Anyone with a tenner can join the mile-high club, if they’re prepared to fool around in a low-cost airline’s smallest room. But this week we found out the price of doing it in style: about £4,000.

That’s what it costs (for two) to lie under the Givenchy-designed duvet of the world’s first airborne double bed. Oh, and you get flown from Singapore to Sydney into the bargain. The flying love nest works out at roughly £8 a minute, so you’d better make it worthwhile. No pressure.

The bed is the headline-grabbing centrepiece of the A380, the largest passenger plane ever built, which was handed over to Singapore Airlines (0844 800 2380, www.singaporeair.com) this week in Toulouse and will have its inaugural flight on Thursday. It’s the first time the world has been allowed to see inside the double-decker superjumbo that its makers, Airbus, hope will replace Boeing’s 747.

There has been plenty of talk about what might be on the plane – gyms, casinos, waterfalls, even bowling alleys. Real life, of course, doesn’t work like that. All those gimmicks would soak up space that airlines could otherwise use for revenue-producing seats. Singapore Airlines, by contrast, simply promised that its A380 would be the most luxurious plane in the sky. I’ve had a good snoop around, and, on first impressions, it has succeeded – up to a point.

In the Suites (the airline decided the label “first class” simply wasn’t posh enough), everything’s rosy. Literally: rose petals were scattered over that double bed. Passengers have individual cabins, like a capsule hotel. Inside, there’s a vast seat for you, plus a smaller one for visitors (invite a friend up from economy to gloat), a clever bed that folds down from the wall, and a 23in television (which is more than I’ve got at home).

Just two of the cabins are doubles. To do what comes naturally, though, you’ll need some nerve: for safety reasons, the walls only go up to about forehead height, allowing the crew to peek in on tiptoe.

Business class is great, too. The seat is almost ridiculously wide – at 34in, it could accommodate two comfortably. Flat bed, proper mattress, privacy screens: the TV’s just 15in, but you’ll manage. Like everyone else on the plane, you’ve got a choice of 100 films to watch on it – and if you’re still bored, there’s a tiny snack bar to stroll to for a chat.

What about the downtrodden masses back in coach? Well, our lot has also improved – a little. The legroom is a bog-standard 32in, but clever design of the seat backs – which indent at the bottom – has made the most of it, creating extra space for jutting knees. The seat is an inch wider than usual, there are power and USB ports for your laptop, and the large windows make the cabin feel airy and light. No bar or mingling area, though. Shame.

The verdict? The jury’s still out. If it’s going to be more than a plane-spotter’s dream come true, the A380 has to turn long-haul flying from the cramped, squalid, downright degrading experience we’ve come to expect into something all of us – including economy passengers – can actually enjoy. The only way to see if it does is to fly on the thing. So, next week, I’m doing just that.

In the meantime, for those of you still disappointed at the lack of driving ranges and football pitches on board, here’s a snippet. Rumour has it that a turf-loving Saudi prince has ordered a superjumbo as his private plane, to kit out as he wishes. Hmm . . . an airborne racecourse: well, why not?

It was this big

— The A380 is 73 metres long – only two metres longer than its rival, the 747-400 jumbo jet. The wings, though, are a whopping 15 metres wider: you could park 70 cars on them.

— The tailfin is taller than five double-decker buses.

— The plane could hold 853 passengers, but Singapore Airlines has installed just 471 seats – those first-class suites soak up a lot of space.

— The A380 has cost £8.4 billion to develop. If you fancy buying one, it’ll set you back £156m, list price. Sorry, no part exchange.

— There’s 50% more floor space than on a 747.

— It will fly 9,320 miles without refuelling – not enough to get to Sydney, but you’d reach Darwin.

— The plane will make its first flight carrying paying passengers on Thursday, from Singapore to Sydney. Services from London will be launched in spring 2008.

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