Auction of first A380 seats set to begin

SINGAPORE: An online auction for seats on the first commercial flight of the super jumbo Airbus A380, between Singapore and Sydney, was to begin on Monday night, a Singapore Airlines spokesperson said.   

"The auction proper will start at 1200 GMT, the spokesperson said.

Seats are being offered for sale on the eBay online marketplace with the proceeds going to charity, SIA said in an earlier statement.

The airline is set to be the first to fly the double-decker A380, the world's biggest passenger plane, on October 25 with a flight to Sydney. The aircraft will return to Singapore the following day.   

"A majority of seats on both legs of the first flight will be auctioned on eBay... progressively over two weeks from Monday evening (Singapore time), 27 August," the carrier said.   

Starting bids for economy class seats will be 3.80 US dollars, business class 38 dollars and the Singapore Airlines Suites 380 dollars.

Bids on packages in the premium classes, or bids of more than 1,000 dollars in economy class will require prequalification to ensure that the offers are not artificially inflated, the airline said.   

Proceeds will be divided equally between a Singapore charity, two childrens' hospitals in Sydney and the international relief agency Medecins Sans Frontieres.   

Prospective bidders can pre-register for details at www.singaporeair.com/a380.   

SIA has committed to buy 19 A380s despite a series of delays that pushed back delivery from early last year.