As the world's largest aircraft, the A380 boasts impressive statistics. To date Singapore Airlines owns the first two in the world, initially flying Singapore to Sydney, and as of March, Singapore to London. With exactly 471 seats, that's a lot of people to pack in, and we would especially loathe flying it with a budget carrier. Unfortunately, some airlines envision loading nearly 800 in the fuselage. Luckily, there's no prospect of that happening in the near future -- at least until Airbus catches up on its long-delayed production. In addition to the two A380s already in service, SQ has a further 17 on firm order and options for six more from Airbus.

Boarding the SQ A380 is a bit like a cattle station, with serpentine queues both for check in and again at boarding (inspite of the specially-constructed two-tiered sky bridges). But inside, the plane is a marvel, with extra wide business class seats, sumptuous private suites on first, and full size individual video screens in economy -- with some 100 channels at-demand programming in all classes. . On the negative side, there's not enough toilets, and seat signing is hard to locate. The lower deck is shared by first and economy class, while he upper deck business and economy. If flying coach, go for the upstairs, as seating is only 2-4-2, versus 3-4-3 below. There is also a spiral staircase connecting the two cattle classes, but if it is an available toilet you're looking for, forget it!