After leaving the Qantas Lounge, I headed back downstairs into the terminal in Melbourne and boarded directly through the lower airbridge to the Airbus A380 heading to Los Angeles. It was hard for me to realize that this was really happening. 2.5 years of waiting and the moment was here; flying in first class on a Qantas A380.
I was greeted at door 2L and then turned left. Left into happiness, left into exclusivity, left into REAL First Class. Qantas has its First Class Suites on the lower deck of the A380 unlike Emirates, Lufthansa or Thai Airways which all have them on the upper deck.
Flying Qantas First Class – Photo: Mal Muir | AirlineReporter.com
I was beginning my day off the way any premium cabin passenger should; spending time in the lounge prior to my flight. But this wasn’t just any lounge and this wasn’t just any flight. For two and a half years I had dreamed and worked towards this day. I had been earning Qantas points purely for this reason: First Class flight on a Qantas Airbus A380.
Arriving at Melbourne Airport I was dropped off in front of the dedicated First Class check-in area, which can be easily missed if you don’t know where to look. Thankfully my driver did know as the check in was hiding behind a line of trees. I was a little too early to check in for my flight, but was able to sit down in the lobby area (which looks almost identical to the First Class lounge).
A Qantas and Emirates A380 Fly in Formation over the Sydney Opera House – Photo: Qantas Airways
On Easter Sunday in Sydney, many families spent time to calm down the sugar loaded children while the sun hides amongst the clouds in the southern autumn (fall). Yet in the sky, a unique event happened, never seen before.
To commemorate the start of the partnership between Qantas & Emirates the two airlines decided to hold a special event. At 10:30am, at 1500ft above the Sydney Harbor Bridge an A380 from Qantas, flew in formation with a second A380 from Emirates. This is the first time in aviation history that not only did two A380s flew in formation, but also two from different airlines.
An Emirates A380 flies High and to the Right of the Qantas A380 – Photo: Bernard Proctor
’œThe sight of two of the world’s great airlines flying two of the world’s largest aircraft so close together over Sydney Harbor is a once in a lifetime opportunity,’ said Captain Green Chief pilot for Qantas.
Pilots from both airlines have conducted dozens of special simulator training sessions since January this year. Emirates pilots came to Australia earlier this month to conduct joint sessions in Qantas’ A380 simulator in Sydney and conducted several more practice runs over the past few days.
As VH-OQF (from Qantas) & A6-EDY (from Emirates) flew over Sydney Harbor they used the call sign ’œSeismic’ because Emirates President Tim Clark said ’œthe partnership between Qantas and Emirates will cause a seismic shift in global aviation.’
The two A380s fly over the Iconic Sydney Harbor Bridge – Photo: Bernard Proctor
The Qantas & Emirates partnership is game changing, as it sees the end of the dominant force on the ’œKangaroo Route’ from London to Australia via Singapore. That traditional route was maintained by an agreement between British Airways (IAG) and Qantas for over 15 years. Although Qantas & British Airways are oneworld partner airlines the joint agreement allowed them to coordinate pricing, services and flights between the UK & Australia. However when that agreement ended on the 31st of March, the Emirates partnership began.
With Qantas flying their A380s to London via Dubai, it allows Qantas customers access to 70 destinations in Europe with only one stop over the previous two. Emirates doesn’t come out of the deal empty handed, as they get access to the Qantas domestic network, which is by far the most comprehensive in Australia. Frequent flyer benefits and some on-board services have been aligned between the two carriers making this a true powerhouse to contend with.
The First time two Different Airlines have flown in Formation – Emirates & Qantas – Photo: Bernard Proctor
I can just imagine standing by the shoreline on Sydney Harbor seeing these two large aircraft flying in formation and being surrounded by a stunned crowd of AvGeeks, tourists & locals. It is only too bad that the sun and blue sky were not out.
This story written by…Malcolm Muir, Lead Correspondent.
Mal is an Australian Avgeek now living and working in Seattle. With a passion for aircraft photography, traveling and the fun that combining the two can bring. Insights into the aviation world with a bit of a perspective thanks to working in the travel industry.
The Airbus A380 is one impressive beast. Even if you might not find her to be the most beautiful aircraft built, her beauty is in her ride. It is amazing to watch one fly over, while just a few feet above head.
SpeedbirdHD posted this video showing Airbus A380s from Qantas, Korean Air, and Singapore Airlines at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
Getting on a plane with-in the US that offers in-flight internet is not that rare anymore. Many airlines have their entire fleet outfitted and others are still in process. For some, having access to the internet for a flight that might only last a few hours is not a huge perk — yet, there is surely more demand for flights that are longer. Since most US-based in-flight internet makes use of cell towers on the ground, the service is not available for international flights. Satellite based systems are heavier, cost more and take longer to install. Because of this, we have not yet seen a many airlines that offer Wi-Fi on longer, international flights.
Even though there have been quite a few airlines that have announced their intent to provide satellite internet service, many have not followed through for one reason or another. One airline that is moving forward with long-haul internet is Qantas.
Qantas Airlines decided to use OnAir as their service provider and they currently have six of their Airbus A380 aircraft flying between Australia and the US configured to offer Wi-Fi on an eight week trial.
’œThe eight-week trial will give customers the opportunity to access the Internet in exactly the same way as a terrestrial Wi-Fi hotspot in which customers can pay with their credit card and surf the Internet, including the use of email,’ Qantas Executive Manager Customer Experience, Alison Webster, said.
Since this is a trial run, only passengers in premium cabins (first and business) will have the opportunity to try out the OnAir Wi-Fi. After the two months is up, Qantas, “will assess opportunities for the long-term application of Internet capabilities across its A380 fleet.”
Australian Business Traveler (AusBT) was able to get a first hand account on how the new Wi-Fi service works. They tell the story of Andrew Hazelton, who flew on February 29th and was given 35MB of bandwidth to use during his flight. That is not much, especially for a long flight and Hazelton told AusBT that he used all of his bandwidth quickly and he was not super impressed by the slow speed of the service. Of course, this is just a trial period and it is hoped that speeds will improve with time.
During the trial, the internet is free for first class and business class passengers and Qantas and OnAir are in process of figuring out how much they might want to charge for the service, if the trials are successful.
Besides testing satellite internet, Qantas is also working with aircraft based entertainment, accessed through Wi-Fi. The new service, called Q Streaming, allows customer to wirelessly connect to computers on the aircraft to access an array of in-flight entertainment options.
Passengers have high expectations and I feel that in the next year or so we will see more airlines adding the ability to access Wi-Fi on international flights. It might not be the best quality of service, but with additional development, we will all see quicker and cheaper options.
