not say how many seats have been sold. In 2017, it was noted that SIA’s A380 fleet had a 471-seat configuration.
The report also shared that in each A380, Suites have six seats, Business class has 78 seats, Premium Economy has 44 seats, while Economy has 343 seats.
Customers can savour signature international Singapore Airlines dishes, or they can enjoy the best dishes from our Peranakan menu, specially designed by acclaimed Singapore chef Shermay Lee, who has volunteered her time in support of the event.
Diners will also receive two complimentary alcoholic drinks, along with other non-alcoholic free-flow beverages.
Like the aviation industry around the world, SIA has been hit extremely hard due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which is why the onboard dining experience initiative was created. It also gives the public a chance to experience dining on the aircraft while travelling abroad is not yet allowed or advisable.
The dining experience prices, before taxes, are S$50 for Economy seats or 6,250 KrisFlyer miles, S$90 for Premium Economy seats or 11,250 KrisFlyer miles, S$300 for Business seats or 37,500 KrisFlyer miles, and S$600 for Suites or 75,000 KrisFlyer miles.
SIA also shared that it is very grateful for the “extremely strong support” it has received from its customers.
When asked if it plans to extend the onboard dining experience due to the keen interest from the public, it said: “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.” /TISG