Dépêches

Qantas Takes Delivery of Fourth A380

Dépèche transmise le 26 août 2009 par Business Wire

Qantas Takes Delivery of Fourth A380

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Qantas Airways has taken delivery of its fourth Airbus A380, with the aircraft arriving in Sydney following a ferry flight from Toulouse, France.

Qantas Airways Senior Executive Vice President, The Americas and Pacific, Mr. Wally R. Mariani, A.M. said the addition of the aircraft to the fleet would see Qantas A380 services increase at Los Angeles and London from September 7, 2009.

“Our A380 services, which commenced in October 2008 at LAX, have been incredibly popular with customers and the aircraft has generated extremely positive passenger feedback,” Mr. Mariani said.

“This fourth aircraft will allow us to increase Los Angeles-Sydney services from three to four per week as well as increase London-Singapore-Sydney A380 services from three to five per week.

“Our fifth and sixth A380s are also due for delivery by the end of the year, after which we will provide customers daily A380 services from Los Angeles and London to Sydney and increase Los Angeles-Melbourne services from two to three per week.

“Qantas will then operate 17 weekly round trip A380 services between the U.S. and the U.K. and Australia.”

The new aircraft is named Fergus McMaster in honor of one of the airline’s founders and its first Chairman.

The first three Qantas A380s are named: Nancy-Bird Walton, after the first woman to fly a commercial aviation service in Australia; and Hudson Fysh and Paul McGinness, the two other founders of Qantas. Hudson Fysh was also Qantas’ first Managing Director.

Since October 2008, Qantas has carried more than 300,000 passengers on its 450-seat, four class A380 services and is the only airline flying the A380 in the U.S.

In addition to the fifth and sixth aircraft due by the end of 2009, three more A380 aircraft are scheduled for delivery in 2010.

About Qantas

Qantas is the only airline providing Airbus A380 services between the U.S. and Australia. The Qantas A380 features aircraft interiors designed by internationally renowned industrial designer and Qantas Creative Director Marc Newson. Providing more than 40 flights per week from the U.S., Qantas offers over 30 non-stop flights from Los Angeles and seven direct flights from New York (JFK) to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Auckland; and five non-stop flights from San Francisco and three from Honolulu, to Sydney. A leader in in-flight entertainment, all Qantas mainland departures feature on demand video and audio selections for movies, TV programs, radio and games in all classes.

For more information about Qantas, visit the web site at qantas.com.

Note to editors: An image of the new aircraft is available on request.