Nearly two years after removing its A380s from commercial service when the pandemic broke out, Qantas announced that it will finally bring forward its return by three months, operating the first scheduled flight on January 11.
According to Australian Aviation, the airline will use the VH-OQB-registered aircraft to replace the 787-9 on international flights to make up for the lack of pilots affected by the 14-day quarantine Queensland imposes on crews. Seventy of the pilots in the Dreamliner fleet are based in that state, significantly reducing availability to operate flights.
As of January 10, the route between Sydney and Los Angeles will have three weekly flights with A380 and one with 787-9 (today they operate one daily flight).
In the case of Melbourne – London, they go from one daily 787 flight to four weekly; while from Melbourne to Los Angeles, they decrease from four weekly 787 flights to three. But in these cases, the A380 will not be reintroduced.
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It is expected that the Queensland government will relax restrictions on international travel when 90% of the population has two vaccinations, which will not happen until the end of January.
Qantas formerly operated a fleet of 12 Airbus A380s. In October they announced that six of them would begin to re-enter commercial service from March 2022 with cabin upgrades operating to Los Angeles, London, and Singapore.
Originally the Australian airline expected to do so in 2023 or 2024, but following the reopening of their country’s borders in November, the demand has been responding positively.
