Singapore Airlines will conduct a charity auction for seats on the first commercial flight of the new double-decker Airbus A380. The auction will be held on e-bay for the October flight, and money from ticket sales will be divided among Singapore’s Community Chest, two children’s hospitals in Sydney, and the Nobel Peace Prize winning Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
The round-trip flight between Singapore and Sydney will take place in October.Three organizations are partnering with Singapore Airlines to make this unique charity event possible. ExxonMobil Aviation is donating fuel for the flights, eBay is subsidizing the fees and charges for the auction, and PayPal is rebating a portion of its fees and charges.
The flight date will be set when Airbus confirms October’s delivery date. Singapore Airlines expects to run the auction several weeks prior to the flight. Winning bidders will be given a personalized certificate confirming they were part of the first commercial A380 flight.
“While we will celebrate the event, we also wish to remember the people who are less fortunate and can be assisted by the charities to which all the proceeds will go,” Singapore Airlines Chief Executive Officer, Chew Choon Seng said.
Those interested in bidding can pre-register to be notified of the date of the flight and other auction details at singaporeair.com/a380.
The Community Chest of Singapore was founded in 1983, and funds 147 social service programs run by 57 charities to help over 340,000 people in Singapore. Singapore Airlines has supported Community Chest for over two decades.Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick and The Children’s Hospital at Westmead specialist medical centers for children caring for children from New South Wales, the rest of Australia, and countries in the Pacific Rim.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, is an international medical-humanitarian organization which provides fast and effective emergency aid to those impacted by disasters around the world. The organization also speaks out with volunteers’ accounts and medical data in cases of massive acts of violence against individuals and groups. MSF was founded in 1971 and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999.
The Sydney hospitals will share a third of the money raised, and the Community Chest of Singapore and MSF will each also receive one third of the auction proceeds. For more information about these organizations, visit the Community Chest at www.communitychest.org.sg, Sydney Children’s Hospital Randwick at www.sch.edu.au, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead at www.chw.edu.au, and Médecins Sans Frontières at www.msf.org.
