Qantas has announced that it will move forward its Airbus A380 retirement by four years, and theyll now be phased out as of 2028. If youre like me, and are a fan of the A380, thats obviously bad news. I should also mention that if you dont like paying a fortune for airfare, its also bad news. Let me explain.
Not soon enough for this flatulent fat waddling white whale. Harpoon all of them, now.
No. This abomination is still flying, and its fanboys still try to promote it by badmouthing the Queen. Kill it with fire.
I've done LAX-MEL-LAX in the 380, as well as SYD-LAX. Fortunately in F on award receptions. Was it the most amazing F product, no but we really enjoyed it nonetheless. I'll miss the 380s on the US routes.
It's my only long haul F experience, also on an award redemption, I'd do it again, but probably wouldn't pay cash at QF prices. I've flown in all four classes on their A380s and will really miss them. We'll still have A380 options from Australia, just not on TPAC. I'm already flying CX more often now, so I'll probably survive.
It’s too costly to operate the A380. Qantas plans to increase fares to make up for fewer seats (in economy).
Bad news for Aussies flying the Kangaroo route to CDG or LHR (Via SIN)
Australia needs to revisit its international aviation treaties. If Qantas are going to deliberately slash capacity to create artifical scarcity, then SQ, QR, EK, CX and others should be allowed unlimited access to run international flights to/from Australia, with the current caps being abolished.
I think you need to do your homework before posting.
Australia has open skies agreements with both Singapore and China.
Which is probably why you will find that Singapore Airlines flies to more cities in Australia than almost any other airline - SIN to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth (all multiple times daily) as well as one of the few airlines that also flies to Adelaide, Darwin and Cairns.
Likewise Cathay.
Hong Kong has a different air treaty to Mainland China. Cathay is limited to 70 weekly flights to the 4 major AUS cities AFAIK.
It is absolutely the ugliest plane i have ever seen. I hope they stick to one floor…just keep stretching it. I thought the A340 was gorgeous
Sad to see the most restful first class in the world go so soon!
The ticket price thing is a nothing burger. Its basically saying less economy seats will increase the average revenue (higher proportion of premium seats with higher fares spread across less total seats).
Similar story with the contribution margin, I think its telling they used DFW as the example as we know they block around 100 seats per flight. Margin will undoubtedly improve drastically provided A) there are more premium seats and B) no seats are blocked.
Aren't economy passengers the most price sensitive and so less likely to accept bigger price rises? Wouldn't the higher fares skew to premium pass6for whom price is less of an issue.
Terrible. But all know in the next two years something will slow down the delivery of the new A350-1000, something happens and the 777x it's the cats meow and they are being delivered to all the airlines beyond fast so Quantas decides to keep the A350-1000 at bay to see if it likes the 777X. So what do they do in that in-between decision time is keep the A380s flying till 2032 like planed. Plus I'm sure there will be 3 different CEO Switches at Quantas the next 5 years anyways. Delta wanted to get rid of their 767-300er years back but what happened????? The A330neo is coming out of the plant to slow. So the decided to keep them around another 5 years. Any airline that says it's going to get rid of an certain airplane in a 5 year span are usually 99.9% wrong. There are high fuel prices, then low dual prices that crap like Covid or boring or airbus claiming a part is now to expensive to buy and assemble, or find out the A380 is a lot cheaper for parts because there are more of them around. It's literally all here say. Anytime an airline claims it's going to retire a plane the next 3 years out add at least another 4 years.
Ps so sorry about my spelling l was meaning Qantas obviously my bad!!!!!! I'm by far the worst speller but hopefully you get the just of what lm saying lol
Terrible. But all know in the next two years something will slow down the delivery of the new A350-1000, something happens and the 777x it's the cats meow and they are being delivered to all the airlines beyond fast so Quantas decides to keep the A350-1000 at bay to see if it likes the 777X. So what do they do in that in-between decision time is keep the A380s flying till 2032 like planed. Plus I'm sure there will be 3 different CEO Switches at Quantas the next 5 years anyways. Delta wanted to get rid of their 767-300er years back but what happened????? The A330neo is coming out of the plant to slow. So the decided to keep them around another 5 years. Any airline that says it's going to get rid of an certain airplane in a 5 year span are usually 99.9% wrong. There are high fuel prices, then low fuel prices or crap like Covid or boeing or airbus claiming a part is now to expensive to buy and assemble, or find out the A380 is a lot cheaper for parts because there are more of them around. It's literally all here say. Anytime an airline claims it's going to retire a plane the next 3 years out add at least another 4 years.
As someone who works on the A380 in many ways I will be sad to see her go.
The space available onboard for passengers and crew is unrivalled. I can honestly say that passengers seem more content on the 380 operated flights I work on regardless of the class of travel, primarily down to it being so roomy.
The downside of working on it is the poor operational reliability. Technical issues, things breaking down in the cabin are constant compared to the other types I work on and take longer to be fixed.
@Duck Ling. Couldn't agree more. Took two Singapore Airlines economy flights last year, one on 777 and the other on an A380. The difference in comfort was massive, from legroom to actually fall asleep with legs stretched out, to bigger toilets and space to walk about at the back. Will be sad to see any of these big birds being retired.
Whilst comparing the A380 with the Airbus A350 ULR there will be an over 50% reduction in seating with the more standard configuration the reduction will be less plus an increase in frequency may also take place
This should make Chinese and ME carriers happy, increase capacity and watch the planes fill up.
Qantas is already so expensive, it will be the most expensive airline in the world on average.
Yes, QF is expensive for what you get. Which is a 3* service at a 5* price. And that's in premium cabins. The economy service is even worse at just 2*. It wasn't always like that though. You should have experienced QF in its prime during the 80s and 90s. The current downgrades in service were a deliberate tactic by management, and endorsed by the board.
Most Australians already fly Singapore Airlines and Emirates for long hauls, so the doings of that once great airline called Qantas will be of minimal concern to the average flier from Down Under. There's a reason why SQ is called the nation's "Unofficial Carrier" - and has carried that title for many years..On a personal note, it's been sad witnessing firsthand the downfall of QF since I took my first flight with the airline in 1980. It's gone from an airline I actively sought out, to an airline I only grudgingly fly when there are no feasible options.
No sane Australian who pays for their own tickets flies Qantas off this island. Unfortunately we are stuck with them if we want to get around it. Their pricing power is criminal as is their regulatory power. If we had any sense we’d have them up before the National Anti Corruption Commission for all the freebies they dole out to pollies; except that was formed without any real teeth.
It is exactly the same in Canada.
We have a crappy airline that we are stuck with and OPM flyers love
Based in the US and needing connections to the cities with Australia flights, I only end up on QF TPAC flights as an AA codeshare. In those cases, the fare is fair. While I pay for F on domestic US trips, within Australia I find F (OK, business in QF terms) to be a crazy high addition. I do typically fly QF domestically, as they're competitive with Virgin, and they give me an extra 9 kilos (32kg instead of 23kg) on my checked bag as an AA gold.
Have a trip planned with QF on their a380 and 787 (and a220, though, that last one is technically operated by QantasLink). Glad to have specifically picked the a380 to be able to try it one more time before this retirement. It's sad to think there'll soon be a time in commercial aviation with just single-level aircraft. Double-decker comrades, enjoy these a380 (and 747) while they last!
It will be a sad day when the A380s go. And I say that as a diehard 747 fan
I agree. Getting on/off a 380 is a pain, but the quiet environment and space inside per passenger are unrivalled. Which means that ORD_Is_My.... is a muppet 🙂
I have no expertise or inside information, but I wonder if the decreased seats by removing the 380 might be matched by new routes. Not that long ago, your mainland US to Australia flights on QF were mostly LAX and SFO. You're now seeing DFW, LAS, and JFK (one stop now). I think the non-ULR 35Ms can do SYD-ORD. Since, I suspect, most of the DFW/SYD traffic doesn't start/stop in DFW, having two routes between SYD/ORD and SYD/DFW on two 35Ms offers a better connections for some and more seats than a 380.
I've only flown the 380 in coach, except for one J short Emirates hop. It possesses none of the nostalgia I had for the 747. It's just a failed concept.
I disagree.
I love flying in a 380 because the flights are so smooth because of its size. I also like having two separate boarding entrances.
The cabin also seems bigger regardless of what class I booked.
Also, I note that QF has previously sad 2 789s flying one after the other LAX-SYD would have the same number if seats as a 380, but a lower tital cost. Based on that, it might be cheaper to fly a 35M SYD-DFW and another, say, SYD-ORD, have more total seats and better logistics/connections that a sole SYD-DFW 380. Of course, that eats another slot at SYD, but the opening of Sydney's new airport (WSI) may reduce that problem.