Singapore Airlines made headlines worldwide when it announced recently that it would not renew the lease on its first Airbus A380 aircraft which turns 10 next year.

I’ve reported on aviation long enough to know that when SIA moves, the world watches. In |this case, though, I do feel the whole thing was blown out of |proportion.

To the layman, it would appear almost as if SIA’s decision to return the first plane spelt doom for the double-decker superjumbo. To put the matter in perspective, the airline has 19 A380s, the first five on leases that expire between October next year and mid-2018. SIA has not said so but it is not expected to renew the remaining four leases either; no big surprise for an airline that prides itself on operating a young fleet. Keeping older planes also means hefty maintenance bills when they have to go in for major checks, usually after 10 to 12 years in the air.

Even as SIA is likely to retire the first few A380s when their leases expire, it does have another five on order. They start arriving in the second half of next year. Centre for Aviation analyst Brendan Sobie noted that it was always the airline’s intention for the new planes to replace the earlier ones, and not to grow the fleet. “This has always been and remains a sensible strategy and I’m amazed why this has led to such a hubbub,” he said.

The fact is, SIA does not need a big fleet of A380s, which can each carry about 470 passengers. With cut-throat competition in the long-haul premium market, especially from Middle Eastern carriers, it is no secret that SIA has been losing market share and yields in this sector. For the group, the focus in the last few years has been on growth in the low-cost and Asian markets. That explains the aggressive expansion at regional arm SilkAir and budget unit Scoot-Tigerair.

SIA has also put significant resources into Vistara, a New Delhi-based airline which it owns jointly with India’s Tata conglomerate. That is a sound strategy, given the fast-growing Indian air travel market.

Given its current growth strategy, SIA has good reasons not to grow its A380 fleet. That does |not in itself mean the plane is inferior. It does, however, add to Airbus’ grief over an aircraft programme which has not delivered as expected.

A decade after the world’s biggest passenger jet made its debut with pomp and pageantry in SIA’s colours, the stark reality is that the A380 has not proven as popular as its maker had hoped. Conceding waning interest, Airbus said in July that it would slash deliveries to just 12 A380s in 2018, or one plane a month. Last year, it achieved, for the first time, a break-even rate of 27 deliveries.

In 10 years, Airbus, which had once forecast a 1,200-strong market for giant planes over two decades, has secured just 319 A380 orders, of which 194 have been delivered. Emirates alone has ordered more than 140. Other than the Dubai-based carrier, only Australia’s Qantas and SIA have purchased at least 20 of the planes.

By comparison, the smaller and more efficient A350, which started flying commercially only in January last year, has 810 orders from 43 carriers, including SIA. The Singapore carrier, which received its first A350 earlier this year, ordered 67 of the planes, including seven of an ultra-long-range model that will be delivered in 2018 for use on non-stop services between Singapore and the United States.

With the A380, one could argue that Airbus got it wrong from the start. With passenger traffic doubling every 15 years, |the European firm was and remains convinced that the |A380 is the only efficient solution to meet demand on the world’s most heavily travelled routes, especially at capacity-constrained airports.

This is in stark contrast to the view held by its American rival, Boeing, which believes that the future lies less in growing traffic between major hubs and more in operating non-stop point-to-point flights to popular destinations. The whole idea is to bypass congested airport hubs.

According to Boeing, industry data shows that the bulk of growth in air travel in recent years has been on the back of an increase in the number of new non-stop markets and airlines operating more frequent flights. Looking at the number of A350 orders and strong demand for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, it does seem Boeing was right.

Endau Analytics founder Shukor Yusof goes as far as to say that the A380 should not even have been built. He is convinced that “it is no longer a question of if, but when, Airbus will shut the programme”.

However, despite the dismal outlook for the A380 Airbus, which spent more than US$15 billion to design and build the aircraft – an investment it is unlikely to ever recover– refuses to give up.

The plan is to continue to improve the efficiency of its industrial system so that it can break even at 20 aircraft next year, and to further lower that figure by cutting costs.

“The A380 is here to stay!” Airbus’ president and chief executive Fabrice Bregier declared a couple of months back.

The question is, for how long?

Xinhua reporters on Saturday witnessed a lof egrets and cattle egrets descending trees near the river.

Smoother flying ahead

Where in a plane do passengers feel turbulence the least?

“Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts.” Just hearing this announcement over an aeroplane’s PA system is enough to make some passengers feel a bit queasy.

Turbulence in the air is certainly not pleasant, especially for those with a fear of flying or a delicate stomach – but not everywhere on a plane shakes as strongly when turbulence hits.

So where is the best seat to feel as little turbulence as possible?

“In essence, you feel the least movement in the middle of the plane,” explains Professor Andreas Strohmayer of the Institute of Aircraft Design at the University of Stuttgart. The aircraft waggles the least at the point where the wings are attached to the fuselage.

In addition, for passengers seated near the middle of the plane the plane does not seem to swerve as much when the joystick is moved.

On the other hand, the most unsettled part of the aircraft tends to be the rear.

When the pilot operates the vertical stabilisers or rudder, an occupant at the very back may feel pulled out of line, especially since the aircraft’s outer shell is actually somewhat elastic. In turbulence, they may feel more whipped about.

A seat at the back is likewise less than ideal during takeoff.

“When the aircraft lifts its nose as it leaves the tarmac, those at the back will feel as if they are dropping in an elevator,” says Strohmayer. Takeoff is much smoother amidships, above the undercarriage.

One question remains: when sitting midway through a large aircraft, the ideal, is it better to be near the aisles or at the window?

“When sitting at the window seat, you will feel more lifted or dropped when the aircraft banks into a turn,” explains Strohmayer.

However, for people with a fear of flying, it is often a good idea to have the window to look out. Seeing the horizon can help soothe any nausea, since your eyes will have a point of reference in the distance, so on balance, a window seat is best for the anxious. – DPA

Emirates earlybird fee

Emirates is starting to charge customers in its economy class for earlybird seat reservations.

For special and saver tickets issued on or after October 3, passengers will be able to pay extra to pick their seat early, with the cost depending on how far they’re flying. For example, for flights between Dubai and Germany it will cost 25 euros (Bt600).

But this isn’t a compulsory cost – passengers can still pick their seats when they check in online during the 48 hours before departure.

The only risk is that the seat they want isn’t available anymore, because someone else has paid to snap it up. Other airlines already charge a fee for early seat reservations. – DPA

Hokkaido, Japan, topped the list for its “year-round charms” and China’s “Shanghai” was second to Hokkaido as “the centre of the universe”.

Take a look at the destinations and plan your next adventure.

On the list are:

1. Hokkaido, Japan. The island at Japan’s northern extremity is famous for volcano skiing and hot springs, but most of all, its year-round beauty.

2. Shanghai, China. Shanghai is a conjunction of fashion, culture and beautiful architecture. Lonely Planet said: “Looking for the centre of the universe right now? It’s surely Shanghai.”

3. Jeonju, South Korea. Jeonju, capital of North Jeolla Province, is the birthplace of Korea’s most famous dish, bibimbap. Lonely Planet said that Jeonju is “one of Korea’s best-preserved traditional villages with hundreds of wooden villas with gracefully upturned roofs housing an intriguing assortment of museums, teahouses and artisans’ workshops.”

4. Con Dao Islands, Vietnam. Isolated from the mainland, the Con Dao Islands can be hard to get to. But once you are there, you will find the Con Dao Islands to be a hidden gem in Vietnam.

5. Hong Kong, China. Hong Kong is a paradise for food and shopping. Lonely Planet also recognized Hong Kong for its focus on its natural heritage, specifically, the UNESCO-designated Geopark.

6. Ipoh, Malaysia. Ipoh is the capital city of the Malaysian state of Perak, and a gateway to the Cameron Highlands. Lonely Planet said: “Malaysia’s lesser-known food capital has new flair thanks to a crop of boutique cafes that have sprung up in its historic quarter.”

7. Pemuteran, Indonesia. Pemuteran is a laid-back beach destination for lovers of natural beauty. Lonely Planet said: “A double bay of beaches near Menjangan… don’t wait until everybody arrives though.”

8. Trang Islands, Thailand. Trang Islands offer some of Thailand’s best tropical weather, white beaches, great coral reefs and amazing marine life, which you could spend months exploring.

9. Meghalaya, India. Meghalaya, which means ‘the abode of clouds’, is a beautiful state in the northeast of India. Lonely Planet said: “Opportunities for hiking, climbing, caving and rafting abound.”

10. Taitung, Taiwan, China. Taitung is a city that lies on the southeast coast of Taiwan and home to seven aboriginal ethnicities. Lonely Planet said: “Taitung is Taiwan’s secret wild card.”

The market is a city block of narrow, cobbled streets lined by shade-giving trees and quaint buildings that betray their Tang and Ming heritages. Shops for the tourists are aplenty, but the crowds mill around the eateries that offer varieties of freshly prepared local cuisine.

The prominence of sales girls in hijab and signs proclaiming the food halal leave no doubt that Muslim tradition is alive and well in this improbable outpost of Islam in central China. The food, however, is not for the faint-hearted: seahorses and scorpions on skewers are also on offer. Mercifully for us, the food in this bazaar is free of pork, which inevitably finds its way into almost every Chinese dish. Ordering a meal in sign language is a frustrating exercise but a local person, having noticed our predicament, helped us order a local delicacy, which we washed down with a yoghurt drink.

Fortunately, his Mandarin-accented English was quite intelligible; he was sporting a skull cap favoured by Muslims and seemed knowledgeable. We were curious about the origin of Muslims in China and asked him to join us for the meal, which then turned into a history session.

There are 20,000 Muslims in Xi’an, he tells us, and they own almost all the shops around the mosque. Ethnically they are Hui, from the northwest region. There are, in fact, over 10 million Hui people in China and most are Mandarin-speaking Muslims. The largest population of Muslims in China is in the northwest Xinjiang province. Ethnically, the Muslims there are mostly Uyghur. Recently, they have been under government scrutiny due to a surge of religious extremism in the region and violence by some unruly young Muslims. Our friend tells us that, contrary to recent rumours, the government’s attitude towards Muslims in China is fair.

Xi’an served as the imperial city for 10 ancient dynasties; trade with Arab Muslims through the Silk Route originated here. It is, therefore, not surprising that very early in its history, during the Tang Dynasty in the seventh century, Muslim traders from Arab lands came over to China.

Among the first arrivals was Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, a close associate of Hazrat Usman. He brought a message from the caliph to Emperor Gaozong. The emperor received the Muslims well and honoured them by constructing China’s first mosque, the Huaisheng Mosque in Canton.

Later, many Muslims settled in Xi’an and eventually over the centuries prospered across China. They became particularly influential during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644); Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, the dynasty’s founder, had in his army six Muslim generals, including Lan Yu, who in 1388 led a strong army across the Great Wall to defeat the Mongols. In fact, Zheng He, the legendary admiral of the naval fleet of Ming Emperor Yongle (14th century) was a Hui born to a Muslim family.

It was during the Ming period that mosques mushroomed over China, and they all adopted the traditional architecture bequeathed by Tang and Ming period influences.

Our friend accompanied us to the ancient mosque, just around the corner from the restaurant. While there are many mosques across China, the Great Mosque of Xi’an dates all the way to the Tang Dynasty (circa 740) — about 100 years after the life of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Over the centuries, additions and modifications were carried out, mostly during the Ming Dynasty and the Manchu (Qing) period. The mosque is enclosed in a brick wall aged by time and nature. It has a typical layout common to Chinese temples — one courtyard leading into the next, with pavilions and towers richly engraved with calligraphy and decorated with floral patterns. Each courtyard has rooms designated for various religious rituals and traditions. Surprisingly, contrary to Islamic injunctions against icons of living objects, sculpted dragons and birds adorn the scaffolds along its roof. Prominent in the open spaces are stone arches and towers etched with verses from the Quran.

The last corridor leads to the prayer hall. Its entrance is framed with tablets engraved with floral motifs and calligraphy of verses from the Quran. The prayer hall is a large hypostyle leading to the mihrab, which is embellished with exquisitely carved arabesques and Chinese calligraphy in Arabic letters. While the hall is large enough to accommodate 1,000 people, our friend tells us that a typical congregation usually has around 100 worshippers.

The mosque is indeed an embodiment of the culture of ancient China. Muslims from around the world, familiar with the traditional minarets and domes of a typical mosque, are intrigued by the evolution of design from a classical Arabic to a quintessentially oriental façade. Indeed, devotion comes in many hues.

The writer is the author of Jerusalem — A Journey Back in Time.