Qantas A380 refurbishment news and updates

[Kendall Roy]

Its been delayed until 2026.

News to me. I'm on the 11AUG service and it's still showing A380.

 

[WonkyParrot]

News to me. I'm on the 11AUG service and it's still showing A380.

Yep I see nothing to back up what I said, not sure where I got that from!

 

[moa999]

Suspect the swap depends heavily on last minute logistics and the like including crew availability and timing of the next aircrafts schedule

The last few times aircraft leaving DRS have flown to LHR and then done a swap.

I think the 8th aircraft coming back allowed for the Jul/Aug QF81/82 flights, which then shifts to the DFW flights.

Not sure what the 9th and 10th aircraft coming back add.

 

[RB001]

Will be nice to have VH-OQG back in service!

And that didn't take long - operating QF1 today.

VH-OQG Flight Tracking and History - FlightAware

Track VH-OQG flight from Sydney to OR Tambo Int'l

www.flightaware.com

 

[TheGildedAge]

Crazy that the refurbs in Y still have the seatback screen with such a large bezel.

 

[D747]

First signs of life for OQC in 4 years! Popped up as a test signal at AUH.

 

[moa999]

Crazy that the refurbs in Y still have the seatback screen with such a large bezel.

It's the world's longest refurb.
Announced in 2017, started in 2019.. will seemingly finally finish in 2025 with the return of OQC.

And it was really only a refurb to the upper deck with new J, and PE seats.
First and Y just got a touch-up - resurfacing with slightly different colour scheme in F and seat cushions in Y.

Qantas also has the 332 refurbs starting soon.

It will be interesting to see whether the A380s get a similar refurb to match and possible refurb or removal of F as the 350s begin arriving.

 

[elanshin]

It's the world's longest refurb.
Announced in 2017, started in 2019.. will seemingly finally finish in 2025 with the return of OQC.

And it was really only a refurb to the upper deck with new J, and PE seats.
First and Y just got a touch-up - resurfacing with slightly different colour scheme in F and seat cushions in Y.

Qantas also has the 332 refurbs starting soon.

It will be interesting to see whether the A380s get a similar refurb to match and possible refurb or removal of F as the 350s begin arriving.

I doubt it at this point. If the 380s need to be touched up, they would've announced it.

I expect this to go out the way of the 747s. Just going to slowly phase them out in the 2030s and basically be the interior dinosaurs of the mainline (with any unrefurbished 737s).

Completely possible either another tranche of 350-1000 take over or 777X eventually.

 

[mbe1510]

The screens in Y should have been replaced when they did the upgrades. Always painful to use with lagging, tech issues, problems with the touch screen touching. Thankfully there are remotes, but hard to believe these screens (and essentially the seats) could last for 20 + years based on when QF retires them.

 

[downgraded]

The screens in Y should have been replaced when they did the upgrades. Always painful to use with lagging, tech issues, problems with the touch screen touching. Thankfully there are remotes, but hard to believe these screens (and essentially the seats) could last for 20 + years based on when QF retires them.

Don't forget QF was still using projection screens at the front of the 747 Y and fixed loop channels in J years after the competition had seat back on demand IFE in Y. Then those tiny a330 screens that didn't get replaced until a decade after their use by date either.

 

[Spacetravel]

According to executive traveller OQC is going to be an “operational spare” https://www.executivetraveller.com/news/qantas-a380-news

While this thread would indicate they probably need it. This seems highly inefficient to keep an aircraft they spent many thousands refurbishing just to keep parked? Especially considering how tight the existing a380s are run. I would have thought they would at least enter it into the current rotation to add a bit of slack in the circuit. This would have been the “sensible” move and the not sensible but expected profit maximising one would have been to launch a new route, ie MEL< > LAX and use the 787 on the route to go elsewhere. Possibly one of the leased routes.

 

[RSD]

While this thread would indicate they probably need it. This seems highly inefficient to keep an aircraft they spent many thousands refurbishing just to keep parked?

If it is an operational spare then chances are that it won't be parked for very long given the very common delays or cancellations caused by A380 maintenance issues - I suspect that OQC will be immediately subbed in instead of an A380 flight being delayed by several+ hours like happens now - my bet is that OQC won't sit on the ground in SYD for more than 7 days after it arrives before it is subbed in.

 

[moa999]

I suspect he wasn't referring to OQC particularly.. rather than the 10th aircraft will be an operational spare, as is currently the 9th until SYD-DFW goes to a daily flights in Jan..

From a cycles / hours perspective I think that OQC, OQA and OQL are now the youngest aircraft in the fleet.

OQI also still needs the new paint scheme, the other 9 have it.

 

[Mr_Tee]

If it is an operational spare then chances are that it won't be parked for very long given the very common delays or cancellations caused by A380 maintenance issues - I suspect that OQC will be immediately subbed in instead of an A380 flight being delayed by several+ hours like happens now - my bet is that OQC won't sit on the ground in SYD for more than 7 days after it arrives before it is subbed in.

I agree. It’s a good move from QF. One grounded A380 causes huge headaches that are not easily cured.

Having such a small fleet of these aircraft, it makes a lot of operational sense to hold a spare as the rest of the schedule can’t be flexed to accommodate a grounded aircraft, and the existing fleet already run on a tightly optimised roster.

 

[RSD]

Given what we have seen over the last two years with massive schedule disruptions as soon as an A380 so much as sneezes then I think that this is one the best decisions that Qantas has made in a long time - we will all now feel more comfortable that any A380 flights out of SYD that we book on will arrive at destination on time and enable us to more conficently book connections into continental Europe or across the U.S.

 

[D747]

Of course, a spare is no good if it's in Sydney and the LHR to SIN flight goes tech.

 

[RSD]

Of course, a spare is no good if it's in Sydney and the LHR to SIN flight goes tech.

Very true - but for most of us a delay coming home has less impact than a delay arriving at LHR or LAX etc.

 

[Melburnian1]

Very true - but for most of us a delay coming home has less impact than a delay arriving at LHR or LAX etc.

That may be so for Australian-domiciled passengers, but for foreigners who may be attending a wedding or funeral, commencing a cruise from Sydney's main cruise terminal, connecting to another nation such as New Zealand or having a prebooked tour in Australia, a delay at the start of their journey may have adverse implications. I've not even discussed business travellers whose timeframes may be also very tight.

I always build in at least a day and usually more to minimise the chance of a delay upsetting land-based plans (or connecting flights) but this isn't possible for everyone.

 

[RSD]

That may be so for Australian-domiciled passengers, but for foreigners who may be attending a wedding or funeral, commencing a cruise from Sydney's main cruise terminal, connecting to another nation such as New Zealand or having a prebooked tour in Australia, a delay at the start of their journey may have adverse implications. I've not even discussed business travellers whose timeframes may be also very tight.

I always build in at least a day and usually more to minimise the chance of a delay upsetting land-based plans (or connecting flights) but this isn't possible for everyone.

Indeed - that is why I said "for most of us"