The A380 arrives in Hong Kong with Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines - which was the first carrier to introduce A380 revenue service in 2007 - further expanded the 21st century Airbus jetliner's route network by adding commercial operations to Hong Kong today.

This new destination's inaugural daily roundtrip flight made an on-time arrival in the territory at 1:30 p.m., enabling passengers on the busy Singapore-Hong Kong route to experience the world's most spacious aircraft for the first time. The airline has timed its A380 service into Hong Kong International Airport to provide convenient connections with its worldwide network via the Singapore hub.

Altogether, 17 A380s have been delivered to Airbus customers. The most recent delivery occurred earlier this month, when Singapore Airlines received its ninth A380. Five others are flying in the colours of Emirates, with three A380s utilised by Qantas.

To date, this A380 fleet has accumulated 50,000-plus hours on approximately 5,000 flights, with some 2 million passengers already having flown on the aircraft.

Hong Kong becomes the 12th airport worldwide with active A380 operations by its three current operating carriers, and follows Singapore Airlines' introduction of flights from Singapore to Paris on 2 June. Other destinations served by the A380 are Auckland, Bangkok, Dubai, London, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Sydney, Tokyo and Toronto.