Qantas Celebrate Inaugural A380 Flight

Australian flag carrier Qantas have become the first airline to fly a commercial Airbus A380 flight from Australia to the US West Coast.

Departure of the first flight was 11.15am and landed at Los Angeles at approximately 7.30am with special guests being actor John Travolta - Qantas ambassador-at-large and ex-Grease co-star Olivia Newton-John. They were joined by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Speaking about the flight Chief Executive Officer of Qantas, Mr Geoff Dixon commented that the service marked an increased commitment from Qantas to the trans-pacific market. He went on to say;

"We have operated air services between Australia and the United States since 1954 and have invested significantly over our 54 years of operation to develop these routes. Today, we offer 47 services a week to the US, plus daily extensions to New York. In fact, we offer more services to the USA than any other international market with the exception of New Zealand."

Qantas are due to take delivery of three brand new Airbus A380 aircraft before the end of 2008 and are looking to have a total of eight of the double-decker aircraft in service in their fleet by the end of 2009. They are currently expecting to have 20 of the airliners in service by the end of 2013.

Published by: Jon Vickery