NSW residents are not allowed to travel more than 5km from home and Melbourne even has a curfew. There's plenty of dry flat land, a railway and a major highway at the front door, plenty of vacant accommodation, an airport with flights to Adelaide every few hours just 70km away, a dry climate and most importantly, plenty of security. The initial reactions to the first refurbished A380 are broadly positive, but when will the project be completed? Emirates, which is by far the largest operator of the A380, however, remains committed to the plane, as does British Airways which has no plans to retire its fleet ahead of schedule. The iconic jumbos were due for retirement by the end of 2020 in favour of new Boeing 787 Dreamliners, but that timetable has been brought forward six months, with the last red-tailed Boeing 747 departing Sydney at the end of June, bound for Mojave's aviation 'boneyard'. For the first time since then, VH-OQB took to the skies at 1:54pm on 19 August as flight QF6013, and took the 11-hour journey to Dresden Airport in Germany. The biggest overhaul is slated for the business-class product, which will be replaced with the same Business Suite that Qantas currently offers on its Dreamliner flights. He sang its praises in terms of range and economics too, saying, The 787 is such a good aircraft, it can replace the entire A380 and 747 network in terms of range, with smaller aircraft and unit costs that are even better than an A380.. Required fields are marked *. A Qantas A380 flew to Abu Dhabi on Monday after spending several weeks in Los Angeles. He said, They have the most premium seats of any aircraft we have. I loved the so-called Emerald City at the front of the upper deck. Just so quiet and smooth. VH-OQA is the last of the 12 A380s for refurb and is scheduled for November 2020. Didnt receive an activation email? This week Qantas launched flights between Brisbane and Tokyo Haneda, and will launch flights between Melbourne and Dallas this weekend (December 3), as well as flights between Sydney and Seoul on December 10. Click OK to continue. The CEO added that the airline won't dedicate the spruced-up aircraft to one particular route, so passengers will be "surprised and delighted" when they find themselves sitting in a new business class seat. Theyre directed towards the big premium market. For consistent product you have to fly Delta or United. Hi Guest, join in the discussion on It's completely free and we'll never pass your information on to Thank you so much Qantas, Alan and staff. Frankly, QF doesn't have sufficient B787-9's to sustain or even revive international routes from SYD, MEL, PER and BNE as virus numbers o/s begin to retreat. Joyce, however, remained optimistic that rapid vaccination rollouts in the USA and UK both of which are key markets for Qantas would help the airline restart regularly scheduled international flights by the end of the year. In some circles, shadows of doubt were cast over whether the type would ever return to the Australian airline at all. And communicating Australia is more important than Nancy Bird Ansett or Longreach. On Wednesday, Australian Aviation revealed that one of Qantas A380s was flown from storage at LAX to a facility in Dresden, Germany, for maintenance ahead of its planned refurbishment. They have facilities for maintenance, storage and scrapping. 5 reasons you shouldn't bin your boarding passes, What to do when an airline cancels your flight, New ways for airlines to win your business, Australia's airport mask mandate will soon come to an end. Its been 10 months since Qantas sent its A380s to the Mojave Desert for long-term storage. How long will it take to refurbish Qantas' entire fleet of twelve A380s? As a result Qantas is bringing back a sixth refurbished A380 superjumbo into operation from the middle of this month, "providing more operational resilience over the busy Christmas holidays".. But what about VH-OQI? 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From far they look like Cathay Dragon and Turkish Airlines or a red Lufthansa. Qantas to return five A380s to service 'ahead of schedule' Qantas has outlined its plans for the upcoming peak summer holiday period, including new and resumed routes, and the rostering of larger aircraft. I would have thought storing them in Alice would be better than flying to California to store them. Your IP: Go figure. In fact, one aircraft just being reconfigured flew directly to the Mojave Desert, said Joyce at the time. Alan Joyce, the chief executive of Qantas remains confident that the Airbus A380 superjumbo will remain an integral part of the airlines aircraft fleet even as other airlines jettison the double-deck planes. If demand increases beyond the 236-seat capacity of the Boeing 787-9, Qantas would likely add a second daily Dreamliner service onto the route enacting the same plan as announced in March 2020 when the Sydney-Singapore-London QF1/QF2 Airbus A380 service was set to be rerouted via Perth on a Boeing 787-9. The airline notes that it expects to have a further two of the remaining 11 unrefurbished aircraft done and flying by the end of 2019. Seat map. What Alan Joyce needs to be aware of is a bill making passage through the US Congress which sets out specific and enforceable issues for safe distancing within aircraft flying into, throough and out of US air space. It that case it's very close. Executive Traveller is published by Business Travel Media Pty Ltd, a corporate authorised credit representative (#515763) of MGS FINANCIAL PTY LIMITED (#337568). I think Qantas is pretty good. Is Qantas just gonna standardize its widebody fleet to 787s? Sorry about the rant but Qantas needs to free itself from its traditions and brand itself better. These photos show the oversized 'foot nook' for seats in the A380's two bulkhead rows, those being rows 11 and 16/17. Woomera has a strip that could easily handlen an A380. However OQG as mentioned already has been refurbished and so have OQI and OQD. However, you might assume the two would come from the half dozen older yet-to-be refurbished planes. The seat itself may be great, but that doesn't mean much if passengers are lacking sufficient room to effectively experience it shame Qantas hasn't listened (at least as far as we know). However, CEO Alan Joyce has said today that he fully expects to bring back every A380 to the fleet, and can reactivate them as quickly as three to six months if needed. There will be 9 aircraft remaining. No major loss in Business. Qantas are not mucking around getting these A380 back. We all know that Qantas is kicking off its A380 refurbishment with the first upgraded A380 to fly in September, see https://www.ausbt.com.au/qantas-a380-refurbishment. Absolutely no way of climbing over. Providing commentary for outlets including the BBC, CNBC, Reuters Thomson, and others, she works closely with IATA, AviaDev, and various airlines and suppliers to get the inside track on the global marketplace. Qantas might like to keep them flying over the busy periods. parties. We'll see Qantas' final eight A380s re-enter the fleet by the end of 2020. Airports that have slot restrictions, like Heathrow, where a slot is extremely expensive, then the aircraft works for that. On Saturday and Sunday, VH-OQB operated ten flights around Sydney. VH-OQB is one of just two of Qantas superjumbos that were grounded at a purpose-built A380 hangar at LAX, rather than stored at the Victorville boneyard in the California desert. If youve forgotten your password, simply enter your email address Cloudflare Ray ID: 7c0aa9882e88e847 Qantas launches Brisbane-Tokyo Haneda route. This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers. Products with rewards and frequent flyer points on offer can be compared using our helpful comparison tables. So we do believe theres a need for that fleet. In terms of the A380, the forecast is still that demand will not pick up enough to sustain the superjumbo until around 2024. The A380s had begun a refit with Qantas new cabin products less than a year before the grounding. As a result, the web page can not be displayed. With its full-length double deck, the A380 offers almost 6,000 square feet of usable floor space, about 40% more than the second largest airliner, the Boeing 747-8. interact with our community. "We're parking the A380sfor at least three years," Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce confirmed to media during a press teleconference following the announcement of a sweepingthree-year 'post-Covid recovery plan'. Sharp-eyed flyers reckon they had the next refurbished A380 nailed. (Dave Soda) Qantas has again announced that its flagship Airbus A380s will return to service sooner than previously expected, with the first . However, Qantas has been smart in its parking strategy. Even at the basic level there are only four seats wide - 1-2-1, which is so good when you compare there were 10 wide downstairs. Compare the cost in points or miles to cash, and see which option is best. the SYD-JNB and SYD-SCL would follow., as for the A380, I see 6 culled, and maybe adding a few more 787-9. " Cathay Pacific reopens Hong Kongs The Wing Business lounge, Land up to 20% bonus points in Velocitys new transfer promo. With about five weeks to go, VH-OQI should be the next refurbished A380 set to fly around the end of October. A380 Business was crap, droopy seats, 2-2-2 on most aircraft. we are heading back from our trip on a 787 -9 via LAX which I am really looking forward to. See also: Airbus A320neo, Boeing 737 MAX battle for billion-dollar Qantas order. Your email address will not be published. . Actually my gripe about the current 100 years celebration version of the inflight safety video is that the background music soundtrack is so loud that I have difficulty catching what was being said if I don't already know the content and the subtitles on display (in some versions). Qantas might like to keep them flying over the busy periods. Which is the best Star Alliance lounge at Sydney Airport? Youtube channel LA Flights has some nice footage of the jet pushing back in Los Angeles on Saturday evening. Putting in the new seats took too long, are still not on all. below, then click 'Submit'. The final section of the new all-premium upper deck will feature 60 premium-economy seats. Correct - OQB/OQF/OQJ are currently at the QF LAX maintenance facility which only has limited ramp space, which will likely be needed for B787 work when USA services resume. You can use your existing password to login, or if you can't remember it, you can reset it using the link provided here. An A380, thats fully or nearly fully written down, if it generates cash, will absolutely work. Lead Journalist - Southwest Pacific -.A Masters level education and appetite for travel combine to make Andrew an incredible aviation brain with decades of insight behind him. 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Absolutely. If they stored them at Alice Springs they would have to make them airworthy again just to fly them to Mohave for scrapping. Well send you an email to re-activate your account and enter a new password. Absolutely idea. From a passenger's point of view, it's a lucky dip as to what plane you get. I also don't like the tail and the use of kangaroo anymore. The last of Qantas A380s flew to the desert last September after completing a multi-million-dollar retrofit in Dresden, Germany. Its there with new seats on it and that nobodys ever sat on, which is unbelievably disappointing. I had to cancel a RTW classic reward booking utilising 2 Qantas A380 legs and now my focus is on the complete travel experience rather than getting from A to B as quickly, economically and as comfortably as possible. The first of the airline's 12 A380s will enter maintenance next month and is set to return to the skies in September. Based in the United Kingdom. I always base my international flying provider based on the highest comfort ad services first, hence those flying an A380 to my destination get first byte of my dollars. Even the non-refurbed Business in the A380 is fine, but the refurb is fabulous! Here are the best watches of the year: should you care? 14 First, 64 Business, 35 Premium Economy and 371 Economy seats. It's completely free and we'll never pass your information on to You can scrap them at Alice Springs as well. Already have an ET account? For the time being, the aircraft will remain parked until such time as demand signals that its the right moment for them to return. And I'll be mothballing my QFF card, and firing up the Emirates Skywards instead (or whoever keeps flying the A380). Qantas Airbus A380 refurbishment schedule - Executive Traveller community discussion. The carrier and its subsidiary Jetstar expect to carry more than eight million customers over the next two months, highlighting particularly strong leisure demand. There is an unknown connection issue between Cloudflare and the origin web server. Just be happy our airline didnt fold during covid and have to get aircraft that spent two years in the desert in airworthy condition. Some lucky Platinum One members have been offered an 'upgrade' to the First Suites, but the service has been at a Business level. We do have scheduling windows, because if you if youve ever been in LA, at between 10 oclock and midnight, you see six or seven Qantas aircraft departing to Australia, because its the only time that works with curfews, so instead of flying multiple frequencies right on top of each other. Qantas to mothball all Airbus A380s until at least 2023 Get unlimited news articles and more by creating a free account, Passwords must have at least 10 characters, one number, one lower and If they give these seats an extra couple of inches then I reckon you'd find the seats are very good expect for that cradle legrest. VH-OQD departed Los Angeles mid-evening on Saturday for the 14 hour plus flight down to Sydney. The Airbus A380 has failed to win the confidence of many other operators, including Air France, which brought forward the aircrafts retirement early because of the pandemic. And the B787-9 provides much better cargo economics as it can fit up to 36 LD3 sized containers in the belly, whilst the A380 takes 38 containers, but at a much higher operating cost. Economy aisle would have been better.
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