Singapore Airlines to fly A380 on 60-minute flight

Francesca Street, CNN

The Airbus A380 is designed for long-haul flying, thanks to its hefty size and famously quiet inflight experience.

But come November 2021, Singapore Airlines will deploy a superjumbo on a short-haul flight lasting a mere 60 minutes.

Travelers heading on certain flights from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia will board what is believed to be the shortest A380 passenger flight currently in service.

Singapore Airlines confirmed to CNN Travel that the A380 will also be deployed on an “ad hoc basis” on flight routes SQ106 (SIN-KUL) and SQ105 (KUL-SIN) three times a week from November 4 to December 2, 2021.

The A380 will also be flying on Singapore Airlines’ SQ126 (SIN-KUL) and SQ125 (KUL-SIN) route four times a week from November 5 to December 3.

Singapore Airlines also recently announced plans to reinstate its grounded A380s on select return flights from Singapore to London from mid-November.

A Singapore Airlines’ spokesperson said the A380 Kuala Lumpur flights were scheduled “for operational requirements.”

Return of the superjumbo

Announcing the return of the A380 last week, Singapore Airlines’ global public affairs head, Siva Govindasamy, told CNN Travel that Singapore Airlines’ recognizes the A380s enduring appeal for passengers, and that’s partly why the airline’s returning the aircraft to rotation.

“The A380 is a wonderful aircraft,” Govindasamy said. “Some people just book the A380 specifically to fly on it.”

Singapore Airlines isn’t the only airline to be operating one-off short-haul superjumbo flights this fall.

From early November 2021, British Airways will send A380s on flights from London to select European destinations, a move the airline said is to “allow for crew familiarization” ahead of the superjumbo’s return to transatlantic service.

BA has yet to officially confirm which European short-haul flights will be operated by A380s, but its booking website currently indicates that select journeys on London to Frankfurt and Madrid routes will use the aircraft.

For a while, Covid-19 seemed to spell the end of the superjumbo — which is no longer being produced by Airbus.

But although airlines including Lufthansa and Air France have retired their superjumbos, carriers such as Singapore Airlines and British Airways, as well as Emirates, Qantas and All Nippon Airways, remain committed to the A380. Check out our guide on where to fly on a superjumbo here.

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CNN’s Karla Cripps contributed to this story