Singapore Airlines’ A380 pop-up restaurant tickets sell out in 30 minutes

All seats that were initially made available on board Singapore Airlines' Airbus A380 double-decker superjumbo pop-up restaurants were reserved within 30 minutes of bookings opening on Monday, the carrier said in a statement.

With flights largely grounded by the coronavirus pandemic, Singapore Airlines is trying novel ways to raise money, including using two of the superjumbos parked at Changi Airport as temporary eateries and offering guided tours of its training centre.

“We are grateful for the extremely strong support from our customers, and we look forward to welcoming them to Restaurant A380 @Changi,” Lee Lik Hsin, executive vice president commercial at Singapore Airlines, said.

“Given the demand, we are pleased to open up additional seatings to accommodate those who are interested in this unique dining experience.”

A meal in a suite costs S$642 ($474), while seats in business class are going for S$321, dropping to S$96.30 for premium economy and S$53.50 for economy. Customers can also pay with frequent-flyer miles as well as earn miles when they purchase tickets.

After the initial dates of October 24 and 25 sold out, Singapore Airlines said it will extend the offer for a further two days on October 31 and November 1 as well as add a dinner option on all four days.

The airline has reopened its waiting list for customers to indicate their interest for this dining experience.

About half the seats in each aircraft will be used for dining, in line with restaurant guidelines on group limits and distancing, the carrier said. During a normal flying service, the A380s can seat as many as 471 people, according to the airline's website.

The airline is offering a pre-dining restaurant tour, with access to private areas such as the cockpit. It has also unveiled guided tours and curated experiences of its training centre for two weekends, with prices starting at S$16.05 for children and S$32.10 for adults.

Singapore Airlines, which suffered a record S$1.12 billion net loss in the quarter through June and is laying off about 20 per cent of its workforce, is also delivering first- and business-class meals with a private chef reheating, plating and serving customers in their homes to recreate the on-board dining experience.

• With inputs from Bloomberg