SINGAPORE, Sept 3, 2007 (AFP) - Two premium seats on the first commercial flight of the super jumbo Airbus A380 have sold for more than 100,000 US dollars, Singapore Airlines said Monday as an eBay online auction entered its second week.

"It's exceeding our expectations across the board," Stephen Forshaw, the airline's vice-president of public affairs, told AFP.

The eBay online marketplace began taking bids on August 27 for the October 25 flight between Singapore and Sydney. Bidding ends next Monday.

Singapore Airlines is set to be the first the commercial airline to fly the double-decker A380, the world's biggest passenger plane. The aircraft will return to Singapore the day after its inaugural flight.

Forshaw said the first "Suites package" of two one-way premium Suites class seats and other inclusions sold on the weekend for 100,380 US dollars.

In contrast, a regular one-way first class seat on the Singapore-Sydney route during October would cost 5,164 Singapore dollars (3,391 US), including taxes and fees.

More than 160 people have pre-qualified to bid for the Suites, a standard practice for high-value auction items, Forshaw said.

Blocks of seats across all classes are being offered for bids in five-day sessions, the airline said.

Starting bids for economy class seats were 3.80 US dollars, while business class seats started at 38 dollars and the Suites class began at 380 dollars.

Bidders on Monday were offering up to 5,900 US dollars for a single business class seat, which went on the block on Saturday, while top bid for a single economy seat that also went up for auction on Saturday was 1,825 US dollars, eBay said.

"At the top end, among the premium cabins, the seats are selling very well, and the nature of the auction system means you see some very exciting outcomes based on the last few minutes of a five day auction," Forshaw said.

"Some of the seats in economy may go for less than the early ones, and that's in part because we're releasing so many seats, as we want to give as many people as possible the opportunity to join this celebration."

Singapore Airlines lists normal one-way economy class seats on the Singapore-Sydney route at 700 Singapore dollars and business seats for 3,670 before taxes and fees, during October.

Proceeds from the auction are to be divided equally between a Singapore charity, two childrens' hospitals in Sydney and the international relief agency Medecins Sans Frontieres.

SIA has committed to buy 19 A380s despite a series of delays that pushed back delivery from early last year.