Australia’s national airline, Qantas, first flew the Airbus A380 in October 2008 when the Superjumbo took off from Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport bound for Los Angeles. It has taken nearly 16 years for the red-tailed A380 to find its way to Africa, but that changed today when Qantas flight QF63 departed Sydney for Johannesburg.
Swapping the 787-9 for the A380 adds more seats
Today marked history in the evolution of Qantas when the flag carrier launched its first A380 flight to Africa, with a nonstop service between Sydney and Johannesburg. The A380 also marked the return of First Class on the route for the first time since 2018, with the Qantas First cabin featuring 14 individual suites arranged in an exclusive 1-1-1 configuration.
Photo: Qantas
The Airbus A380 service will operate up to six times per week, nearly doubling the capacity, with an extra 130,000 seats between Australia and Africa in 2025. The A380 upgrade will more than double the premium economy seats between Sydney and Johannesburg.
Photo: Qantas
The much-loved upper deck lounge will be warmly welcomed by first and business passengers, featuring booth-style seating for ten people, a self-service bar and an option to order signature drinks and snacks. Qantas International CEO Cam Wallace said the airline is seeing strong demand for the Johannesburg route, and by upgrading to the A380, it will nearly double capacity during peak periods.
“This extra capacity, combined with our new codeshare with Airlink, will significantly expand the options for Qantas customers heading to Africa, strengthening the connections between family and friends, business and trade, as well as supporting the tourism industry on both sides of the Indian Ocean.”
Photo: Qantas
Seamless connections across Africa with Airlink
For many Australian travelers, the flight across the ocean is just the starting foray, with a second flight to take them onwards to the safari parks, natural beauty and amazing history that Africa has to offer. To make that a seamless experience and capture some of that value, Qantas has agreed to a new codeshare partnership with Johannesburg-based Airlink.
Photo: Qantas
Airlink, established in 1992, is a full-service regional airline that operates more than 65 Embraer aircraft from hubs in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town across a network of more than 45 African destinations. Qantas is adding the QF code on Airlink’s domestic network, enabling seamless connections to nine destinations, including Cape Town, Durban, Bloemfontein, East London, George, Hoedspruit, Nelspruit, Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) and Skikuza.
Some history for the Qantas aircraft buffs
- Qantas has a rich history of flying to South Africa over the past 72 years, having operated Constellations, Super Constellations, Electras, 707s, 747s, 787 Dreamliners and now the A380
- With the increase in capacity, Qantas will operate more than 280,000 seats annually between Australia and South Africa
- This is the world’s only A380 flight that crosses the southern Indian Ocean, and when flying the southerly route on a clear day, passengers can often see Antarctica
- The flight time from Sydney to Johannesburg is scheduled at 14:40 hours, while the eastward leg is significantly quicker at 11:55 hours
Qantas has eight active A380s out of a fleet of ten, with the remaining two set to return to service over the next 18 months. The superjumbos are currently being used on routes to Los Angeles International, Singapore Changi and London Heathrow Airports, and from today to Johannesburg’s O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB).