Originally Posted by
kchika
QRC3288, the Suites on SQ are, as SQ advertised, "a class beyond First". So you're comparing apples and oranges there. I've flown in the Suites once before, and boy was I impressed. The A380 is a very quiet plane, and coupled with the fact that you won't see anybody else I'll gladly say that SQ's Suites are miles ahead of CX F. I doubt anyone could top their product for a good 5-10 years.....
It is a matter of taste; I've flown EK/SQ/QF in their A380 F suites, and prefer QF over SQ over EK. The QF A380 suite is somewhat similar to CX, fwiw, and solves all the negatives in the 744 F cabin ... really well done. SQ gives the appearance of privacy without any real privacy (pretty much the same as QF in reality), while having the drawback of a somewhat claustrophobic cabin.
As for airport readiness for A380, it takes several years for an airport to become A380 capable (in the case of LAX and SFO the cost is public record, and was over USD 100 million for each one!). So it isn't quite a simple matter of moving a few taxiway lights. After the JFK incident (A380 hitting the tail of a smaller plane and spinning it around), ground movement of A380s has become more cautious. At LAX they shut down one side of the airport when the A380s taxi, and escort it with several cars front/rear/each side, to be sure of the clearance. But I think all CX routes that would get A380 already have A380-capable airports, though CX may not have A380 capable gate access (or baggage claim, catering, etc.). Even the tow bar is special (the A380 flies with a tow bar in the cargo hold, in case it needs to divert to another airport; been used a few times already, e.g. at NAN for diverted LAX-SYD flights).