Changi Airport is not only home to this week’s Singapore Airshow, it also is the operating base for Singapore Airlines’ growing fleet of A380s – which will be serving another long-haul international destination beginning next month.

Service to Zurich, Switzerland will be inaugurated on 28 March as daily A380 service replaces Singapore Airlines’ existing 12-weekly frequencies that have linked the two cities with smaller Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

Zurich will become the seventh city in Singapore Airlines’ network to receive the A380 and its third European destination served by the 21^st century Airbus flagship.

Singapore Airlines was the world’s first A380 operator, initiating revenue flights in October 2007 from Changi Airport to Sydney, Australia.  Since then it has added routes to London, Tokyo, Paris, Hong Kong and Melbourne.  The airline currently has a fleet of 10 A380s flying in its colours, with a further nine on firm order and options for six more.

In preparation for the new Zurich service, Airbus brought one of its A380 development aircraft to the Swiss airport in January for compatibility testing.  This fully validated the facility’s readiness to handle the A380 and further confirmed the double-deck jetliner’s capability to be accommodated at airports around the globe.