Singapore Airlines' inaugural Airbus A380 service has landed at Auckland Airport and will fly daily between Singapore and New Zealand for next five months.
The superjumbo, which replaces a Boeing 777-300ER over the summer season, carries up to 471 passengers across two decks.
It features 12 luxury first class suites, 60 business class seats and 399 in economy.
The Singapore Airlines A380 service will compete with Emirates A380 which features similar levels of luxury.
Emirates has been flying the A380 from Dubai to Auckland via Australia for five years.
The aircraft landed at about 11.20am and was welcomed with a celebratory water arch from the airport's fire tenders water canons and a Maori song.
Singapore Airlines New Zealand general manager Edwin Chiang said the A380 will fly daily between Singapore and New Zealand through to March 29.
Depending on customer demand he hoped the A380 will eventually fly to New Zealand all year round.
The service marks the first step towards an alliance signed between Singapore Airlines and Air New Zealand which officially starts on January 6.
Under the alliance, announced in January, Air New Zealand will resume flying between Auckland and Singapore, having abandoned the route in 2006 because of heavy losses.
Auckland Airport chief executive Adrian Littlewood said the additional capacity from Singapore Airlines' A380 will bring an extra 55,000 passengers to New Zealand each year.
- © Fairfax NZ News
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