Singapore Airlines is planning to introduce Airbus A380 aircraft on its key India routes by end-May, three months after the the civil aviation ministry lifted its ban on super-jumbo plane operations, according to sources at the Mumbai and Delhi airports.

“We are keen to fly the A380 to India and are currently evaluating our plans. We will be in a position to confirm details once plans are firmed up,” Singapore Airlines (India) general manager David Lau said in an email response.

Singapore Airlines Chairman Stephen Lee Ching Yen met civil aviation secretary Ashok Lavasa on Friday and the two discussed plans about A380 flights and Tata Singapore Airlines.

Singapore Airlines currently has 19 Airbus A380s in its fleet, which it uses on routes in Asia, Australia, Europe and the US. It has five A380s on order, which would be delivered in 2017 and deploying an A380 to India would result in pulling out the plane from other routes.

At present, Singapore Airlines flies three times daily to Mumbai and Delhi with 280-300 seater Boeing 777s in two and three class configurations. This includes two night departures and a morning departure. Totally, Singapore Airlines, along with regional carrier Silk Air, operates over 100 flights to India a week. It is not clear whether the airline intends to club two night departures from Mumbai and Delhi or retain all three flights, replacing Boeing 777 with a bigger A380. The Singapore Airlines A380 can seat 409 or 471 passengers in a three-class configuration.

Singapore Airlines has a strong focus on premium products and is also a network carrier with onward connections to Australia, New Zealand and other countries in southeast Asia.

Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore airports have the infrastructure to handle the A380 flights, the civil aviation ministry had said while revoking the ban on A380 flights. In March, the Indian and Singaporean governments revised the air services agreement to enable Singapore carriers to fly A380.

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