Singapore Airlines will not continue Airbus lease beyond next year

The world's biggest passenger plane Airbus A380 will not have its lease extended with Singapore Airlines for its first plane beyond next October, the airline has confirmed.

The Singapore carrier has decided it will not continue the lease for the first of its five double-deck airplanes after next year. The company were the first airline to launch the A380, with the first flights of the massive plane taking off in 2007.

A spokesman for the carrier told the Wall Street Journal that the deal "expires in October next year and we have decided not to extend it. Decisions will be made on the four others later."

Various airlines are now using the A380, including the likes of Emirates and British Airways, which can fit around 525 passengers in its two-deck cabin.

Airbus would not comment on individual fleets, but says it is "confident" of the continued demand for the planes in the long-term.

"We are confident in the market for secondhand A380s, which can be leased or acquired at attractive rates. This will offer a great opportunity for new entrants with new business models to start operating the A380," a spokesman for Airbus said.