( AP ) -- The world 's largest jetliner made aviation history Thursday , completing its first commercial flight from Singapore to Sydney with 455 passengers , some of them ensconced in luxury suites and double beds . Australians Tony and Julie Elwood share a romantic moment on their double bed in an exclusive suite aboard the Airbus 380 . The Airbus superjumbo lifted off from Singapore 's Changi Airport and landed about seven hours later in Sydney . Also aboard Flight SQ380 was a crew of about 30 , including four pilots . Flight attendants handed out champagne and certificates to passengers , some of whom paid tens of thousands of dollars in an online auction for seats . `` I have never been in anything like this in the air before in my life , '' said Australian Tony Elwood , reclining with his wife , Julie , on the double bed in their private first-class suite . `` It is going to make everything else after this simply awful , '' he said , sipping Dom Perignon champagne after a lunch of marinated lobster and double boiled chicken soup . He paid $ 50,000 for the two places . The double-decker A380 ends the nearly 37-year reign of the Boeing 747 jumbojet as the world 's most spacious passenger plane . Its European manufacturer , Airbus SAS , also claims that the A380 is the most fuel efficient and quietest passenger jet ever built . Thomas Lee , who was also on the Boeing 747 's first commercial flight from New York to London in 1970 , described the latest experience as `` spectacular ... fantastic ... incredible . '' `` It was a festive atmosphere , I can tell you . Everybody was excited . People were up out of their seats in the aisle . It was quite difficult for the cabin crew to do their job ... not like a normal flight I can assure you , '' he said . The A380 was delivered to Singapore Airlines on Oct. 15 , nearly two years behind schedule after billions of dollars in cost overruns for Airbus . Still , the wait was worth it , says Singapore Airlines , which got the exclusivity of being the plane 's sole operator for 10 months . `` This is indeed a new milestone in the timeline of aviation , '' said Chew Choon Seng , chief executive of Singapore Airlines ( SIA ) in a speech before the departure . The Boeing 747 jumbo jet generally carries about 400 passengers . The A380 -- as tall as a seven-story building with each wing big enough to hold 70 cars -- is capable of carrying 853 passengers in an all-economy class configuration . However , Singapore Airlines opted for 471 seats in three classes -- 2 Singapore Airlines Suites , 60 business class and 399 economy class . Each suite , enclosed by sliding doors , is fitted with a leather upholstered seat , a table , a 23-inch flat screen TV , laptop connections and a range of office software . A separate bed folds up into the wall . Two of the suites can be joined to provide double beds , one of which the Elwoods occupied . On the upper deck , business class seats can turn into wide flat beds , while the economy class seats on both decks have more leg and knee room , the carrier says . Business class passengers also have a bar area . Francis Wu , a student from San Francisco who turned 22 on the flight , was updating his journal on the in-flight computer system when airline crew surprised him with a white chocolate cake and a song . `` This is the best birthday I have ever had in my whole life , '' he said . SIA auctioned most of the seats on the inaugural flight on eBay , raising $ 1.26 million for charity . The highest bidder was Briton Julian Hayward who bought two suite seats for $ 100,380 . He was the first passenger to board . SIA has ordered 19 of the A380s , hoping to benefit from a boom in air travel that has seen global air traffic growing 5 to 10 percent a year . Dubai-based Emirates , Airbus ' largest A380 customer with 55 on order , will take its first delivery in August . Not all analysts are convinced that the plane , which has a list price of $ 320 million , will be a success . `` I see there 's some demand for the A380 , but it 's an expensive way to address a small market , '' said Standard & Poor 's Equity Research analyst Shukor Yusof . Shukor said the market was set to be dominated by mid-sized , long haul two-engine aircraft such as the rival Boeing 787 Dreamliner , which offers greater fuel efficiency than four-engine jets of the same size . He pointed out that orders for the 787 have exceeded 700 . The A380 has received 165 orders to date . Shukor noted that Singapore Airlines renews its fleet frequently to maintain an average age of about six years . Once the planes are older than six years , Singapore Airlines might have trouble selling them , he said . `` What would happen if the plane did n't meet their expectations , say , in a year ? Would SIA be tempted to sell it ? What is the secondary value of the plane ? It has not been commercially tested yet , '' Shukor said . E-mail to a friend .
World 's largest jetliner made aviation history flying from Singapore to Sydney . Score: 6 Passengers lounged in luxury suites with beds , flatscreen TVs , gourmet food . Some paid tens of thousands of dollars for seats on the historic flight .