Benny Zheng
3rd February 2009, 04:23 PM
Just a brief Trip report or rather story on my first Qantas A380 flight. I copied this TR from the Singapore forum so it might not be relevant in some way over here.
16th of January 2009 has been a day to look forward since i made a booking to Toronto, Canada in late 2008. I have done a lot of research on which is the shortest route as well as the least amount of time required to reach the destination. It was a tough choice to choose. SQ to HKG on 77W then AC to YYZ on 77L. Both are triple sevens and the excitement is probably the 77L as not many airlines have them. The other choice is QF to LHR and BA to YYZ. The latter is A380 and B772ER. So i thought, since it is the inaugural flight to LHR, i might as well take that. It's much cheaper ($2k) for the whole journey (SQ charge $3k). I made the booking with my sister on the BA website (BA7371 and BA 93). But in this report i will talk about the Qantas flight. The others will come later.
The day has finally come. There was a long queue at the Qantas/BA checkin counter at Terminal 1. Not because of the A380 flight but because of the 4 flights that are going out to Europe at roughly the same time. When it was our turn, i was pretty disappointed that my sister and i are getting the middle seats of the four seater. So i got no view and i'm stuck in the middle for the 12 hour flight to London. But it was alright i thought since it was a night flight all the way, i got no use for the window. Start your online checkin service Qantas !!
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2/zwgbenny/Qantas%20A380%20SIN%20to%20LHR/IMG_6285A800.jpg
After collecting the boarding pass, we proceeded to the customs where we are greeting by a long queue of departing passengers. Gosh i thought, no more terminal 1 for night flights next time. We used the thumbprint machines which are much faster than the counters. (Good thing we are locals).
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2/zwgbenny/Qantas%20A380%20SIN%20to%20LHR/IMG_6260A800.jpg
We proceeded to the gate C23 and realised the plane have not arrived yet as is delayed slightly. The exit of the gate has the welcome signboard put up to welcome the arriving passengers from Sydney on the A380 first leg of the flight.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2/zwgbenny/Qantas%20A380%20SIN%20to%20LHR/IMG_6257A800.jpg
After some burgers from Burger King, we went back to the gate again and this time the plane has just arrived. They have put up another big poster size of the A380 at the exit gate.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2/zwgbenny/Qantas%20A380%20SIN%20to%20LHR/IMG_6262A800.jpg
Passengers were delighted at the welcome as well as the free luggage tag given out to all alighting passengers. I would have thought Qantas would give out something but in the end it's Changi Airport.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2/zwgbenny/Qantas%20A380%20SIN%20to%20LHR/IMG_6265A800.jpg
We queue up into the boarding area and were given the luggage tag as well. But before entering, someone has dump it on top of the dustbins. I quickly grab it and kept it. :lol: Free extra souvenirs!
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2/zwgbenny/Qantas%20A380%20SIN%20to%20LHR/IMG_6281A800.jpg
The plane look good in the night sky and you can see how long the wings are. A majestic plane indeed.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2/zwgbenny/Qantas%20A380%20SIN%20to%20LHR/IMG_6275A800.jpg
Testing of those bright xenon landing lights.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2/zwgbenny/Qantas%20A380%20SIN%20to%20LHR/IMG_6290A800.jpg
This flight is full house to London as you can see. There are just so many passengers. And the weirdest thing is most are Europeans or Australians. There is hardly Asians onboard. We are outnumbered!
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2/zwgbenny/Qantas%20A380%20SIN%20to%20LHR/IMG_6287A800.jpg
Finally boarding has commenced at pass midnight. We got onto our seat and i must say the seats do look nice. The black carbon fiber look makes it look very modern. As well as easy maintenance i guess. One thing i would have prefer they done is to put the remote below the screen. They have placed it on the arm rest and this makes it difficult to remove and use as well as disturbing your neighbor.
The new Qantas entertainment system is the same as those on SQ but the only difference is the touch screen monitor!
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2/zwgbenny/Qantas%20A380%20SIN%20to%20LHR/IMG_6298A800.jpg
We were told by the pilots that we are late for departure but it was fine. As the wind is favorable in our direction of travel, we will arrive in London in approximately 12 hours plus. And they do not want to arrive during the curfew hours. That's probably a reduction of nearly 2 hours. This is indeed a good news to me as you can see later.
We took off from 02L with no fuss and no vibration at around 1am. The plane just quietly took off or maybe tip toe? After the seat belt sign has been turned off, we were eager to get some movies or cds playing on the entertainment system. We touch and touch on the screen and nothing happens. We thought oh maybe they have not started the system yet so we waited. An hour has passed and still nothing happen. I'm beginning to see other people using the system on the 3 seater to the left and right. We called the stewardess and ask them is something wrong. They got back to us and say they will reset the system and see if it works. Half an hour later it still did not work. They called the panasonic technician onboard and he connect his laptop to the system in the galley and tries to fix the problem. And i realize this glitch not only affect our row but the first six row of the 4 seater.
An hour has passed and the glitch is not resolved. So i guess my iphone has been my entertainment for my journey to London. Luckily the usb charging still works. 3 hours into the journey we were feeling very cold. The crew said the air conditioner is set at 24 degree Celsius. But i can say it does not feel like. Probably like 21. After lots of complains by the passengers they finally raise it to 26. I can still remember the passenger next to my sister asking for 3 blankets. That's a lot haha.
16th of January 2009 has been a day to look forward since i made a booking to Toronto, Canada in late 2008. I have done a lot of research on which is the shortest route as well as the least amount of time required to reach the destination. It was a tough choice to choose. SQ to HKG on 77W then AC to YYZ on 77L. Both are triple sevens and the excitement is probably the 77L as not many airlines have them. The other choice is QF to LHR and BA to YYZ. The latter is A380 and B772ER. So i thought, since it is the inaugural flight to LHR, i might as well take that. It's much cheaper ($2k) for the whole journey (SQ charge $3k). I made the booking with my sister on the BA website (BA7371 and BA 93). But in this report i will talk about the Qantas flight. The others will come later.
The day has finally come. There was a long queue at the Qantas/BA checkin counter at Terminal 1. Not because of the A380 flight but because of the 4 flights that are going out to Europe at roughly the same time. When it was our turn, i was pretty disappointed that my sister and i are getting the middle seats of the four seater. So i got no view and i'm stuck in the middle for the 12 hour flight to London. But it was alright i thought since it was a night flight all the way, i got no use for the window. Start your online checkin service Qantas !!
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2/zwgbenny/Qantas%20A380%20SIN%20to%20LHR/IMG_6285A800.jpg
After collecting the boarding pass, we proceeded to the customs where we are greeting by a long queue of departing passengers. Gosh i thought, no more terminal 1 for night flights next time. We used the thumbprint machines which are much faster than the counters. (Good thing we are locals).
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2/zwgbenny/Qantas%20A380%20SIN%20to%20LHR/IMG_6260A800.jpg
We proceeded to the gate C23 and realised the plane have not arrived yet as is delayed slightly. The exit of the gate has the welcome signboard put up to welcome the arriving passengers from Sydney on the A380 first leg of the flight.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2/zwgbenny/Qantas%20A380%20SIN%20to%20LHR/IMG_6257A800.jpg
After some burgers from Burger King, we went back to the gate again and this time the plane has just arrived. They have put up another big poster size of the A380 at the exit gate.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2/zwgbenny/Qantas%20A380%20SIN%20to%20LHR/IMG_6262A800.jpg
Passengers were delighted at the welcome as well as the free luggage tag given out to all alighting passengers. I would have thought Qantas would give out something but in the end it's Changi Airport.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2/zwgbenny/Qantas%20A380%20SIN%20to%20LHR/IMG_6265A800.jpg
We queue up into the boarding area and were given the luggage tag as well. But before entering, someone has dump it on top of the dustbins. I quickly grab it and kept it. :lol: Free extra souvenirs!
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2/zwgbenny/Qantas%20A380%20SIN%20to%20LHR/IMG_6281A800.jpg
The plane look good in the night sky and you can see how long the wings are. A majestic plane indeed.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2/zwgbenny/Qantas%20A380%20SIN%20to%20LHR/IMG_6275A800.jpg
Testing of those bright xenon landing lights.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2/zwgbenny/Qantas%20A380%20SIN%20to%20LHR/IMG_6290A800.jpg
This flight is full house to London as you can see. There are just so many passengers. And the weirdest thing is most are Europeans or Australians. There is hardly Asians onboard. We are outnumbered!
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2/zwgbenny/Qantas%20A380%20SIN%20to%20LHR/IMG_6287A800.jpg
Finally boarding has commenced at pass midnight. We got onto our seat and i must say the seats do look nice. The black carbon fiber look makes it look very modern. As well as easy maintenance i guess. One thing i would have prefer they done is to put the remote below the screen. They have placed it on the arm rest and this makes it difficult to remove and use as well as disturbing your neighbor.
The new Qantas entertainment system is the same as those on SQ but the only difference is the touch screen monitor!
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2/zwgbenny/Qantas%20A380%20SIN%20to%20LHR/IMG_6298A800.jpg
We were told by the pilots that we are late for departure but it was fine. As the wind is favorable in our direction of travel, we will arrive in London in approximately 12 hours plus. And they do not want to arrive during the curfew hours. That's probably a reduction of nearly 2 hours. This is indeed a good news to me as you can see later.
We took off from 02L with no fuss and no vibration at around 1am. The plane just quietly took off or maybe tip toe? After the seat belt sign has been turned off, we were eager to get some movies or cds playing on the entertainment system. We touch and touch on the screen and nothing happens. We thought oh maybe they have not started the system yet so we waited. An hour has passed and still nothing happen. I'm beginning to see other people using the system on the 3 seater to the left and right. We called the stewardess and ask them is something wrong. They got back to us and say they will reset the system and see if it works. Half an hour later it still did not work. They called the panasonic technician onboard and he connect his laptop to the system in the galley and tries to fix the problem. And i realize this glitch not only affect our row but the first six row of the 4 seater.
An hour has passed and the glitch is not resolved. So i guess my iphone has been my entertainment for my journey to London. Luckily the usb charging still works. 3 hours into the journey we were feeling very cold. The crew said the air conditioner is set at 24 degree Celsius. But i can say it does not feel like. Probably like 21. After lots of complains by the passengers they finally raise it to 26. I can still remember the passenger next to my sister asking for 3 blankets. That's a lot haha.