Launch carrier Singapore Airlines says it will start its first commercial flights using the new plane between London and Sydney from mid-2006.

The airline's A380s will seat just less than 480 passengers in a three-class layout, 30 percent more than the number of passengers on the airline's Boeing 747s.

The aircraft is distinctive in its huge size and also the double-decker layout of the cabin. How the interior of the cabin of Singapore Airlines' planes will look has not yet been revealed.

Chief Executive Chew Choon Seng, speaking at the first publis chowing of the aircraft in Toulouse this week, said: "We have some interesting ideas for the cabin, but we will reveal them nearer the time of our first flights."

Also speaking at the event, Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic, which will start using the A380 in 2008, said: "Virgin Atlantic's A380s are going to be bigger and better than any aircraft which has preceded them with bigger and better cabins for all our passengers. For both business and economy travellers we will be introducing a range of new features. Our innovations will ensure a better travel experience for everyone by utilising the space we have to play with to give our passengers more to play with too."