Loved by Emirates By far. But what about VH-OQI? The airline has a total of ten A380s in its fleet, four of which remain in storage. English. Qantas opens new Club lounge at Rockhampton airport, See a whole year of Reward Seat Availability on one page at SeatSpy.com, Michelin-starred Yannick Allno to open restaurant at Four Seasons Park Lane, Pan Pacific Orchard to open in Singapore in May 2023, Live life in the fast lane with Avis Preferred, Connect with Business Travelers Worldwide with MeetWiv, Lufthansa operates A380 to Bangkok this winter, Qantas celebrates 25-year partnership with chef Neil Perry, Qantas unveils new domestic economy inflight menus, Qantas reports improved performance in September, Qantas to launch nonstop Auckland-JFK service, To see our latest subscription offers for Business Traveller editions worldwide, click on the Subscribe & Save link below. In April, Joyce said each aircraft could potentially come back into service in as little as three to six months. It's not known which two A380s will not return to service. Well send you an email to re-activate your account and enter a new password. Can confirm my booking 1 July 2022 SYD-LAX (booked 2 weeks ago) x 2Pax business class, our seats have already been changed today from a 787-9 to a refurbished A380. 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. Earlier, in February, the Qantas chief executive said that it was heartbreaking to see the fleet stored in the Mojave Desert and insisted that curfews and expensive airport slots meant flying them will still be profitable. An easy decision for the airline bean counters. After all, with the DFW-SYD A380 service pre-COVID19, it was de-rigeur to block >100 seats during much of the year due to weather. We can account for three of the twelve A380s. Your IP: The upgrades to the rest of the fleet are set to be finished by the end of 2020. Along with booth seating and a large flat screen TV, comes the all important self-serve mini bar. all rights reserved, China issues report that Boeing sees as key to restart 737 MAX deliveries, ANA sells tickets up to 20 times cheaper due to an error in its website, Avolon completes delivery of 15 Airbus A320neo to Vistara, Boeing says 11 Chinese airlines have resumed operating 737 MAX. Putting in the new seats took too long, are still not on all. Further, as of today there is significant talk that a selection of vaccines will be available within 6-12 months. We'll see Qantas' final eight A380s re-enter the fleet by the end of 2020. Maybe one a month would take us through most of 2020 and allow the airline to draw a line under it towards the end of the year. 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. Log in below. Sharp-eyed flyers reckon they had the next refurbished A380 nailed. To help support the investigation, you can pull the corresponding error log from your web server and submit it our support team. You can use your existing password to login, or if you can't remember it, you can reset it using the link provided here. View the Airbus A380 seat map (PDF) 14 First, 70 Business, 60 Premium Economy and 341 Economy seats. VH-OQB was one of just two of Qantas 12 A380s that werent sent into storage at the notorious Victorville boneyard in the California desert, the other being VH-OQD. We'll run a soft credit check to find special offers, but it wont affect your credit score. Its obviously up to the government exactly how and when our international borders re-open, but with Australia on track to meet the 80 per cent trigger agreed by national cabinet by the end of the year, we need to plan ahead for what is a complex restart process.. The A380s had begun a refit with Qantas new cabin products less than a year before the grounding. That will include international - in what ever form it takes. The first A380 for Australian Carrier QANTAS arrived at Sydney's International Airport from Toulouse in France. Like the business suites, these products will also feature seats currently used in Qantas' Dreamliners premium-economy section. However, Qantas has been smart in its parking strategy. Old unrefurbished A380, last minute schedule changes (a friends LA-SYD was retime to 0930!!) What will happen to the first lounges I wonder. The last of Qantas A380s flew to the desert last September after completing a multi-million-dollar retrofit in Dresden, Germany. But all aircraft should finally be refurbished by the end of 2020. The first refurbished A380 will start flying at the end of September and three more will take to the air by the end of the year. Well send you an email to re-activate your account and enter a new password. Excellent. Qantas might like to keep them flying over the busy periods. Didnt receive an activation email? 2011 Aviacin al Da. 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. They are so good. Our plan was at the end of October, if the international borders were to open up, we could start 22 of the 25 destinations we had pre-COVID with smaller aircraft, smaller premium seats on it. He commented, We think we will reactivate all of the A380s. 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. And we think that's sufficient to make good money and the economics work on that business.. Signing up with Executive Traveller only takes a second and lets you However, despite the A380s decline across airlines globally, the future at Qantas appears to be quite bright. Go figure. The airline is also set to resume the following seasonal domestic routes this month: Qantas said that across its domestic network the group is now operating at 95 per cent of pre-Covid levels. The carrier and its subsidiary Jetstar expect to carry more than eight million customers over the next two months, highlighting particularly strong leisure demand. Both Lufthansa and Qatar Airways will keep their A380s in long term storage for the foreseeable future and might not ever fly the planes again. Such sad news. 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. I would have thought storing them in Alice would be better than flying to California to store them. The unrefurbished VH-OQB had been doing the SYD-LAX sector for some months, but departed for Abu Dhabi on 10th May for maintenance or refurbishment. So I think WA tourism would be doing a lot better since theyre allowed out and about with no infections or deaths and have been all year. Not to mention the actual volume of space in your "single" seat - storage, proper table, excellent TV, ideal controls etc. Currently, Qantas has been operating its A380 fleet on services between Sydney and Los Angeles, offering only Business, Premium Economy and Economy cabins. The Qantas boss will probably be on his honeymoon or kicking back at his beach house. Qantas has completed its refurbishment program for its A380s during their grounding. You'll see improvements in each of our cabins with a change in the seat mix offering more space and refreshed interiors to enjoy onboard. It actually feels very authentic to me, faults and "she'll be right' attitude and all. I can see myself waiting until I can travel on the A380 again (preferrably Qantas but, if not, Emirates, Qatar or Etihad). At the time, the airline didn't think they would be . 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. Absolutely. Qantas have already confirmed the PE seats on A380 won't have more pitch than on the 787. If youve forgotten your password, simply enter your email address With the pandemic eating into that time, it remains to be seen whether Qantas will continue with the expensive refresh on the other A380s in the fleet. The thrice-weekly flights are a stop-gap measure to solve a problem caused by out-of-action 787-9 Dreamliner crews. All the A380s will return . You can scrap them at Alice Springs as well. My god Levinn there doesn't seem to be much about Qantas that you like? We have reconfigured six of them with brand new product onboards. The superjumbo had covered 7,641 miles (12,297 kilometers) on this flight. Didnt receive an activation email? It is just a marvelous experience to fly Business in the upgraded A380's. Thank you so much Qantas, Alan and staff. Will fly ex DRW instead, which is better for eastern cities anyway to get to, will upgrade the QF pax facilities at terminal. parties. It comes as the airline posted a statutory loss before tax of $1.83 billion, largely driven by sudden and ongoing border closures in the second half of the financial year. the SYD-JNB and SYD-SCL would follow., as for the A380, I see 6 culled, and maybe adding a few more 787-9. " Factoring in the eight week refurbishment time frame, might we see the refurbished A380 VH-OQL, in the air around November 30, 2019? The A380 is where passengers want to be for long and ultra long haul. This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers. The airline said it will use the five A380s to fly between Sydney and LA from July 2022, and between Sydney and London, via Singapore, from November 2022. Here's what to expect in Premium Economy on the Qantas A380: Vannus, Im not sure if youre aware but the majority of Australias population, which lives in just two states VIC & NSW, are currently in lockdown and have been for some time and expect to remain in lockdown for quite sometime. Eagle-eyed planespotters were anticipating the return to service of the second Qantas A380. However OQG as mentioned already has been refurbished and so have OQI and OQD. Im not sure what sort of tourism you think operates under those conditions. Back in October, Australian airline Qantas announced it would undertake a massive project to refit its fleet of 12 Airbus A380 jumbo jets with new interiors. The Mandarin names are messed up and do not convey that it is an Australia airline. Even 1-2 inches extra in pitch would make all the difference. Finally a refurnished lounge is set to open in Honolulu on December 16, following the unveiling of a new facility at Rockhampton airport last month. Meanwhile, Qantas will take delivery of three new 787-9 Dreamliners that have remained undelivered and stored with Boeing during FY23, while Jetstar will welcome its first three A321neo LR aircraft also from FY23. VH-OAH,J,K ARE SHOWING 14F 70B 60PE 341E, WITH the newer stagger business seats. Your complete guide to Singapore Airlines WiFi, Tips to top up your energy levels on the road, Five things to look for when buying headphones for running, Gyms closed: Schwarzenegger shares his home workout tips, Get into the holiday swing at Australias top golf resorts, Thailand wants visitors to quarantine at golf resorts, Nine new golf courses you'll want to visit in 2020, Tuscany uncorked: Inside the wine regions renaissance, Bottle shock for wine lovers as Delta moves to canned wine, https://www.ausbt.com.au/qantas-a380-refurbishment. Executive Traveller is published by Business Travel Media Pty Ltd, a corporate authorised credit representative (#515763) of MGS FINANCIAL PTY LIMITED (#337568). Hi Guest, join in the discussion on The only aircraft for me for Melbourne to London.Superior in every way . There is a trip report by VolvoMike on Flyertalk stating he flew a non-refurbished A380 in F on Qantas on 2/5/22. 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'. Plus, your own feed of TPG content. The prospect of flying overseas might feel a long way off, especially in New South Wales and Victoria in lockdown, but the current pace of the vaccine rollout means we should have a lot more freedom in a few months time, said Qantas CEO Alan Joyce. 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. We know the demand will come back, its just a matter of time Weve had this forecast for some time that we dont see that occurring until 24. Qantas plans to fly the Airbus A380 3x weekly between Sydney (SYD) and Los Angeles (LAX) as of January 11, 2022. Worse for those pax who are not native English speakers. parties. Granted, Qantas new Economy is kinda luxurious but Thompson Vantage XL? More bums on seats equal more dollars in Qantas pockets. Improve earnings, maximize rewards and track progress toward dream trips. The problem, and this has been identified by AusBT and pretty much every Boeing 787 passenger, is that the seats are too close together, which means really cramped conditions without a lot of legroom. Seat map. When that happens, he says that the 787 will be picking up the slack from the loss of the A380 and 747, with all but three of its pre-COVID destinations served. You don't need to CGI stuff and try to show parts of Australia so desperately. below, then click 'Submit'. The 3 years that Joyce is suggesting possibly worst case scenario however I would anticipate March 2022, Services like SYD-LAX, BNE- LAX and SYD-DFW to return to around 70% of pre-avoidablevirus numbers. 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. There is an issue between Cloudflare's cache and your origin web server. Managing Editor - Joanna has worked in publishing for more than a decade and is fast becoming a go-to source for commercial aviation analysis. It's been 10 months since Qantas sent its A380s to the Mojave Desert for long-term storage. Absolutely no way of climbing over. See also: Qantas unveils replica Boeing 747-200 first class lounge in a museum. 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. An A380, thats fully or nearly fully written down, if it generates cash, will absolutely work. 787 and 330 into Asia much better. The plane was moved in order to undergo a scheduled landing gear update, according to Qantas, and will remain in storage at Dresden Airport, before undergoing a refurbishment ahead of its planned return to service. Qantas A380 to fly to LAX as of January 2022. There is an issue between Cloudflare's cache and your origin web server. Then transit SIN, enroute Europe, including maybe some new ports there. Meanwhile Jetstar will begin flights with three new A321 neo aircraft in the coming weeks, initially on domestic services and its routes between Australia and Bali. From personal experience, they don't. I concur that I will always choose Emirates over Qantas if they have the A380 in service and Qantas does not(of course on QF paper). The route is currently being done by the refurbished OQD & OQK aircraft. third VH-OQB will depart Sydney and operate QF11 to Los Angeles on Tuesday evening. There's nothing much wrong with the new Qantas premium economy seats, apart from that oddball 'cradle' arrangement for the legrest and footrest. Andrews first-hand knowledge of the challenges and opportunities facing Australian airlines adds exciting depth and color to his work. Your complete guide to Singapore Airlines WiFi, Tips to top up your energy levels on the road, Five things to look for when buying headphones for running, Gyms closed: Schwarzenegger shares his home workout tips, Get into the holiday swing at Australias top golf resorts, Thailand wants visitors to quarantine at golf resorts, Nine new golf courses you'll want to visit in 2020, Tuscany uncorked: Inside the wine regions renaissance, Bottle shock for wine lovers as Delta moves to canned wine, sweepingthree-year 'post-Covid recovery plan'. Reopen QF21/22 and SYD-NRT (HND will only accept A380s during the overnight hours, only 1 on the ground at a time and they can't be there during the day slot hours). A Qantas A380 flew to Abu Dhabi on Monday after spending several weeks in Los Angeles. Keep it simple, a la Delta, and speak with that cheerful accent that communicates Australia to one and all. Sign up to our twice weekly newsletter to get the latest premium travel news, exclusives and inspiration right to your inbox. Additional troubleshooting resources. Resend one to yourself here. Cloudflare monitors for these errors and automatically investigates the cause. Just keeping my fingers crossed that I don't get the refurbed plane with the new awful PE seats. By subscribing, you agree to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Statement. Absolutely idea. We spent a lot of money on them. Click to reveal That, together with being able to enjoy the usual service levels both in the lounges and on board, I think will mean that I will be looking at domestic only until late 2022 or early 2023. Because there's more to long term storage than what you mentioned. The changes include replacing the older Skybed business class seats with the airline's newer Business Suites, which allow all business class passengers direct access to the aisle. 360 - Qantas A380 Exterior. "We're parking the A380s for at least three years," Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce confirmed to media during a press teleconference following the announcement of a sweeping three-year 'post-Covid recovery . Qantas loyalty bonus: should you choose points or status? They don't look like kangarros to me. A380 Business was crap, droopy seats, 2-2-2 on most aircraft. Even Qatar if they bring theirs back. Two more refurbed A380s have recently come out of storage from Victorville to be used on . Some lucky Platinum One members have been offered an 'upgrade' to the First Suites, but the service has been at a Business level. 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.. Login now. As an engineer the plane is inheritably unstable and placing rotational forces on the wings that no previous 737 has had to encounter. Here are the best watches of the year: should you care? Andrew is based in Sydney. Suggesting I and L are marked as the probably next to be upgraded. David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis. My focus has changed a bit I guess now concentrating on leisure rather than business travel. However, you might assume the two would come from the half dozen older yet-to-be refurbished planes. Qantas most on-time major domestic airline for seven months in a row. So you don't like the 'Australian-ishness' of the branding but the cabin crew uniforms from Ansett and Jetstar are OK because they 'fully embued (sic) Australia' and 'come off as so much more Australian and classier'? A sad day for passengers. Qantas has told Simple Flying that they expect to refurbish the remaining 11 aircraft by the end of 2020. On Saturday and Sunday, VH-OQB operated ten flights around Sydney. Sorry about the rant but Qantas needs to free itself from its traditions and brand itself better. If youve forgotten your password, simply enter your email address Qantas are not mucking around getting these A380 back. I believe OQI is currently in Dresden so also closer to US than AU. There will be 9 aircraft remaining. From far they look like Cathay Dragon and Turkish Airlines or a red Lufthansa. The first of Qantas' refurbished Airbus A380s will begin flying in September, with the remaining 11 A380s in the carrier's fleet set to be overhauled through the end of this year and next. Andrews first-hand knowledge of the challenges and opportunities facing Australian airlines adds exciting depth and color to his work. 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. Qantas noted that it takes about eight weeks to refurbish each A380. To describe the updated look in one word, let's try "debeigified". Maybe operating QF2 out of Heathrow that evening? See what a point or mile is worth with our appraisals of a loyalty programs currency, based on redemption values. Beyond that, it gets trickier. Qantas will reinstate its full First Class offering at the end of this month both on the ground and in the air as post-pandemic international travel steadily. Qantas to mothball all Airbus A380s until at least 2023, Qantas will ground its entire flagship Airbus A380 fleet until at least the middle of 2023. as the airline comes to grips with what's expected to be a prolonged downturn in international travel. If you have not received the activation email, simply enter your email address below, then click 'Submit'. 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. multiple take-off and landings from Sydney Airport. Joyce remains confident that the borders will open up in October this year. Until the A380s return, the Dreamliner is picking up the slack. Meanwhile, Qantas has pushed back its planned return to higher-risk destinations, such as Bali, Bangkok, Manila, and Johannesburg, until April 2022. 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. Qantas is keeping mum. Absolutely fabulous - layout, space, comfort 1-2-1. oqh, oqj and oqk sorry. Talking point: have you given up on airport WiFi? Great to see the A380s will be flying again. Cathay Pacific reopens Hong Kongs The Wing Business lounge, Land up to 20% bonus points in Velocitys new transfer promo. Signing up with Executive Traveller only takes a second and lets you OQJ is now back in the country operating QF93. Whether Dresden winds down over January or not, most of Australia does. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. These photos show the oversized 'foot nook' for seats in the A380's two bulkhead rows, those being rows 11 and 16/17. PrimeFlight GSE Maintenance is a leading provider of Ground Support Equipment (GSE) maintenance, fleet maintenance, and facility maintenance services with operations across the US. Staff and onlookers swarmed Sydney Airport for their first glimpse of the superjumbo. My first post today - So lazy of me waiting until I have just retired to become active although I have been following the platform for years. American, United and Delta are consistent for their inconsistencies. If they stored them at Alice Springs they would have to make them airworthy again just to fly them to Mohave for scrapping. Airports that have slot restrictions, like Heathrow, where a slot is extremely expensive, then the aircraft works for that. This loss shows the impact that a full year of closed international borders and more than 330 days of domestic travel restrictions had on the national carrier, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said. The decision to reactivate the Qantas A380s with VH-OQB and VH-OQD is a slightly odd one. But yeah, absolutely no way to climb over (especially if the seats in front are reclined). Required fields are marked *. Operating at some of the country's busiest airports, we are dedicated to supporting the daily operational performance of airlines and service providers across our . In short, about another year. 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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. But if you have any insights, insiders tips or knowledge, wed love to know. The A380 is far more spacious and comfortable to fly in than the squeezy Boeing 787 nightmare plane, but it's the now-departed Boeing 747, yes, Queen of the Sky, that had most comfort. I wish the best however I am not going on the max. Its been 10 months since Qantas sent its A380s to the Mojave Desert for long-term storage. My problem is that Qantas seriously tries too hard to be Australian when it comes off as unauthentic. Opinions expressed here are the authors alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Watch on. And we do believe that it will generate cash. Qantas Airbus A380 Premium Economy Seat Overview - Australian Frequent Flyer Qantas Airbus A380 Premium Economy Seat Overview Qantas A380 Premium Economy. Makes sense if they are scrapping the older ones. That plane is followed by a Qantas Dreamliner - both bound for Sydney. From mid-December, Qantas and Jetstar will reinstate international schedules between Australia and low-risk countries, including Singapore, the US, Japan, the UK, Canada and Fiji. The staff are magnificent, the food spectacular, the comfort superb. Please include the Ray ID (which is at the bottom of this error page). If the seats are too close together in PE then how does the window seat person get out? Its there with new seats on it and that nobodys ever sat on, which is unbelievably disappointing. If youve forgotten your password, simply enter your email address If it ain't Boeing I ain't going ". By the southern autumn, we might expect to see the refurbished A380s coming into service fairly regularly. Already have an Executive Traveller account? And the carrier recently announced plans for new flights between Sydney and Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, starting on June 29, 2023. Airlines; Airports; Hotels; Lounges; Frequent Flyer; Reward Programs; Technology; Motoring; Other; Reviews. Busiest Easter long weekend for air travel since before the pandemic. Qantas A380 refurb schedule, Executive Traveller is published by Business Travel Media Pty Ltd, a corporate authorised credit representative (#515763) of MGS FINANCIAL PTY LIMITED (#337568). By the end of this upgrade, well have next-generation seating across our entire long-haul fleet of A380s, A330s and 787s.. Speaking about the reasoning behind parking up the A380s, Joyce said it was largely about the high levels of premium seating on board the superjumbo. It's completely free and we'll never pass your information on to If you have not received the activation email, simply enter your email address below, then click 'Submit'. The flights typically comprise a loop out southwest towards the Wingecarribee area before turning back towards Sydney, running out over the Royal National Park, and going out to sea before heading back into the airport. There are some of us that flatly DON'T buy this "mothball the A380 for 3 years". Because in aviation, situational awareness is everything.
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