Tag: A380

Qantas cancels all international services until end-October

The Australian carrier is also set to mothball all its A380s.

Qantas has extended the suspension of all international flights until 24 Oct 2020, excluding services to New Zealand.

Flights to New Zealand has also been provisionally cancelled until end of June, although New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has earlier said that September was a more “realistic” timeframe for Trans-Tasman travel to resume.

An internal note sent to employees by Qantas International CEO, Tino La Spina, also said that most staff engaging with international operations will continued to stood down until then.

The international cancellations has already been reflected on Qantas’ website. Qantas is currently also not operating any international repatriation services nor charter flights.

All Qantas A380s grounded; half of fleet tipped to go into long-term storage

Executive Traveller earlier this week reported that Qantas is expecting its entire flagship Airbus A380 fleet will be grounded for a while.

Qantas A380 at Los Angeles International Airport

The A380s typically serve high traffic, slots-constraint air corridors, including Sydney-London via Singapore, as well as Sydney-Los Angeles and Sydney-Dallas Fort Worth.

Qantas has earlier said in April that its A380 upgrade programme was still on track, but later reversed its position in May, saying that it will be pausing the upgrades as it reviews its fleet.

Qantas Group chief executive Alan Joyce has said several times in the past months that the global demand for air travel will take years to recover and hence the airline has is undertaking the review to reshape the airline’s future around a post-Covid-19 travel landscape.

For now, all 12 A380s that Qantas has under its fold will be stored, with six that are yet to be refurbished likely to be sent for long-term storage at California’s Mojave Desert, according to Executive Traveller.

Qantas has not committed to whether it will return all 12 A380s to flying in the future, but if the fleet is indeed reduced, the six refurbished aircraft will be the first to take to the skies.

Australia will probably not admit leisure travellers until 2021

Australia’s trade minister Simon Birmingham has said earlier this week that the country is unlikely to reopen its border to international travellers until 2021. However, it’s looking at how it can to relax entry rules for students and other long-term visitors.

What does it mean for Singapore?

Simply put: don’t expect to step foot onto a Qantas flight, nor into a Qantas lounge in Singapore anytime this year.

Qantas Singapore First Lounge, opened in late 2019

While many are hopeful for another trip this year, given how countries has now started implementing laborious requirements including mandatory quarantine and pre- and post-travel tests, leisure travel just doesn’t seem anywhere near.

As such, it’s unlikely that Qantas will send the A380s back into Singapore any time soon, nor continue its fifth-freedom service to London from Singapore. If at all, Qantas will likely serve Singapore as an end-destination with smaller aircraft such as the Airbus A330s and the Dreamliner Boeing 787-9s.

18 June 20
Qantas’ refurbished A380 takes to the skies

After more than 18 months since Qantas announced a refurbishment programme for its A380 fleet, the first of the refreshed birds is finally out of the factory and back in the skies.

The first of Qantas’ twelve refurbished Airbus A380 will begin flying the flagship Sydney-Singapore-London route next week, following an extensive make-over which includes a modernisation of the first class cabin and installation of the airline’s latest business class seats, along with two new upper deck lounges.

What has changed?

The multimillion-dollar upgrade most significantly features an upgraded business class cabin featuring their flagship business suites, as well as their latest premium economy product. The upper deck is also now exclusively premium, with all economy class seats now moved to the lower deck. The on-board lounge has also been redesigned.

Don’t expect to see a brand new first class product on the Qantas A380 – which isn’t necessarily a bad thing given that the product actually works (see my review here!) and remains pretty luxurious even a decade after it was first rolled out.

Qantas A380 refreshed first class seat (photo credit: Qantas)

Marc Newson, the renowned Australian designer who came up with the original first class suites, once again worked with Qantas to refresh the 14 seats. The upgrades included a more comfortable contoured seat, as well as a larger video screen to replace the aging monitors.

In business class, the old Skybeds have now been upgraded to the 1-2-1 configuration business suites, which provides all 70 seats with direct aisle access in the upper deck.

Qantas business suites on the A380 (photo credit: Qantas)

The number of premium economy seats has also increased from 35 to 60, and upgraded to a new-generation premium economy cradle seat that is also on the Qantas Dreamliner fleet. The premium economy cabin is located on the upper deck, behind the business class section.

With all economy class seats now on the lower deck, all 341 economy class seats will get a light touch refresh, with the seat being re-upholstered and the in-flight entertainment screens being improved. The economy cabin is located behind the first class section.

Qantas A380 economy class (photo credit: Qantas)

The in-flight lounge on the upper deck has also gotten a refresh, to include some table space if you need to work or simply want to have a place to put your drink on. There’s also more seating as compared to the older lounge.

Business class lounge on the upper deck of the Qantas A380 (photo credit: Qantas)

Where will VH-OQK fly to?

Qantas Group CEO has earlier said that the refurbished aircraft will not be put on a single route, but instead deployed across several markets so there’s a little ‘delight and surprise’ for the customers.

According to Executive Traveller, the new aircraft will first fly as QF2 from London tonta seconoy Sydney via Singapore since yesterday (30 Sep). That means, it will depart tonight (1 Oct) from Singapore to Sydney.

Subsequently, it will do another round of Sydney-London-Sydney via Singapore, before going on elsewhere.

How to know if you are flying with the new or old configuration?

That’s pretty straightforward. To know if you are flying on the new or old aircraft, simply look at the seatmap particularly if you are flying in business class. If the layout is a 1-2-1 configuration, you are definitely getting the new aircraft.

If you need a detailed seat map, you can click here.

Qantas A380 upper deck seat map (for PDF version click here)

Timeline for other A380s

With the first aircraft fresh out of the upgrade factory, Qantas has said that two more aircraft are expected to be upgraded by the end of 2019, with the remaining nine to be completed before the end of 2020. By that time, the business class experience across its A330, A380 and Boeing 787-9 will be consistent, which will be a boost for its customers.

Qantas in-flight lounge (photo credit: Qantas)

1 October 19
FLIGHT REVIEW: Singapore Airlines A380 Suites, New York JFK – Frankfurt

Singapore Airlines / 18 Jun 18 / A380-800 / SQ25 JFK-FRA / Suites / 4A

Long before there was the Middle Eastern extravagant airline products such as the Etihad Residence and Emirates First Class showers and Business Class in-flight bars, Singapore Airlines boasted the world’s first “beyond first class” Suites. And that was more than a decade ago.

(more…)

11 July 18
Qantas’ Kangaroo Route to fly via Singapore from 26 March 2017

Five years after moving out the transit point of its flagship Sydney-London route to Dubai, Qantas is now moving the layover stop back to Singapore from next year.

Along with the shift of the stopover point, Qantas will also increase services to Melbourne to twice daily, including a daily A380 service.

Qantas and Singapore shares a historic link, given that the Australian carrier operated its first international service to Singapore way back in 1935, becoming one of the oldest airlines to operate into Singapore.

In 2012, Qantas and Emirates became strategic partners, which saw Qantas moving its transit point for Australia-London flights to Dubai. This is so that Qantas customers travelling from Australia could benefit from connecting to Emirates’ network of over 30 destinations in Europe in Dubai. With the move to Dubai, Qantas also suspended flights to Frankfurt via Singapore in 2013, and focused on only point-to-point destinations between Australia and Asia.

In its announcement of the return, Qantas also announced the extension of the partnership with Emirates, which means that Qantas and Emirates customers can still enjoy the benefits of both airlines’ extensive networks in the Southwest Pacific and Europe, Middle East and Africa respectively.

Qantas’ return to Singapore is also a win for customers in Southeast Asia, who can now also choose from First and Premium Economy classes when travelling to Sydney, Melbourne or London on the A380.

In an announcement last month, Qantas also unveiled a refurbishment programme for its A380 fleet, which will be completed by 2019.

1 September 17