Charlie Furnas was the first passenger on a fixed wing aircraft in 1908 when he took a flight on the Wright Brothers plane. (The Wright Brothers never flew together because they promised their father they would not). Almost 100 years later a the Airbus A380 took its first commercial flight today with somewhat more space for passengers.
The commercial flight for an A380 is a Singapore Airlines flight from Singapore to Sydney, Australia. The flight is configured to have 471 passengers. The passengers for this particular flight bought their tickets on an eBay auction. According to ForImmediateRelease.Net:
On board today’s flight are many of the successful bidders, as well as representatives of the world media. Some interesting facts:
• The youngest customer is a 10 month-old boy from Singapore
• The oldest is a 91 year-old man, also from Singapore, travelling with his
family. His son bought the Singapore Airlines Suites ticket for him in the charity auction;
• Mr Julian Hayward bought the first Suite on the flight, paying US$100,380
for him and a friend to travel from Singapore to Sydney;
• Among passengers is Mr Thomas Lee, from California, who was a passenger on
the world’s first Boeing 747 commercial flight between New York and London in 1970.
• Also travelling is Ms Isabelle Chu, a travel agent from Perth, who is
flying in both directions on the A380. Ms Chu flew in both directions on the first Singapore Airlines A340-500 flights between Singapore and Los Angeles, and Singapore and New York, non-stop in 2004, with just time for shower between flights. This time, she will enjoy an overnight stopover in Sydney.
• The passengers represent 35 different nationalities, with the largest group
being Australians (28%), then Singaporeans (14%), then Britons (11%) and Americans (8%). Those who have come furthest for the first flight are 4 Norwegians.
• The most common first name of passengers is David, with 11.
• The ratio of male to female passengers on board is 7:3.
The A380 could be good news for travelers as it could lower rates on certain routes, but think how many crying babies you could fit on board.
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