Qantas launches A380 on longest route

Qantas has deployed the world’s largest passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380, on the world’s longest route, connecting Sydney with Dallas.

The new trans-Pacific service commenced on 29 September 2014, when the 484-seat A380 replaced the old Boeing 747-400 aircraft on the route. Flights will now operate six times per week (every day except Tuesday).

Operating as flight QF7, the A380 will depart Sydney at 1310 and arrive at Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) International Airport at 1345 the same day. The return service, QF8, will then leave DFW at 2215 and arrive back in Sydney at 0605 two days later. The flying time is approximately 15.5 hours.

“Today, Qantas is leading the way again with the introduction of the world’s largest passenger aircraft on the world’s longest route, Sydney to Dallas-Fort Worth, with a flying time of almost 16 hours,” said Qantas’ group CEO, Alan Joyce.

“Not only will the A380 increase seats on the route by more than 10% each week, it will also provide us with greater fuel efficiency and the range to operate the return service direct back to Sydney.

“Our customers also now have the choice of four cabins to both Los Angeles and Dallas-Fort Worth as we introduce our Marc Newson-designed first class Suites on the Dallas-Fort Worth route for first time,” he added.

Qantas recently increased its services to the US, and now operates 41 weekly services to the country. About half of these services are operated by A380 aircraft, with the remainder being flown using B747s which have been equipped with A380-style cabins.

And the new A380 service is also expected to provide a tourism boost for Sydney and New South Wales. Destination NSW said the extra capacity would allow more Americans to visit the city and state.

“The new non-stop services… will deliver an extra 13,700 visitors to Sydney every year, providing a boost to the state’s economy and making it easier for Americans to [visit],” said Destination NSW’s CEO, Sandra Chipchase.

“The US is one of our top five key inbound visitor markets. In the past financial year 317,000 visitors from the United States contributed approximately AU$546 million (US$478m) into the NSW economy, so the more we can do to encourage them to visit Sydney and NSW the better,” she added.

The new service comes 60 years after Qantas first launched services between Australia and the US. In 1954, Qantas operated a ‘Super Constellation’ aircraft from Sydney to San Francisco – its first trans-Pacific route to North America.