News

Qantas increases services with fourth A380

21 Sep 2009

Qantas’ recent delivery on September 7, 2009 of a fourth Airbus A380 has allowed its Sydney-Singapore-London services to grow from three to five per week and its Sydney-Los Angeles services to increase from three to four per week.

Qantas has ordered 20 of these Airbus super jumbos – the largest after Emirates – and expects to complete the acquisition by 2014.

The 5th and 6th A380s will arrive by year-end and will be deployed on the Sydney-London and Sydney-Los Angeles routes, which will then go daily and increase the Melbourne-Los Angeles service from two to three per week.

Qantas CEO Allan Joyce told Business Traveller: “People are seeking out this aircraft. From our customer research, we have seen exceptional ratings in terms of the vehicle's performance, and passengers are extremely happy with the product.

“We have never seen such ratings before.”

He said satisfaction ran across all classes, “particularly in First Class and Business Class”.

Next year, Qantas will take delivery of three more of these super jumbos, which will enable travellers on the Melbourne-Hongkong-London to enjoy the A380 experience. Currently, a Boeing B747 is used on the route.

Asked if Qantas planned to change the early morning departure from Hongkong to London to a late night flight – which would allow more business travellers to get in a full day’s work – Joyce said there were still timing and slot issues in London Heathrow Airport to be worked out. However, he did not rule out a second service, saying: “We are looking to do more in the Hongkong market in the future.”

For more details on Qantas, visit www.qantas.com.au

Margie T Logarta

Loading comments...

Search Flight

See a whole year of Reward Seat Availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Business Traveller March 2024 edition
Business Traveller March 2024 edition
Be up-to-date
Magazine Subscription
To see our latest subscription offers for Business Traveller editions worldwide, click on the Subscribe & Save link below
Polls