Singapore, October 24:

The world’s biggest commercial jetliner, the Airbus A380, underwent final scrutiny today, a day before passengers seeking a niche in aviation history take the maiden flight.

With the Singapore Airlines double-decker scheduled to take to the skies early tomorrow bound for Sydney, cooks, engineers and other staff made sure the jet was in ‘good order’, a spokesman said.

Since the plane was brought to Changi airport on September 17 from Airbus headquarters in Toul-ouse, France, tests and trials have been carried out on A380, which enthusiasts ha-ve said is the biggest development in aviation history since Boeing 747 debuted in 1970.

The aircraft ‘changes the game’ in the way the Boeing did, said Singapore Airlines chief executive officer Chew Choon Seng, who referred to the jet as the ‘new queen in the sky’.

His airline is the first to fly the jetliner, which can carry more than 500 passengers in a three-class configuration, an increase of more than 100 passengers over rival Boeing’s 747.

The maiden flight is set to carry 471 passengers who bid for seats in an online auction that raised $1.9 million for a Singapore social services charity, Doctors Without Borders and two Sydney-area hospitals.

With those who landed seats arriving in Singapore in time to kick off the festivities with a lavish dinner today at a hotel, expectations were running high.

“The chance to be on this very exciting flight is a real thrill for me,” said Australian Georg Burdicek, who paid $560 for an economy seat. It was the cheapest ticket sold during the two-week auction.

Burdicek, a 25-year-old engineer who lives in Vienna, said the A380’s first commercial flight was an ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ opportunity.

The top bidder was Julian Hayward, 38, a Briton living in Sydney who paid more than $100,000 for a pair of first-class suites.

Singapore Airlines, which has ordered 10 of the superjumbo jets, fitted the aircraft with 12 suites, 60 seats in business class and 399 in economy.

In an all-economy configuration, the plane could carry more than 850 passengers. The entry of the superjumbo to the market would help ease capacity constraints to meet demand for travel fuelled by a buoyant economy.