Qantas returns A380 to service ahead of schedule

Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingsford Smith) will fast-track the return of its A380-800 service from January 11 to relieve B787-9 pilots in Queensland who are subject to 14-day quarantines after every international flight, the company confirmed in a statement.

The airline will re-introduce A380s 3x weekly between Sydney Kingsford Smith and Los Angeles Int’l (US) and maintain one weekly B787 service, thereby replacing the current daily B787s on the trans-Pacific route. According to the ch-aviation schedules module, Qantas currently runs the route daily with its B787-9s, of which it has eleven in its fleet, with three more of the type on order, ch-aviation fleets advanced data shows.

The airline has twelve A380-800s in its long-haul fleet. The return to service of the aircraft is three months ahead of Qantas’s most recent schedule and almost two years since the airline last flew the type commercially due to Australia’s hard lockdown on international travel to contain the spread of COVID-19.

The national carrier said it had ferried one A380 from storage in November for crew training and as an operational spare ahead of the summer holiday travel peak. “This flexibility is now needed to replace flying that was scheduled to be performed by the airline’s B787s. Around 70 Qantas B787 pilots are Queensland-based and are required to undertake 14 days isolation after each international service, reducing their availability to operate. The crew in most other states are not subject to these limitations.”

Qantas said the first A380 had undergone extensive operational maintenance checks since its return to Australia. “In addition to many hours spent in the airline’s simulators, the crew will shortly undertake refresher training on-board before entering service on the A380 in the new year. Additional A380 aircraft will progressively return to Australia in early 2022 for maintenance checks and crew training before being returned to service.”

Meanwhile, the Melbourne Tullamarine-London Heathrow service will also be reduced from a daily B787 flight to 4x weekly with the B787; while Melbourne-Los Angeles will drop from a 4x weekly B787 flight to 3x weekly using B787s.

International travel restrictions in Queensland are to relax once 90% of the population in the state is double vaccinated, expected to be reached in late January, which would enable B787 flying to normalise, Qantas said.