And they have examples from recent history to back this up, in the wake of three glitches hitting Singapore Airlines' new Airbus 380 superjumbo in less than two months.

Mr David Easton, a British-based aviation industry veteran, cited the Boeing 747's teething problems in 1970.

Its engines refused to start if there were crosswinds, so the jumbo jet had to be towed away from such winds in the early days until engineers tweaked the plane's engines.

Another British-based aviation consultant, Mr Dancho Atanasov, added that the A320 also had problems with its auto-pilot system, and the B777 had 'systems failures' in the mid-1990s.

Referring to SIA's recent woes with the A380, aviation industry observers noted that, with just three A380s in its fleet - all flying either between Singapore and Sydney or London - faults become a big inconvenience for passengers because there are no spare jets they can transfer to when a problem crops up.

The sheer size of the A380, which carries about 100 more passengers than a regular B747 jumbo jet, also means a cabin full of passengers will not fit into a spare, smaller plane. The latest glitch happened on Monday, when a Sydney-bound A380 had to be grounded because of a fuel pump problem. Hundreds of passengers were stranded for more than six hours.

Earlier this month, an A380 was grounded in Sydney for 1-1/2 days with auxiliary brake problems.

And last month, a faulty electrical relay powering the fuel pump also delayed a Sydney-bound flight.

Despite the hiccups, SIA spokesman Stephen Forshaw said the A380's entry-into-service record has been 'substantially better than any other aircraft type we have received'.

Referring to the lack of excess capacity because SIA has only three A380s in service, he explained that, if problems cropped up with, say, any of its B747s or B777s, the fleet of such planes is large enough for the fault to be 'invisible' to passengers, since replacement planes are usually on hand.

SIA has 19 B747s and about 70 B777s in service. The carrier is expecting at least three more A380s to be delivered by year-end.

KARAMJIT KAUR