EXCLUSIVE | Qantas will reduce the number of Airbus A380 Melbourne-Los Angeles flights in early 2018 to just three superjumbo services each week in a move which will also trim availability of first class suites on the trans-Pacific route.
From February 12 to March 24 2018, Qantas will fly the A380 between Melbourne and LAX only three days each week, with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner picking up two days of the QF93/QF94 service.
This will run alongside the six-day-a-week schedule of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner on QF95/QF96.
A Qantas spokesperson told Australian Business Traveller that these changes are “to better match capacity with demand during the non-peak travel period”, with the Airbus A380 resuming daily Melbourne-LA flights from March 25 2018 – two days after Qantas axes its daily Melbourne-Dubai-London Airbus A380 flights in favour of the new non-stop Boeing 787 service between Perth and London.
While the superior business class of the Boeing 787 will be a win for travellers booked into the premium cabin, first class flyers booked onto the Melbourne-LAX superjumbo on those 'missing flights' will become collateral damage in the cuts.
Qantas says that passengers already booked in first class on the affected flights will be bumped back to business class and offered a refund of the fare difference between the two cabins, or a refund of the Qantas Points difference between business and first class if travelling on a reward booking.
Alternatively, they can change their date of travel at no charge to one of the days on which the A380 will be flying, or travel to Sydney on the date originally booked and take a first class berth on the daily Sydney-Los Angeles A380 service.
Qantas plans to re-assign the Airbus A380 to higher-demand routes during February and March. In previous years this has seen Hong Kong take up the superjumbo as a seasonal service.
Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.
24 Aug 2011
Total posts 1225
Bit by bit QF are moving to remove First Class from all AU ports except SYD. There is no doubt that at some point First won't be offered out of MEL on any service; whether that means no A380s or refitted A380s, I don't know.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
15 Mar 2016
Total posts 167
I doubt they'll remove the A380 from MEL - LAX completely, unless they get enough 787 to provide a double daily service most days. Other than small off-peak periods, it's an incredibly popular service that usually has high loadings. Next year, with retrofittings and new aircraft will undoubtedly see a lot of metal changes!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
30 May 2013
Total posts 383
The return of VA's MEL-LAX service may be hurting QF here. With UA's non-stop 787 service also under way, there could be too much capacity on this route.
24 Apr 2014
Total posts 269
I just tried the UA service last week, no complaints, they have lifted their game.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
30 May 2013
Total posts 383
Which class did you travel?
24 Apr 2014
Total posts 269
Just economy, it was jam packed, service was good
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
10 Dec 2014
Total posts 58
This is good news for Business Class passengers - the 787 has much better Business Class seats than the A380.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
28 Jul 2011
Total posts 60
Thank you for the positive comment. Nice to see for a change.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
10 Jan 2017
Total posts 39
Qantas first class is like business class on top airlines like Singapore, Emirates, Qatar.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
28 Oct 2011
Total posts 467
What rubbish. QF First is waaaay better than Business on Emirates or Singapore. Clearly you don't fly on all three airlines.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
14 Sep 2012
Total posts 382
Absolutely agree John. QF F is my choice when I can.
27 Mar 2017
Total posts 2
totally agree particularly with regards to Emirates Business - once you get passed the glossy look there is a lack of substance! Singapore has the consistency of service that I haven't seen bettered.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
01 Mar 2013
Total posts 171
Absolute BS Alex. QF First is good, better than QR First (A380) and in my opinion EK First. SQ First is sweet and EY First stumps them all. To say Business on SQ, EK & QR outdoes QF First is just lame. You're not in the air enough my friend to make that call. Give the Roo respect when it's due.
20 Sep 2012
Total posts 76
With respect, he didn't say that their business outdid Qantas First, but that they are equivalent.
20 May 2015
Total posts 579
Clearly the A380 was too big for Qantas.
24 Apr 2014
Total posts 269
I suspect First class in the long term from MEL is doomed
12 Dec 2012
Total posts 1031
So for 5 weeks, between the 3rd and 4th 787s arriving, they'll be using all 3 787s on MEL-LAX while displacing some A380 services.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
17 May 2014
Total posts 35
Got to love some of the armchair CEO's jumping to conclusions without even thinking in the business sense.
Qantas
19 Apr 2012
Total posts 1429
Cutting A380s from Melbourne was very obvious. The next step in a couple of years will be to go double daily to LA maybe after DFW with 789s. Then the A380s will be out of Sydney and the 787s mainly out of Melbourne.
QFF
12 Apr 2013
Total posts 1564
"or a refund of the Qantas Points difference between business and first class if travelling on a reward booking." - LOL!!! There is no such things like award booking in Business MEL-LAX on QF metal! I have a check and found only few and all of them via HKG by CX!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
26 May 2014
Total posts 463
The upside could be an earlier start to the A380 upgrades.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
17 Oct 2014
Total posts 14
Yep you'll probably see QF re-route those A380's onto MEL/SYD-HKG services. The MEL P/C lounge is a big and important investment and not one that QF is looking to close!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
30 May 2014
Total posts 49
I had noticed far better award availability on MEL-LAX than SYD-LAX so I suspected there were less pax on that route. A lot of lower status pax seem to get points upgrades on that route too (myself included when I was a Bronze 3 years ago).
29 Jan 2012
Total posts 184
Interesting reading above, QF is there for the $ - brand loyalty is second. The fact is that P costs the airline and J is the money maker, thus the 789 is the winner over the A380. Don't get me wrong, I am for a P cabin on the large wide bodied aircraft anyday, the airline accountants are unfortunately not. QF P is a good product, but is a cost to the airline. Good-bye P and hello J. Simple!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
14 Aug 2015
Total posts 34
Did anyone also notice that QF95 has also been trimmed from its advertised 6 days a week to 4 days a week from 8th Feb - 25th Mar, sounds like they are jiggling 789's to fill the a380 changes. all that PR doesn't last very long.
Japan Airlines - JAL Mileage Bank
09 May 2017
Total posts 12
Bye Bye A380!
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