Singapore Airshow 2012

Singapore Airshow 2012, the largest aviation event here in Singapore. A dream for all Singaporean and foreign aviation enthusiasts alike. Being a part of the minority who loves (or you can say, crazy about) planes, it is definitely a dream come true whenever the bi-annual event takes place.

Every airshow has different aircraft on show and some of them are sure to garner huge public attention. For example, the largest attraction this year was the Boeing 787, the newest aircraft to grace the blue skies. However, for the public show on 18 and 19 February, it has left the static display area for a flying display. As such, another aircraft which garners almost the same, or even more public attention has come to take its place. It is the Singapore Airlines Boeing 747-400. 

The Boeing 747 has been Singapore Airlines' flagship since the 1970s when they received their first aircraft of the type, a Boeing 747-200B also nicknamed "SuperB". After 40 years of operation, the Boeing 747 will finally end its service with Singapore Airlines on 6th April 2012.

I feel very honoured to have the chance to be onboard the Singapore Airlines Boeing 747-400 back in 1999. My second encounter with it would be during the airshow yesterday, when it was on static display. I reached there early at around 8.40am and started queuing. Once I stepped into the queue, tons of people formed up behind me, which made me feel pretty lucky that I reached just at the right time.

Time soon passed and I got the boarding pass to step onboard. Once onboard, a cheerful guide greeted us and started introducing us to the aircraft and letting us know a bit of the history and such. The aircraft was 9V-SPQ (pictured) and was delivered on 31st October 2001, the youngest B747 in the SQ fleet. We walked around the entire plane and I was still amazed at how well kept the cabin was.

After the tour, we were also allowed to wander around the area to take detailed pictures of the plane. I, for once, took at least 200 pictures of a single plane. Looking back at the long queue of people waiting to get onboard, I can't help but to wonder, how many of them really know what they are in for? Are they just queuing because lots of people are also queuing?