Singapore Airlines to fly Airbus A380 jets to Delhi, Mumbai

Singapore Airlines to fly Airbus A380 jets to Delhi, MumbaiSingapore Airlines (SIA) will start operating super-jumbo aircraft Airbus A380 to New Delhi and Mumbai from a number of international cities starting 30th of May this year.

In January, the government had lifted a ban on the use of Airbus A380 in the country, enabling airlines like Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Lufthansa to fly the super-jumbo jets in the world's second-most populous country.

SIA will operate the Airbus A380 superjumbo on daily basis to both New Delhi and Mumbai from numerous cities, including New York, London, Paris, Zurich, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Paris, Shanghai and Tokyo.

The new service will replace two daily flights that currently serve each city using Boeing 777 jets. Another daily flight will keep on serving with Boeing 777s. A total of 14 flights will serve each of the two cities per week.

The Airbus A380 is the world's largest commercial aircraft capable of carrying more than eight hundred passengers in single class configuration. While SIA's Boeing 777 planes offer nearly 330 seats in a three-class configuration, the Airbus A380 offers a total seat capacity of 471 passengers in a three-class configuration.

Only four Indian airports - New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad - are capable of handling the planes.

More carriers can announce use of Airbus A380 as Emirates and Lufthansa have already expressed their interest in operating the super-jumbo jets.