The world’s biggest passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380, completed its maiden commercial flight this morning, landing at Sydney, Australia, at 0825 (BST) seven hours and nine minutes after taking off from Singapore.

The historic Singapore Airlines flight SQ380 is carrying 455 passengers from all around the world, the youngest is a ten-month-old boy from Singapore and the oldest a 91-year-old man from California who was a passenger on the world's first Boeing 747 commercial flight between New York and London in 1970.

Julian Hayward, a Briton who paid £70, 690 in an online auction for two first-class suites, was the first passenger on board for a trip more about caviar than commuting, as passengers turned a long-haul flight into an airborne party. Some were still standing when the giant double-decker sped down the runway in Singapore and took off into aviation history, drawing a huge round of applause from nearly everyone aboard.

Mr Hayward, a dotcom billionaire from Eversley in Hampshire who has now retired to live in Sydney, said that Suite 1A was the height of luxury. "It’s a real bed and you really sink into it," he said. “I really wanted to be on this flight, it’s a bit of history."

William Leong, whose 91-year-old father was the oldest person on board, said he had paid US $55,000 to take his family of eight on the historic flight. "Every penny is worth it," he said.

Mr Leong and his father were travelling in one of the 12 suites that Singapore Airlines (SIA) has installed on the A380, private compartments that include full-length beds.

Most seats on the first commercial flight were auctioned on eBay, raising US$1.26 million (£890,000) for charity. The Airbus's first commercial passengers are from 35 countries with a majority, 28 per cent, from Australia, followed by Singaporeans, Britons and Americans.

The A380 ends the 37-year reign of the Boeing 747 jumbojet as the world's most spacious passenger aircraft. The maximum number of passengers it can carry is 853, if it ordered in an all-economy class configuration, but the maiden commercial flight is fitted with 471 seats in three classes. The aircraft seats 399 economy class passengers, 60 in business class and 12 in first-class suites.

For those in the suites, a luxurious touch that SIA hopes will distinguish its version of the superjumbo, it was as far away from the cramped and crowded experience of budget travel as they could get. Flight attendants poured endless glasses of wine and Dom Perignon champagne. When it was time to dine, two chefs prepared sauteed foie gras, scampi and prawn ravioli, pan-roasted duck and steamed black cod.

Despite the gourmet food and the historic occasion, what seemed to impress most was how quiet the world's largest passenger airliner is. "I was impressed," said Thomas Lee of California, who was invited by Singapore Airlines as a special guest because he was also on the maiden flight of the Boeing 747 nearly four decades ago. "The 747 was a lot louder."

The aircraft is as tall as a seven-storey building and each wing is large enough to hold 70 cars. Singapore Airlines, which endured nearly two years of delays while the project overran at a cost of billions of pounds, will be the sole operator for ten months. The superjumbo is expected to make its first landing in Britain in February when the airline receives its second aircraft.

British Airways recently boosted the A380 programme by announcing that it would take 12 of the new aircraft, with the first due to arrive in 2012. Sir Richard Branson’s airline Virgin Atlantic is also a superjumbo customer, although the project’s teething troubles has led to Virgin deferring its order of six aircraft until 2013.

Experts could not decide whether the plane would be the aircraft of the future or an expensive flop. Shukor Yusof, an analyst for Standard and Poor's Equity Research, said: "I see there's some demand for the A380, but it's an expensive way to address a small market."

It is in direct competition with Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, which has received 700 orders compared with the A380's 165. Boeing said that its new model will make its first commercial flight in May.