Have a meal in SIA’s A-380 jet for $50
Airline is also offering behind-the-scenes tour at its training facility with flight simulator experience
From lunch in the Airbus A-380 for $50 per head in the economy cabin, to tours of its training facility near Changi Airport, Singapore Airlines (SIA) wants to draw customers again amid the Covid-19 pandemic that has made flying impossible for many.
The A-380 three-hour lunch deal is available across all classes, with prices going up to $600 for those who wish to experience the Suites - touted as an ultra-first class product.
For those who fancy a behind-the-scenes tour at SIA's training facility, the cost is $15 for children between three and 12 years old, and $30 for adults.
Other options, such as $500 for a flight simulator experience for up to three participants, can be added to the tour.
The airline is also offering a home delivery service, with instructions on how the food should be heated and served.
Prices will start from $288 for a business class meal for two and $448 for a first class meal. These meals will come with a bottle of wine and amenity kits.
The prices stated exclude the 7 per cent GST.
Bookings will open on Oct 12 for the A-380 lunch and Nov 1 for the training facility tour, the airline said yesterday.
Bookings for the meal delivery service will start on Monday.
SIA will assess the demand before deciding whether to launch additional programmes, a spokesman said.
Mr Aaron Wong, who founded the Milelion website which tracks how to best make use of flight rewards, expects the in-flight dining and tours to be more popular than the home delivered meals.
He said: "The tour is a rare chance for the public to get a first-hand look behind the scenes at SIA's training facilities, which would be impossible for non-media (people) during regular times."
LARGEST AIRCRAFT
With the Covid-19 pandemic accelerating the retirement of the A-380 plane worldwide, there may also be fewer opportunities "to experience the largest aircraft in the world", he said.
Makansutra founder K.F. Seetoh does not think many people will want to pay $288 or $448 for vacuum-packed food for two, that they have to heat up themselves, even if delivered to their homes.
And while he acknowledged that SIA engages top chefs to design the menus, the meals here are prepared by caterers and not the chefs themselves.
SIA had earlier considered launching flights to nowhere, but said on Tuesday that it had decided not to proceed.
This was after taking into consideration factors such as environmental implications, and the financial viability of such flights.
Senior lecturer Boey Yew Tung of Nanyang Technological University's Nanyang Business School said he expects the new initiatives to be welcomed by the public, especially those who were concerned about the environmental impact of flights to nowhere.
By end-November, SIA will operate just 11 per cent of its overall capacity compared with the levels before Covid-19 hit.
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