QF A380 flights on sale now...

[Malcolm Parker]

Qantas finally relased some rough details on first scheduled flight to LAX from MEL from 20OCT. Once weekly initially from MEL and SYD.





The Qantas A380 - Now on sale Latest News
Perth, 16 June 2008


Seats on Qantas' new flagship, the Airbus A380, went on sale today, ahead of the airline's first A380 flight - from Melbourne to Los Angeles - on 20 October 2008.

Qantas Group General Manager Sales and Distribution, Mr Rob Gurney, said the A380 would operate on selected flights from Melbourne and Sydney to the USA, and would be introduced progressively on selected flights from Sydney to Singapore and London from early 2009.

He said the first Qantas A380 would operate two return services each week between Australia and Los Angeles - one from Melbourne and one from Sydney, from 24 October.

With the introduction of a second A380 aircraft in November, the airline would operate:

*two return Melbourne-Los Angeles A380 services each week - QF93 on Mondays and Wednesdays, with the return QF94 operating the same nights; and
*three return Sydney-Los Angeles services - QF11 on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, with the return QF12 also operating the same nights.

"All four classes of the A380 will offer passengers greater levels of space and comfort, as well as state-of-the-art interiors designed by Qantas Creative Director Marc Newson," Mr Gurney said.

The Qantas A380 will be configured with 450 seats - 14 individual First Suites, 72 in Business, 32 in Premium Economy cabin and 332 in Economy.

Qantas A380 features will include:
*completely redesigned First cabin, offering customers privacy and luxury in their own First Suite;
*fully-flat next generation Skybed and separate, dedicated lounge area in Business;
*the airline's Premium Economy cabin, with extra wide Recaro seats;
*new ergonomically designed Recaro seats and self-service refreshment bars in Economy; and
*on demand entertainment system with over 1000 entertainment options and onboard connectivity.

"The A380 will also offer significant improvements in terms of environmental performance, including reduced fuel consumption and emissions, greater efficiency and less noise," Mr Gurney said.

Mr Gurney said that while the A380 would provide customers with an all-new inflight experience, lead in fares would initially be the same as those currently offered on comparable Qantas B747 services, however the airline's state-of-the-art new First Suite would be priced at a premium.

Issued by Qantas Corporate Communication (3773)
Email: qantasmedia@qantas.com.au

[Montague S]

Qantas A380 Implementation Schedule

The new Qantas A380 will be progressively introduced on selected flights from Sydney and Melbourne to Los Angeles from late October 2008. The Qantas A380 will also be progressively introduced on selected flights from Sydney to Singapore and London from mid January 2009.

All flights are subject to last minute change of aircraft.

Between Flight Number Status Comments

Melbourne Los Angeles QF93, 94 On selected flights from 20 October 2008 - Service departs Monday from 20 October
- Service departs Monday and Friday from 12 November

Sydney Los Angeles QF11, 12 On selected flights from 24 October 2008 - Service departs Friday from 24 October
- Service departs Wednesday, Friday and Sunday from 12 November

Sydney Singapore QF31, 32 On selected flights from 16 January 2009 - Service departs Tuesday, Friday and Saturday from 16 January

Sydney London QF31, 32 On selected flights from 16 January 2009
- Service departs Tuesday, Friday and Saturday from 16 January

Singapore London QF31, 32 On selected flights from 16 January 2009 - Service departs Tuesday, Friday and Saturday from 16 January

http://www.qantas.com.au/info/flying/A380/schedule

[Michael Morrison]

How bizaree that they are doing a few services per week rather than daily......

[Rhys Xanthis]

How bizaree that they are doing a few services per week rather than daily......

due to the delivery schedule im sure.

[Michael Morrison]

due to the delivery schedule im sure.

But why not make LAX daily before going to LHR??? that is what I was questioning....

[Rhys Xanthis]

But why not make LAX daily before going to LHR??? that is what I was questioning....

well they have to get there within a decent time period.

they have protection on the pacific route, but there is plenty of competition of LHR.

Heading to LAX first from SYD with a380 would have something to do with VAustralia in my opinion. Get a product out there which people will want to try. The A380 already exists with SQ on the LHR route, so i guess its less of a priority to get started on...

[Andrew M]

Hmm it says MON/FRI for the MEL-LAX route, but in January it's showing on Wednesdays! :confused:

As well as the Mon/Fri :)

[Sarah C]

Heading to LAX first from SYD with a380 would have something to do with VAustralia in my opinion.

The plan to LAX has been around for years, V Australia entering has nothing to do with it. Putting the aircraft on the airlines most popular route makes sense and that was the plan since they bought the aircraft.

[Luke Chittock]

Howdy all

A380 seatmap at the following link:

http://www.qantas.com.au/infodetail/flying/inTheAir/ourAircraft/A380-14F72J32PY332Y.pdf

Regards

Luke/PER

[Lukas M]

Can anyone get in?

[Montague S]

can anyone get in what, Mahoney? :confused:

[Lukas M]

ha, get into qantas.com, or is it my browser?

[Rhys Xanthis]

The plan to LAX has been around for years, V Australia entering has nothing to do with it. Putting the aircraft on the airlines most popular route makes sense and that was the plan since they bought the aircraft.

good point.

It is their biggest source of revenue. More along the lines of what i was thinking that they will face some more competition in coming times on the route with open skies agreement, so perhaps some more A380's will go there rather than LHR.

[Philip Argy]

http://www.qantas.com.au/info/flying/A380/index?alt_cam=au:ff:edm:jun08:2

The pics show the first a/c as VH-OQA [c/n 014], which is consistent with the a/c we have seen in Hamburg. Will "QA" be added to the tail top like the rest of the fleet?

I guess we'll have to reserve judgement until we see it in the flesh, but from what I can see from the animation, it will be hard for first class window seat passengers to actually see out the window, and the setup doesn't seem to hold a candle to what SQ has achieved. Also, the J class seat doesn't appear to be an order of magnitude better than the current Skybed, although any enhancement has to be an improvement.

On the plus side, the laptop power and USB/Ethernet connectivity arrangements seem excellent.

[Rhys Xanthis]

Interesting how they have chosen to have no Y on the upper deck!

All J and PY. Bottom deck first and Y.

EDIT: I love how the seats in the demo (Y) are red lol!

EDIT2: Poor to have First Class screens at only 17inches, yet Y are at 10.6in. I am sure SQ's are much bigger in first?

EDIT3: I didnt know they had an onboard business lounge...

[Montague S]

so QF is currently offering 380 pound return flights from London to Sydney for March/April 2009 which equals about $800 AUD...its available for the first 380 passengers, amazingly they've offered NOTHING to their Australian customers.

:rolleyes:

[Philip Argy]

Possibly because there are no other units of currency 380 of which would have sufficient value!

[Montague S]

Possibly because there are no other units of currency 380 of which would have sufficient value!

could always offer 380 seats for $800... ;)

[Rhys Xanthis]

i just wonder if domestic legs ie MEL-SYD can be booked, considering monday departure form mel and friday from syd to LAX.

i havent found anything with schedule yet..

[Ben O]

EDIT: I love how the seats in the demo (Y) are red lol!

Whats your point?

The seats are also red in the actual A380.

Only 1 Y zone is green.

[Ken K]

Does SYD/MEL even have any A380-capable domestic bays? More than likely they'll be repositioning on QF6xxx flights..

[Daniel F]

Does SYD/MEL even have any A380-capable domestic bays? More than likely they'll be repositioning on QF6xxx flights..

Doesn't have to be a domestic flight. Could be a domestic sector of an international flight, like how QF73 does MEL-SYD on some days.

[Ken K]

Daniel, it'd be loaded into the schedule if that were the case. Something like QF12 LAX-SYD-MEL 1-stop..

[Michael Mak]

Doesn't have to be a domestic flight. Could be a domestic sector of an international flight, like how QF73 does MEL-SYD on some days.

It so, this would be a cheap way to ride on A380.

[Brendan Lawrence]

EDIT: I love how the seats in the demo (Y) are red lol!

Well the demo is not misleading if that's what you're suggesting, because the maroon/red seats do feature in one third of the Economy cabin. (Just as Ben has pointed out a few minutes ago it seems) That green colour that the media and enthusiasts alike jumped all over is just in a one third section of Economy, with what looks like a gold-like colour in the other third.

You can see the placement of the colour shown on the A380 seatmap here...
http://http://www.qantas.com.au/flash/miniSites/a380_08/export/download/plane_plan.jpg (http://www.qantas.com.au/flash/miniSites/a380_08/export/download/plane_plan.jpg)

[Kieran Wells]

would have loved to have Qantas offering those $380 seats from hear to London...Maybe even just Singapore. Would definately be worth spending the money to see the rellys in UK, or even a week holiday(shopping trip/City Harvest Church visit) to Singapore worth it.. Having always been on 744's before would be great to take the A380(QF or Singapore) up to singapore, and then get the BA 772 back down..

[Ken K]

so QF is currently offering 380 pound return flights from London to Sydney for March/April 2009 which equals about $800 AUD...its available for the first 380 passengers, amazingly they've offered NOTHING to their Australian customers.

:rolleyes:
USA's got an even better offer: LAX to SYD/MEL is on sale $380 return till 17Jun for the period 2Nov08-8Dec08.

[Montague S]

USA's got an even better offer: LAX to SYD/MEL is on sale $380 return till 17Jun for the period 2Nov08-8Dec08.

not really the spirit of Australia, is it? :eek:

give the deals to everyone else but stuff those who give you the most revenue...

[D Chan]

The plan to LAX has been around for years, V Australia entering has nothing to do with it. Putting the aircraft on the airlines most popular route makes sense and that was the plan since they bought the aircraft.

also LAX will be the first port to have regular A380 pax service.

[Rhys Xanthis]

USA's got an even better offer: LAX to SYD/MEL is on sale $380 return till 17Jun for the period 2Nov08-8Dec08.

not really the spirit of Australia, is it? :eek:

give the deals to everyone else but stuff those who give you the most revenue...

for once i agree with Montague:p

i must have missed the rest on the economy seats. i thought they were all green with classes playing out different colours rather than each economy section of the cabin. my bad :o

[D Chan]

USA's got an even better offer: LAX to SYD/MEL is on sale $380 return till 17Jun for the period 2Nov08-8Dec08.

I guess one of the reasons the fares are cheaper from other countries like the US is because they need to attract / lure people to fly a service which will now have more seats. Also the aussie dollar is so high against the USD at the moment, it will probably be a bit harder luring people to come to Australia for a holiday given the unfavourable exchange rates. Don't forget about the seasonal factor as well - their summer is our winter.

March/April 2009 and 2Nov08-8Dec08 in the northern hemisphere - are these holiday periods in the northern hemisphere?

[URL]Also, the J class seat doesn't appear to be an order of magnitude better than the current Skybed, although any enhancement has to be an improvement.

there are some improvements to the seats, but more importantly - check out the 80 inch leg room, and it is non-slanted ;) perhaps over-generous in the legroom!

[Montague S]

I guess one of the reasons the fares are cheaper from other countries like the US is because they need to attract / lure people to fly a service which will now have more seats. Also the aussie dollar is so high against the USD at the moment, it will probably be a bit harder luring people to come to Australia for a holiday given the unfavourable exchange rates. Don't forget about the seasonal factor as well - their summer is our winter.

March/April 2009 and 2Nov08-8Dec08 in the northern hemisphere - are these holiday periods in the northern hemisphere?



there are some improvements to the seats, but more importantly - check out the 80 inch leg room, and it is non-slanted ;) perhaps over-generous in the legroom!

actually...the travel period is for our summer & their winter so its an even better deal than you could imagine, I'm still stunned as to why its not offered from Australia.

[Michael Morrison]

, I'm still stunned as to why its not offered from Australia.

Probably because they will have enough demand from their home market to to have to do promo's as low as that

[Chris Tully]

give the deals to everyone else but stuff those who give you the most revenue...

It is called smart business. Maximise revenue. People will pay.

[Gerald A]

Timetable link http://www.qantas.com.au/info/flying/A380/schedule

[Lukas M]

Apparently a Sale was on yesterday SYD-LAX-SYD for $405!!!!

DAMN!:mad:

[Bernie P]

Is this what you mean:

IT STARTED as a day promising so much for Qantas customers but ended with yet another reminder of the pain brought on by the rising cost of fuel.

Qantas sold return tickets from Sydney to Los Angeles for $405, as the company spruiked the impending entry of A380 airbus to its fleet on October 20.

Only A380 tickets were on offer and they sold quickly. By early afternoon Qantas turned to reminding consumers of the reality faced by the industry, slashing services from Newcastle and Wollongong and closing a Mildura maintenance base, affecting 20 jobs.

The A380 promotion is seen as an attempt by Qantas to assert its near-monopoly control of the Sydney-Los Angeles route before the entry of Virgin Blue's subsidiary, V Australia, on December 15.

The managing director of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, Peter Harbison, said the Sydney-Los Angeles route was under-serviced and the market should absorb the extra competition pretty easily.

Jonathan Dart


Source: - SMH (http://www.smh.com.au/news/travel/little-gain-more-pain-as-qantas-sale-satisfies-few/2008/06/17/1213468423155.html?sssdmh=dm16.320206)

[Montague S]

they promoted it really well...how many here heard of it yesterday? I know I didn't.

[Rhys Xanthis]

they promoted it really well...how many here heard of it yesterday? I know I didn't.

what a joke, i didnt hear a peep. nice way to spruik up the arrival of the next best thing..

[Chris Tully]

FF's got e-mails? Maybe they chose to offer the special to customers loyal to Qantas?

[Philip Argy]

I'm a Platinum FF and received nothing ... :(

[Andrew M]

Spoke to many people with FF accounts with QF, lots of Platinums included. No email about the sale.

Thanks QF

That being said the website couldn't cope with the load from the A380 launch alone! Let alone a big sale!

[Andrew P]

Spoke to many people with FF accounts with QF, lots of Platinums included. No email about the sale.



all my family did, that's 4 emails to 4 different address, even my 7 year old daughter got one to her email address

did you get the email headed "Points Balance and June Offers"

well it was the 1st item in the email

mine was sent Mon 16-06-2008 15:03

suggest most of your people you spoke to just binned this particular email

Banjo

[Montague S]

all my family did, that's 4 emails to 4 different address, even my 7 year old daughter got one to her email address

did you get the email headed "Points Balance and June Offers"



in other words they flew under the radar with it and didn't do a red-e-deal mail out...

you don't generally find a "pay cash" airfare special in your FF email.

[Andrew M]

in other words they flew under the radar with it and didn't do a red-e-deal mail out...

you don't generally find a "pay cash" airfare special in your FF email.

Correct! :mad: So everyone did receive that email, but who really reads the points balance updates..

[James Smith]

As Qantas will only have three aircraft by 16 January, 2009 they will have to adjust the LAX schedule to fit in the LHR services, as QF 31 departs SYD on successive days, Fridays and Saturdays.

[Philip Argy]

in other words they flew under the radar with it and didn't do a red-e-deal mail out...

you don't generally find a "pay cash" airfare special in your FF email.

Maybe I got a different version to everyone else, but all that the first item in my Points Balance said was this:



Hello Philip
The Qantas A380 - now on sale
The Qantas A380 is now on sale with the first passenger flight between Melbourne and Los Angeles taking off on 20 October 2008. With supremely stylish and comfortable interiors designed by Qantas Creative Director Marc Newson, the Qantas A380 sets a new benchmark in air travel. The new Qantas A380 is now on sale for selected flights from Sydney and Melbourne to Los Angeles for travel from late October 2008. The Qantas A380 is also on sale for selected flights from Sydney to Singapore and London for travel from mid January 2009. Even more ways for Frequent Flyers to earn and redeem points.
Experience the new Qantas A380 before you fly.

Visit qantas.com/a380 (http://edm.qantas.net.au/cts/click?q=61;19708;SQwjj7taGNH4%2BjN5tS0nm9VA9Y5RsUx i)


Where in there or in the linked site is there a special offer remotely like what has been offered overseas, which is what the original comment was pointing out. No-one said we weren't told that A380 had gone on sale - just that even platinum FFs weren't offered a special deal, and certainly not a pay cash offer.

[Montague S]

Maybe I got a different version to everyone else, but all that the first item in my Points Balance said was this:



Where in there or in the linked site is there a special offer remotely like what has been offered overseas, which is what the original comment was pointing out. No-one said we weren't told that A380 had gone on sale - just that even platinum FFs weren't offered a special deal, and certainly not a pay cash offer.

I got that version too and it didn't offer anything other than what you've posted...which we had posted here well before the email out.

I think this thread started about 3hrs before QF even sent out their email.