In its biggest product revamp since the Airbus A380 launch in 2007, Singapore Airlines has given its newest superjumbos an all-premium upper-deck sporting six innovative first-class cabins with giant swivel armchairs.

Five new A380s being brought into the fleet will have six “Skyroom” suites on the upper deck plus 78 business class seats.

The airline officially launched new product for all four cabins using mock-ups Thursday in Singapore and will put them into service on Singapore-Sydney from December 18.

But AirlineRatings took these world exclusive pictures of the new product inside the superjumbo after being granted access to the  first aircraft, 9V-SKU, at the Airbus factory in Hamburg-Finkenwerder.

The main deck will feature 44  premium economy seats in a 2-4-2 configuration at the front with 342 Economy seats in 3-4-3 array featuring a 32-inch pitch and an 18.5-inch width.

This brings the total seat count back to 471, the number with which Singapore launched the A380 a decade ago.

READ: A380 celebrates 10 years in service.

Topping the bill is the Skyroom, manufactured by Zodiac from the UK.  Although spectacular, it is not as over-the-top as Etihad’s The Residence.

The first impression is a similarity to the “Flying Oval Office” on board Air Force One, the Boeing 747 used by the US president. The Skyroom  is dominated by a massive swivel armchair designed by PierreJean Design Studio in France.

The 21-inch (53cm) wide electrically-controlled swivel seat can be turned around by more than 120 dgrees, is upholstered in finest Poltrona Frau leather and can recline up to 135 degrees for lounging.

Passengers get a generous 3.23 to 4 square metres  (34.7 to 43 sq. ft) of floor space,  with the biggest  suites being 1A and F.

Each suite is shielded from the aisle by two sliding doors. These are operated manually, as opposed to the electrical doors that have been a source of prolonged malfunctions on other carriers.

They feature a 32-inch HD touchscreen monitor mounted on the wall, which can also be swivelled.

A wireless tablet is provided with integrated control functions for in-flight entertainment (IFE) and customizable mood lighting but there is a separate handset offering basic IFE control.

Passengers who want to work with their tablets can anchor them in a holder installed underneath the two windows or they can use a laptop on the fold-out table.

Another main feature is a separate fold-out flat bed measuring 76” by 27” (193cm x 68cm) which comes complete with mattress bedding, duvet and pillows.

The bedhead has a gas spring to keep the head up to watch a movie while lying down.

When Singapore Airlines introduced the A380 in 2007, its former CEO proclaimed the double suites in the middle were “bringing back the romance into flying” .

The airline didn’t quite live up to this promise because crews were instructed to not let get romantic activities out of hand.

This time again, dividers between two or even all three suites on one side of the aisle can come down, creating up to two double beds in the two forward suites 1A/2A and 1F/2F.

The two windows in each suite feature electrical blinds and each has a personal wardrobe which also provides cabin luggage stowage.

And for the first time, one of the two bathrooms, the more spacious one on the right side, has been fitted out especially for female passengers with a vanity table and stool, more mirrors and mood-lighting.

However, there is no shower like those offered on Emirates and Etihad.

Business Class travellers will still be forced to sleep diagonally, which many dislike, because of the 50-inch (127cm) seat pitch.

The new seats — designed by JPA Design and manufactured by JAMCO — feature a kind of noise-suppressing cocoon to shield the passenger.

The fixed enclosures are lower than before, addressing customer complaints, and the bed is lowered into position electrically rather than manually.

Bed length has remained the same at 78” (198cm), two inches longer than in the first class suites, but narrow at the foot end. The bed space can be enlarged by a fold-out bridge.

The width of the leather seats is a generous 25 inches (63.5cm)  and, for the first time, the divider between the two middle seats can be put down fully to enable partners to travel together. Once fully down it creates almost a double bed.

There are smaller new features, such as storage ideas and a fixed side table.

Preferred seats are the bulkhead middle seats 11D/F, 91D/F and 96D/F  as they have by far the biggest foot space and don’t require passengers to sleep diagonally.

Premium economy is at the front end of the main deck and features customized seats by German manufacturer ZIM, which also provides Lufthansa’s premium economy seats.

Seat pitch is a generous 38 inches (96.5cm) , width 19.5 inches (49.5cm) and  every seat includes foot- and leg rests plus a spacious pocket able to store a laptop.

All seats in all classes now offer touchscreens, with the ones in premium economy measuring 13.3”  (33.8cm) in diameter, while those in economy are 11.1 inches (28cm).

The 343 Economy seats are manufactured by German market leader Recaro.

The two best choices in economy, particularly given there is no extra charge, are the window seats 71A/K. These seats do not have a seat in front of them, despite being in the second row behind the bulkhead.

All 471 seats on Singapore’s new A380 now feature plug ins to recharge electronic devices and also USB ports, plus contactless card readers to pay for purchases.

It is a disabled flyer’s worst nightmare: being trapped in the panic-ridden, smoke-filled cabin of an airliner on the ground trying desperately to get out.

The current practice is for crew members just to grab passengers and go.

But a new system may change all that.

“When I was a flight attendant, I knew we needed a better way to save people,” says ADAPTS (A Disabled Passenger Transfer Sling) LLC founder Robin Wearley.

ADAPTS, is a sling system that allows crew to more effectively cradle the disabled to an emergency exit, down the slide and handed off to first responders—who spirit them away from the airliner fast.

Jeff Butler does a decent amount of flying. The 2016 Paralympic Games USA team silver medalist in wheelchair rugby, says the system “fill[s] an important need for the entire disabled community.”

Disability advocate  at WheelchairTravel.org  John Morris puts things a bit more bluntly: “As wheelchair travelers increase in number and take to the skies, it is only a matter of time until one of us is caught in a life-and-death situation on an airplane.”

Once upon a time you could grab a blanket from the overhead bin and use that. That’s before airlines largely eliminated them, at least from the main cabin. Even then, they were not ideal for evacuating disabled flyers.

“An evacuation device needs to be fast and simple to use,” says Wearley. “It’s got to be “water and flame resistant, and have no sharp points to puncture inflatable slides.”

ADAPTS pre-order price is pegged at US$129 via Kickstarter. In what ADAPTS calls an “all or nothing” proposition the product’s success just now is predicated on financial backers kicking in to meet a US$30,000 goal it needs to reach by December 19, 2017.

Don’t look for the airlines to provide the evacuation device for customers as part of the price of a ticket.

Back in the 1980s, in the wake of three smoke-related fatal accidents—a  Saudia TriStar at Riyadh, an Air Canada DC-9 in Cincinnati, and a British Airtours 737 at Manchester—passenger smoke hoods were much in the news. The carriers decided not to offer them

In other news regarding disabled travelers, the US  Department of Transportation has reached an agreement with Alaska/Virgin America and Spirit to significantly expand the availability of popular airport kiosks to the disabled.

DOT Secretary Elaine Chao said the agreement would  “ensure greater accessibility” for the disabled.”

Indonesian authorities have downgraded their eruption warning for rumbling Bali volcano Mt Agung after a decrease in seismic activity.

The alert was  boosted to the highest threat level more than a month ago amid fears an eruption was imminent.

The volcano’s rumblings as magma pushed towards the surface caused a massive downturn in Bali’s crucial tourism industry as travel insurance companies withdrew coverage for an eruption. Reports put the loss to the island’s economy as high as 2 trillion Rupiah ($US147m).

Indonesia’s Center for Volcanolgy and Geological Hazards announced on Sunday that it was downgrading the alert from level IV to level III, or from dangerous to high alert, after 38 days at the higher level.

The Volcano Observatory Notice for Aviation (VONA) was at yellow on Monday, indicating a significant decrease in activity but that the volcano continued to be closely monitored. It had previously reached the second highest level, orange.

While experts cautioned there was still a chance the volcano could erupt,  the head of the volcanology centre, Kasbani, said there had been a fall in seismic activity after October 20.

Kasbani said the activity had dropped dramatically in the first three days and slowly declined thereafter.

GPS data showing the deformation of the volcano indicated a slowdown and satellite data had shown  “a decrease in thermal energy”.

Drones were also used Sunday to make visual observations of the crater and this showed that gas activity had decreased since October 20.

“Thermally and visually, data consistently shows a decline, so we declare the status down,” he said.

Authorities also reduced the exclusion zone for the volcano from 12km to 7.5km and, in some cases,  from 9km to 6km.

More than 130,000 people evacuated from the immediate danger zone have been housed in refugee camps around Bali and many will now be able to return home.

Mt Agung’s last major eruption was in 1963 and killed more than 1100 people. That eruption lasted for more than a year.

Singapore Airlines has confirmed new cabin products in development for the past four years will debut on its Sydney service in December.

The highly anticipated new cabins will initially be fitted on five new A380 superjumbos on order from Airbus and will debut on flight SQ221 from Singapore to Sydney on December 18, returning the next day  as flight SQ232.

The refresh covers all four cabins  on the new A380s — the first class Suites as well as business, premium economy and economy classes — and has been kept under wraps by the carrier ahead of  its global launch in Singapore November 2-4.

Additional destinations for the new products will be revealed in the coming months.

Other carriers will be watching closely to see what top-tier carrier Singapore comes up with and executives have hinted it will make competitors sit up and take notice.

Singapore Airlines regional vice president Tan Tiow Kor said he was pleased that Sydney had been chosen as the launch destination for the new A380.

“In 2007 Sydney was the launch destination for the first ever commercial A380 flight,” Mr Tan said.

“Ten years on, and in our 50th year of flying to Sydney it is very appropriate that the city will host our brand new A380 fitted with our new cabin products.”

Singapore Airlines was the first airline to fly a scheduled service using the A380 in October, 2007.

It also flies the  superjumbos to  Beijing, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Melbourne, Mumbai, New Delhi, New York, Osaka, Paris, Shanghai and Zurich.

The A380 is a popular plane with passengers because of the way airlines such as Singapore have configured it in the past.

It flown more than 500,000 revenue flights, carrying over 190 million passengers, and operates more than 300 commercial flights per day.

This means an A380 takes off or lands around the world every two minutes.