Turning the Supertanker

There is no getting round the fact that the A380 is an ugly spud of a plane. Its full length, two deck height make the plane look dumpy when viewed side on, however, rather like the early 747’s that were transformed into the stretched Mega Top version, the A380 will shed its dumpy looks when it is upgraded to a stretch version. Inside is a different matter.

There is no glamour in international jet travel, that is unless you travel business or first class. For us mere mortals who travel coach, international air travel is simply point to point travel, a bus with wings, an endurance test. I am pleased to say however that the A380, for the plebian traveller has injected a little of that glamour. The key to this is space. Apart from being a massive cabin, everything about the traveling experience on the A380 is just bigger and with more space the individual can relax. It all starts with the cavernous overhead bins. I was on the main deck, which I was disappointed to discover is the ground floor on the A380, I have always wanted to go up the stairs on the 747’s as you enter the plane, a tantalising hint of the glamour and luxury that is first class travel…

No matter, the next revelation for the standard class passenger is the size of the seats and the increased distance between your neighbours, in short there is plenty of elbow room and leg room. Pitch is the measure by which airlines measure how much leg room each passenger has, on the A380 I had a full hand length from my knee to the chair in front, my hand is approximately 20cm from wrist to finger tip, I was certainly not cramped for room even when the chair in front was reclined. There is also space between your seat and that of your neighbour, the gap is about 5cm but in addition your individual seat is wider too, this combination means that I had no elbow battles on the armrest with my neighbour!

Then there are the toys! The screen embedded into the seat in front of you is quite simply huge, I could not accurately measure it, but the diagonal measure was just longer than the span of my hand. In the end of each armrest is an international 110-240v adapter so that you can plug your laptop into a power point, no matter what plug you wish to insert. With the extra room working on your laptop is much easier than on any other plane I have been on. In addition, in the seat back there is a LAN port, USB port and a Video DIN port. Singapore airlines have made their multimedia controller into a full qwerty keypad too, with their own software bundled into the KrisWorld entertainment package. This means that even if you only bring your USB stick onto the plane you can work on your documents, pdf files, spreadsheets or presentations whilst traveling; your work appearing on the huge screen in front of you.

To quote the Mitre 10 guy, ‘Big is good!’ With more space, the battery hen feeling that you get on other planes is diminished, even removed on the A380. More personal space, big screens and an exceptionally quiet cabin make the traveling time just evaporate. The 13 hour flight to Singapore was not an endurance test, it was a pleasure. Who said that there was no glamour in international jet travel?

Image from: http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200710/r194207_736065.jpg

My bags are packed, tickets double checked. (Not that they issue tickets these days! I have a print out from my computer and have already reserved my seats there and back!) All cables and electronic peripherals that seem to be the indispensable ephemera of modern existence are all charged. International adapters packed and presentation printed off, saved in three places and even posted to a wiki (just in case!). Camera with plenty of CF cards packed and lenses polished. I am good to go.

The next couple of weeks will be daunting, fun an adventure all mixed into one. Tomorrow night (Thursday) I depart Auckland for Singapore, I hope to blog along the way if I can tap into some wifi hotspots. Not long to wait in Singapore, before getting on the London flight. I arrive in London Friday afternoon, local time. 2:15 AM Saturday morning for my body clock! I sat down and worked it out, this will be the 23rd time I have done this trip (Auckland to London or London to Auckland), I am currently working on a carbon footprint post…. As Steve Kosovich said to me recently, I will have to cycle to work for several eternities to work off that personal carbon debt!

I fly to Prague on Sunday and stay until Thursday. On the Friday I will ‘drop’ in on my old school in St Albans in Hertfordshire and surprise them, mind you if they read this, it will not be a surprise! I will be catching up with friends along the way too. On the Sunday I take a train to Plymouth, spend the remainder of Sunday on the trail of all things Brunel, especially the Royal Albert Bridge. Then on the Monday I will spend the day with Helen’s class and after school give a presentation at their staff meeting about how ICT is happening here on the Supertanker.

That evening it is back to London, then on the Tuesday I fly to Athens to meet my daughter who will have just flown in from Auckland, ensure that she makes her connecting flight to the island where her grandparents live for half of the year. Wednesday it is back to London and on the Friday I fly out of Heathrow on one of those shiny new A380 double deck super Jumbos that Singapore Airlines have just purchased.

Sometime on that Saturday evening I arrive back in Auckland.

As I have said, I intend to blog along the way, post a few images of my travels and generally divert from the educational norm of this post for some gratuitous tourist snaps! I will also be feeding back from the conference too.

For the next two weeks I think that, excess coffee, spirulina and the mantra that sleep is over rated will be the norm if I am to achieve what I have planned on my overly full itinerary. If there is a fuel embargo, French Air Traffic controllers strike or some such fact of European life, I am going to be in a bit of a bind as there is no room for error!

C’est la vie!