Singapore's Grounded A380 Restaurant Takes Off

Singapore Airlines (SIA) has confirmed that reservations for its upcoming 'Restaurant A380', intended as a one-off dining experience held inside its one of the airline's grounded Airbus A380 aircraft at Singapore Changi Airport, and featuring dishes from the carrier’s in-flight menu, have sold out within a half-hour of being made available to the public on Monday. The airline has now added two additional events, and will also be looking at options to “potentially accommodate” those who missed out.

“We are grateful for the extremely strong support from our customers, and we look forward to welcoming them to Restaurant A380 @Changi,” said Lee Lik Hsin, Singapore Airlines' executive vice president of commercial, said in a statement on Monday morning. “We will also take a very close look at the wait list, and see how we could potentially accommodate some of those who are still interested in this unique dining experience.”

Singapore Airlines had announced this new event less than two weeks ago, touting it as one of three “unique activities that would allow us to engage with our fans and customers” durimg the COVID-19 pandemic. Additional events are to include family-friendly tours of the carrier's training facility, starting in late November, and its SIA@Home meal kits, for those who want to try recreating the airline’s cuisine at home.

“These experiences offer something for everyone — from frequent flyers who miss our world-class in-cabin products and service, to couples and families who want an exclusive dining experience, and parents who are after an enjoyable activity-filled day with their children during the school holidays,” said a spokesperson for the airline.

Plans for the events came about after the airline cancelled a plan to operate 'flights to nowhere' due to concerns surrounding the environmental impact of such trips.

However, it was the carrier’s idea for in-aircraft dining that really took off. In addition to dishes from the Singapore Airlines in-flight menu, guests at Restaurant A380 will be served international cuisine created specifically for the two-night event. Diners will also be treated to a pre-meal tour of the A380, as well as in-flight entertainment options while they eat. Upon leaving, each will receive take-home souvenirs from the airline.

And the cost of this extremely plane dinner? Depending on the cabin class, prices range between $53.50 SGD (around $40) for Economy Class to $642 SGD (around $473) for a private Suite. Frequent flyers are also allowed to pay with their points.

The two-night event was originally scheduled to take place only on Oct. 24 and Oct. 25. Additional nights have been added for Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, the airline confirmed. Anyone wishing to join the waitlist can currently do so at SIA's KrisShop.com.

However, the representative for Singapore Airlines was not immediately available to confirm whether or not the servers will periodically kick the back of the diners' seats, to truly recreate the experience of eating on a commercial airliner.

Via Fox News / Singapore Airlines