They say as one door closes, another opens. That seems to be the case for Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport’s
Airbus A380 operations. Soon after oneworld carrier British Airways
revealed it would not use the double-decker quadjet to Texas in summer 2025, fellow oneworld member Qantas
plans to return the superjumbo to Dallas. The development comes amid broader network changes for Australia’s flag carrier and a month after introducing the subfleet to Johannesburg for the first time.

Qantas is bringing back the A380 to Texas

The carrier flew the A380 from Sydney to Dallas/Fort Worth between September 2014 and April 2020 entirely because of the opportunities from partner American Airlines
at its busiest hub. Qantas replaced the now-retired Boeing 747-400. While the airline inaugurated Melbourne-Dallas flights in December 2022, the very long route has never seen the A380.

After more than five years of absence, the 485-seat type—the only equipment in Qantas’ current fleet to have first class—will return on August 11, 2025.

The A380 will operate four times weekly, with the 236-seat 787-9—which is currently used—on the other three days. Weekly roundtrip seats for sale will rise by 60%, including 112 in first class.

  • Sydney-Dallas/Fort Worth: QF7, 12:10-12:30 (same day; 15h 20m)
  • Dallas/Fort Worth-Sydney: QF8, 22:40-06:55+2 (17h 15m)
Qantas Airbus A380

Photo: Ryan Fletcher | Shutterstock

Qantas currently has seven A380s

As of October 16, it has seven active double-deckers: VH-OQA, OQB, OQD, OQG, OQH, OQI, and OQJ. According to ch-aviation, VH-OQA was the 14th A380 off the production line and remains the world’s oldest active superjumbo.

Qantas’ other three aircraft (VH-OQC, OQK, and OQL) are parked in Abu Dhabi for heavy maintenance and more (OQL is undergoing cabin refurbishment). In all, ch-aviation indicates they average 15.1 years. Each aircraft has 485 seats in the same layout:

  • 14 first-class seats (among the most of all A380 operators)
  • 70 in business with lie-flat seats
  • 60 in premium economy
  • 341 in economy

Where the A380s are flying (or will fly)

As of October 16 and subject to change, Qantas’ A380 network comprises the following routes. As always, it may change.

  • Sydney-Singapore-London Heathrow: daily
  • Sydney-Los Angeles: daily
  • Sydney-Johannesburg: six times weekly
  • Sydney-Dallas/Fort Worth: four times weekly
  • Melbourne-Los Angeles: twice-weekly

Sydney-Dallas will become the world’s fourth-longest A380 service (one-stop and non-stop flights combined) and number two for non-stop services.

QF A380 network as of October 16

Image: GCMap

Where Sydney-Dallas passengers go

According to the US Department of Transportation T-100 data, Qantas carried ~138,000 roundtrip passengers between the two cities in the year to July 2024. It was when the 787-9 was used. With 164,000 seats for sale, the route had an 84% load factor. As always, this says nothing about yields and should not be considered in isolation from other considerations.

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The estimated traffic composition is shown below. While hardly surprising, the route would obviously not exist but for the passengers who connected over American’s Dallas hub

  • Over Dallas (Sydney-Dallas-xxx): 56,000 (41%); New York, Toronto, Washington DC, Orlando, and Boston were top city markets
  • Bridged both airports (xxx-Sydney-Dallas-xxx): 44,000 (32%); Canberra-Sydney-Dallas-Washington DC was number one (ouch at flying that in one go!)
  • Point-to-point (Sydney-Dallas only): 20,000 (14%)
  • Over Sydney (Dallas-Sydney-xxx): 18,000 roundtrip passengers (13%); Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Cairns-Sydney-Dallas were the five most popular origins and destinations

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