First Qantas Airbus A380 Flight Lands in Los Angeles

Monday, October 20, 2008

Los Angeles (iTourist.com News)

Qantas 93 Heavy, Cleared to Land Runway 25 Left

At 7:26am Pacific Time, Monday, October 20, 2008, a Qantas 'Jumbo' Airbus A380 touched down on runway 25L as Qantas flight 93 from Melbourne. History was made as the first passenger A380 flight arrived at LAX. A first for Qantas as well, operating the first A380 flight between Australia and the United States.

The flight left Melbourne at 11:15am and arrived at LAX nearly 14 hours later. Qantas Flight 93 was greeted by Qantas Ambassador-at-Large John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Next up for the A380 is inaugural service in the Sydney to Los Angeles market which is scheduled for Friday, October 24. Qantas flight 11 is scheduled to depart Sydney at 2:05pm and will arrive into Los Angeles at 9:45am the same day.

Qantas has configured their A380 aircraft with 450 seats split between four cabins - 14 in First Class, 72 in Business Class, 32 in Premium Economy and 332 in Economy Class. The interior was designed made-to-order for Qantas and passengers will have Audio and Video on Demand (AVOD) at each seat.

The Chief Executive Officer of Qantas, Geoff Dixon, said Qantas' decision to fly its first commercial service to the United States was a mark of its commitment to growing the trans-Pacific market. Qantas has been operating flights between Australia and the United States since 1954.

Dixon said Qantas would take delivery of three A380 aircraft by the end of 2008, and have eight in service by the end of 2009. Its 20-strong order would be delivered by the end of 2013. "By the end of 2009, when our eighth aircraft has been delivered, Qantas will offer daily A380 services to Los Angeles from Melbourne."

Another key route for Qantas is London. According to Dixon, the first A380 services to London, via Singapore, would commence in January 2009.

The first Qantas A380 is named Nancy-Bird Walton after the 92 year-old Australian aviation pioneer.