Due to overwhelming demand, Singapore Airlines has now added new dates for its parked A380 pop-up restaurant experience.
The airline previously announced that tickets for its A380 restaurant experience offering, which included both lunch and dinner time slots on 24 and 25 October, sold out within 30 minutes of bookings being made live.
The airline introduced a ‘waiting list’ for customers who just missed out on purchasing tickets, and hinted that more dates might be added to accommodate.
Noting that there was clearly a strong demand for the experience, the airline has now extended the offering over an additional two dates – 31 October and 1 November – with both lunch and dinner time slots available.
Prices start at just US$40 for a meal and a seat in the economy cabin, and go up to US$472 to sit and eat in a first-class suite.
There have been reports of scalpers re-selling seats for the original sold-out offering through third-party websites for more than 250 per cent of what they paid.
Around half the 475 seats on each Airbus A380 are available for restaurant customers, in line with social distancing guidelines, according to Singapore Airlines.
Passengers will reportedly be offered goodie bags as they dine, and those who wear traditional clothing on their experience will receive additional gifts.
In addition to the A380 pop-up dining experience, Singapore Airlines is also selling a range of first and business class meals for customers to enjoy at home.
The meals come packed with videos, guides on how to heat and plate the dishes, and even a “specially curated” playlist, all to simulate the onboard experience.
Further, the airline will also offer tours of its training centre, as well as flight simulator experiences, to the public, as a means to recoup some of its extensive losses seen in light of COVID-19, and cater to travel-hungry customers who are stuck at home.
Notably, the airline has also publicly changed its tune on its previously announced ‘flights to nowhere’, after it copped backlash over environmental impact concerns, instead opting for these measures on the ground.
Singapore Airlines has taken a harder financial hit than most, according to analysts, as it has no domestic network to rely upon until international conditions improve.
Goh Choon Phong, CEO of Singapore Airlines, said, “With COVID-19 drastically reducing the number of flights operated by the SIA Group, we have created unique activities that would allow us to engage with our fans and customers during this time.”
