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Business Traveller

BUSINESS TRAVELLER

Aired November 10, 2007 - 13:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD QUEST, HOST: Hello! And welcome to CNN BUSINESS TRAVELLER. I'm Richard Quest, this month reporting from Singapore and Sydney, and along with these fine people who are all about to be the first to fly on the commercial flight of the A380.

It has been a long time in the making, but now the countdown is over. And business travellers the world around, the era of the super jumbo has arrived.

Coming up in this program.

(voice-over): . we show you what it is like onboard the A380.

We road test clothes with a difference.

And the best views of the city.

(on camera): Because the planes are double-decker, this is likely to become a regular feature at A380 boarding gates, a map of the plane, showing people whether they are on the main deck, on the upper deck, and if so, in which order they should board the aircraft.

With nearly 500 people trying to get on, it could be a bit chaotic. That was always one of the fears.

(voice-over): As we settle ourselves in for take-off, let's put the A380's size into perspective. Compared to a Boeing 747-400, the A380 is five meters taller, nearly four meters longer. It is the same length as seven-and-a-half London buses all in a row.

It has an awesome wingspan of 79.8 meters. That is 18 meters wider than a 747. And the plane is certified to carry more than 800 people, although most airlines will only have around 500 passengers.

So there is lots of space for airlines to play with. And Singapore Airlines is the first to show how this extra room can be put to use. The A380 is no longer a blank canvass.

When all is said and done, this is a plane that is designed to get us from one side of the of the world to the other. Its range means it can connect dots more than 15,000 kilometers apart. So what is onboard that helps passengers while away the time?

There was plenty to eat and drink and watch, but no bars, casinos or gyms promised by other airlines. Instead, the space has been given to passengers.

(on camera): Well, the first thing to mention, it does feel a bit more roomy. There is a few extra inches of leg room. When you recline, because the seat is thinner and is being constructed more differently, it doesn't just go back, it slides out. So even me at six-foot-two can sit here, just about cross my legs without bashing the lady in front.

I'm not bashing you, am I?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I don't feel it.

QUEST: What do you think of the economy section!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We love it, hurrah!

(CHEERING & APPLAUSE)

QUEST (voice-over): As we moved around the plane, this is a good chance to hear from the men and women who actually work onboard.

(on camera): How long have you been flying?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: About 11 years, some job.

QUEST: Will you remember today?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Remember it for the rest of my life.

QUEST: The (INAUDIBLE) business class seats on the A380 are in many ways a quantum leap from that which has been seen before. Just take a look. It is a one-two-one configuration. No ridiculously complicated machinery, it just folds down quickly and easily.

(voice-over): As I move up towards the nose, it becomes clear it takes a lot of people to make this plane fly. One person particularly.

(on camera): How heavy was this plane on take-off?

ROBERT TING, CAPTAIN: We were at 458 tons (ph) (INAUDIBLE), not very heavy. This plane can take off at 569 tons (ph).

QUEST: And the four engines, how much fuel are they sipping as we are going along?

TING: We are at this moment burning about 12,000 kilograms of fuel, a total of four engines, 12,000 kilograms per hour.

QUEST: Twelve thousand kilograms per hour.

TING: Kilograms per hour. So (INAUDIBLE) about 15,000 liters.

QUEST: How many times have you actually flown this plane with a full load of passengers at the back?

TING: This is the first day. This is the first day on the 380 where I have so many passengers onboard this flight. Before today, it was either an empty aircraft. We trained on the aircraft, there were even no seats in the cabin, just bare wires.

QUEST (voice-over): At the very front, just behind where the captain sits, are the luxury first class suites, with the now-famous double beds.

(on camera): There is really only one question that most passengers are asking on the plane, how much did you pay for your seat? Because in a unique way of selling them off, Singapore airlines did it by auction.

How much did you all have to pay for your tickets?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fifteen hundred U.S.

QUEST: Fifteen hundred U.S.

Fifty-one hundred?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For two tickets.

QUEST: Two thousand five hundred, economy or.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Economy, yes.

QUEST (voice-over): It soon became clear. In economy, some had got a bargain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The guy in front of me paid $2,700 and I bid $2,650. So I thought I went -- I was happier than hell.

QUEST (voice-over): In business class, though, others had to pay much, much more.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We paid $15,000 for the two seats.

QUEST (on camera): The question them becomes, was it worth it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you kidding?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is an atmosphere that I don't think you will ever feel again on an aircraft.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

QUEST (voice-over): And at the front end, with the brand new first- class suites, prices were sky-high.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ten thousand one hundred dollars.

QUEST: The star bidder was Julian Hayward, a 38-year-old Internet millionaire who $100,000 for what is always the most coveted seat on the plane.

JULIAN HAYWARD, HIGHEST AUCTION BIDDER: Well, it is a chance to be in a small piece of aviation history. It is a chance to give to three excellent charities. And it is a challenge to experience this. It is -- the atmosphere today is turbo-charged. It is fun.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I thought it was going to be cool, but it is way cooler, it is way cooler.

QUEST (on camera): Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is awesome (INAUDIBLE). I mean, it is big. It is quiet. It is fast. It is light. It is (INAUDIBLE). It is everything you want.

QUEST (voice-over): Coming up after a short break, the future of first class.

And a CNN BUSINESS TRAVELLER road test at the zoo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: At the bottom of the stairs of the A380, we find the first- class seats, or suites, as Singapore Airlines call them. Looking perhaps something like a railway carriage of a different era, Singapore airlines has once again increased the amount of privacy that passengers are able to enjoy, with slides and doors and such like.

But really these days, how much relevance does first class have?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot.

QUEST (voice-over): Space, comfort, and privilege. Flying first class has always been for the few. And the options are getting fewer. Airlines such as Continental, Air New Zealand, Virgin Atlantic, and Delta have abandoned first class in favor of souped up executive cabins with names like "Business First," "Business Premia (ph)," and "Business Elite."

And with business class these days offering more of the same facilities as the old first, such as the fully flat bed, few people can or will pay the premium to be in first.

KIERAN DALY, EDITOR, FLIGHT MAGAZINE: There is a very gray area really between the best of the business class products, which have really become extraordinarily good, and what you can usefully offer even those people waiting to pay more money in first class.

The fact of the matter is that especially on eastbound flights, people are basically asleep. There is a point of declining returns when there is really no sense anymore investing more in the airplane when you could use it in other ways.

QUEST (voice-over): So today's first class has to be something truly different if it is to justify the 20 percent premium in price, which is why Singapore Airlines went above and beyond with their new suites.

They had to offer more than just a fully flat bed.

CHEW CHOON SENG, CEO, SINGAPORE AIRLINES: We have always believed in the romance of travel. And we are trying to bring back more of that.

QUEST: There will always be some routes where there is a demand for first, from CEOs, movie stars, and the simply rich. London to Hong Kong, Sydney to L.A., Singapore to London, routes where prestige and status demand a cabin for the elite.

NICK PERRY, CHAIRMAN, ULTRATRAVEL: The longer haul flights will certainly be the biggest market for a first-class product. And really the longer you travel, the more exclusivity and the more comfort you are looking for on board and before and after the flight.

QUEST: Few expect many airlines to follow Singapore's leads with the luxury suites, after all, there really are very few routes that can support this sort of extravagance. Flying first class is really as much about status as luxury. It is all about saying, I fly at the front because I can.

(on camera): Whatever the numbers say, they don't really give you the full magnitude of the size of this plane, from its giant tail plan towering above me, to the 22 wheels underneath, or the massive engines, the Trent 900s that are so big you could fit the fuselage of a 737 inside them.

Now the truth is that A380 is the latest in a long line of giant aircraft that show that we the traveling public love big planes.

(voice-over): Ambition over reality, that is the hallmark of the world's big planes. There was the Dornier Do-X with six engines. In 1929, it was so heavy passengers had to heave to one side to help it make turns.

The prize has to go to the Spruce Goose, built by the reclusive Howard Hughes. Conceived during the Second World War, this monster had a wingspan bigger than today's A380. It was made of wood and flew just once and is now a museum piece in Long Beach, California.

Many big planes were enormously popular. In 1935, Pan Am started the China Clipper flying boat. They took six days to cross the Pacific, stopping overnight at islands on the way.

The excitement and the glamour of these flying boats was captured in the movies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When a giant four-motor, 26-ton flying boat takes off from Alameda, California, in an attempt to fly 8,600 (ph) miles across the Pacific Ocean to China.

QUEST: On land, early planes like the Dakota played their part in opening up continents. Eventually propellers gave way to jets. And in 1958, the Boeing 707 went into service. More than 1,000 of the planes were built.

But the cry for bigger planes continued. So Boeing built the jumbo jet. Pan Am has long since gone, but the planes live on with the much- loved 747-400, a familiar sight at airports around the world.

There is another thing to remember, double-decker planes are nothing new. There was the French Dupul (ph), which flew in the 1950s, first class upstairs, steerage down below. And the biggest plane in the world, well, it is the Antonov 225. But it's a military or cargo plane, so it doesn't really count.

Now when it comes to passenger planes, nothing has been built bigger than this. Welcome to the era of the super jumbo.

Still to come on CNN BUSINESS TRAVELLER, a different view of Sydney, from sunrise to sunset.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Welcome back to CNN BUSINESS TRAVELLER. If you are only on a short visit to the country, you won't have a chance to see and hear the indigenous animals, certainly not the kangaroo in the wild, that is, unless you come to Taronga Zoo, which is Australia's best-known zoo, and then you really get a chance to get up close and personal with the animals.

It is going to give us chance for this month's "Smart Traveller," we are trying out the Thomas Pink stain-resistant shirt. Let's see what the animals think of "stain-resistant."

(voice-over): Since we are in Australia, first stop obviously, the kangaroo. It is not kicking up too much of a fuss.

(on camera): Kangaroo dust.

Shirt one, kangaroo nil.

(voice-over): Now for the echidna. It is slurping up these worms without a trace.

(on camera): Not too much of a mess. I think we will call this one a draw. The echidna has just about left a mark on the shirt.

(voice-over): The other local animals don't see too impressed. The koalas barely stirred, and the tortoise, nope, not interested in having a go. Surely these giraffes can do some damage.

(on camera): Nah, they didn't get rid of the giraffe saliva.

(voice-over): So far Australia's animals haven't made their mark on the Thomas Pink pristine shirt, though I know some friendly tigers who will make this test more realistic.

(on camera): Tomato ketchup perhaps?

Oh, thank you. That is enough. Give us a little mustard. There we are.

My verdict, the Thomas Pink shirt survived the kangaroo and the giraffe. But when it came to the small primates, nah. It is not a CNN "Smart Traveller" take (ph).

(voice-over): But why don't you try it for yourself and e-mail me your verdict to quest@cnn.com. The Thomas Pink pristine shirt comes in three different styles and costs $135.

Here are some useful tips if you are traveling to Australia. All visitors require a visa called an Electronic Travel Authority. It can be obtained from your travel agent or online. The ETA costs $18.

When frequent flyers redeem miles, Sydney is always one of the most popular destinations. So getting a business class seat can be near impossible. Start your search at least six months in advance.

From Europe, all major Asian carriers fly to Australia through their home hub airports. From the U.S., only two fly non-stop, Qantas and United Airlines. Once on the ground, cabs to downtown Sydney are relatively cheap. The 15-minute journey costs around $35.

Australia is very well-connected. It has excellent broadband capacity, especially to the U.S., with a whopping 640 gigabytes per second. And at this time of the year, Sydney is 15 hours ahead of New York, and three hours ahead of Singapore.

(on camera): When it comes to leisure life in Sydney, most people head to the water, and for good reason, this is the second-largest natural harbor in the world. So you can swim in, ride on, or simply look at the water from sunrise to sunset.

(voice-over): I always start my visits to Sydney with a trip to the Opera House. It is one of the must-dos. The iconic roof was designed to look like sails on the harbor. So get to Bennelong Point early to beat the crowds. It took 16 years to build the Opera House and has over 1 million tiles covering its sails.

Sydney's ferries cross the harbor seemingly every minute of the day. Even if you don't take an organized tour, take the Manly Ferry just to get an idea of how big the harbor really is and how beautiful.

Business travellers needn't be road warriors. There are ways to make a meeting enjoyable and to make the most of that precious downtime. Hotels like The Observatory can give you a nudge in the right direction.

Staying with the water, take a seaplane trip from Rose Bay to one of Sydney's hidden gems 15 minutes up the coast and into the Ku-ring-gai National Reserve where you will find Cottage Point. It is a bit of a trip, but the food is worth it, and best of all, expect more locals than tourists here.

From the water back into the air, and we leave Cottage Point behind. Through Sydney seaplanes, you could be dropped off at any of these private and peaceful beaches. They will even provide a picnic lunch, oh yes, and they will pick you up again afterwards. The trip is not cheap, but then this sort of experience rarely is.

As we approach the harbor, there is only one place to watch the sun set over Sydney, and that, of course, is from the top of the bridge. It is 135 feet high and more than 100,000 people a year make this climb.

Instead of the bridge climb, you might try the Discovery Climb, which goes through the inside of the girders. In many ways, it is a more interesting look at Sydney's famous iconic bridge.

(on camera): I have come up here to see the sunset, but how do I know it is going to be a humdinger of a golden sky?

He knows.

ALEC DORRAL, CLIMB LEADER: The perfect way to tell this is that we can see a nice faint outline of the mountain range out there, the Great Dividing Range running down the eastern seaboard of Australia. And we can just see that faint outline, a little bit of low clouds are going to create those marvelous colors in the evening.

(voice-over): Not long to the top, and there is still time to quiz my guide.

(on camera): I am determined to catch this man out.

What is the tonnage of the bridge?

DORRAL: Fifty-two thousand eight hundred tons, Richard.

QUEST: I will bet he doesn't know how many rivets there are in the bridge.

DORRAL: Yes, I haven't counted them myself, but approximately 6 million there reckoned say.

QUEST: Ah, well, carry on.

All right, then! How many cars cross the bridge every day?

DORRAL: Two and eighty thousand, roughly.

QUEST: Are you enjoying this?

(CHEERING)

QUEST: Oh, mother!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just (INAUDIBLE) don't look down.

QUEST: This is very narrow and it feels -- oh no, let's just keep moving.

(voice-over): Finally, the top, the view, the sunset.

(on camera): Now that is what I call a sunset. And that is CNN BUSINESS TRAVELLER for this month. I'm Richard Quest reporting from Sydney, battened (ph) on the top of the bridge. Wherever your travels may take you, I hope it is profitable. And I'll see you next month.

How do I get down?

END

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