Today Qantas today will put its tenth Airbus A380 into Service on the Sydney (SYD) to London (LHR) (via Singapore) route (QF31 & QF32). Qantas’ tenth Airbus A380 has the registration number VH-OQJ and is named Bert Hinkler (the first person to fly solo from Britain to Australia in 1928) QF31 is is scheduled to depart Sydney at 1610 hours and arrival at London’s Heathrow International Airport at 0635 hrs +1 day, for the stop-over in Singapore the aircraft will arrive in Singapore at 2230 hrs departing for Heathrow at 2359 hrs The Qantas A380 features four classes with 14 first class suites/full lie-flat seats in the front of the main deck configured in a 1-1-1 seating configuration, 72 full lie-flat seats in Business Class located at the front of the upper deck configured in a 2-2-2 seating configuration, 32 Qantas Premium Economy seats located in the rear of the upper deck configured in a 2-3-2 seating configuration and 332 Economy class seats located in the rear of the main deck behind first class in a 3-4-3 seating configuration.
Qantas to Increase A380 Services to Los Angeles and London
Qantas today announced it would increase Qantas A380 Services to both Los Angeles and London from 6 August 2009, after it receives is fourth A380 aircraft at the end of July 2009. After Qantas receives its fifth and sixth A380, Qantas will begin to offer daily services to both London and Los Angeles. The full media release from Qantas can be read below: Qantas announced today it would increase its A380 services to both London and Los Angeles from 6 August 2009. Group Executive Qantas Airlines Commercial, Mr Rob Gurney said the airline would take delivery of three new aircraft before the end of the year. “Our fourth A380 arrives at the end of July, allowing us to increase Sydney-Singapore-London A380 services from three to five per week, and Sydney-Los Angeles services from three to four per week,” Mr Gurney said. “The arrival of our fifth and sixth aircraft later in the year will mean further increases in services to these key destinations. “By November Qantas will operate daily A380 services to London and Los Angeles from Sydney and will increase Melbourne-Los Angeles services from two to three A380 flights per week. “By the end of 2009 this year Qantas will operate 34 services per week between Australia and the UK and US with its A380 fleet.” Mr Gurney said that since Qantas launched A380 services in October 2008, the airline had carried more than 200,000 passengers onboard the flagship aircraft. “The Qantas A380 has received exceptional feedback from our customers, and has reaffirmed what we set out to achieve – the creation of a designer aircraft which exceeds customer expectations when it comes to comfort and functionality,” Mr Gurney said. The Qantas A380 is configured with 450 seats across four classes: First class – 14 luxurious and spacious suites Business class – 72 new fully-flat Skybed sleeper seats Premium Economy class – 32 extra wide seats with greater recline and legroom Economy class – 332 state-of-the-art seats styled by Marc Newson and manufactured by Recaro.