Qantas A380 refurbishment news and updates

[mrflyby]

On Thursday 16 July 2026, A388 VH-OQJ is operating QF6015 from SYD up to SIN that was scheduled to depart at 1815. It took off at 1840.

The '60XX' series of flight numbers normally indicates an empty ('ferry') flight for positioning, a test flight or sometimes one en route to a location such as DRS for maintenance.

Is this a case of the latter? If so, QFi would (again) be down to nine A380s in service instead of the hoped for 10, the latter meaning at least one spare in Sydney.

Strange.. if they're going to send it to Dresden. They usually try to get some profit by at least running it to LHR first.
Interesting one to see where it's off to in the morning.

 

[Flyerqf]

Strange.. if they're going to send it to Dresden. They usually try to get some profit by at least running it to LHR first.
Interesting one to see where it's off to in the morning.

QF6019 SIN-DRS.

 

[D747]

J out of DRS and D has gone in.

 

[elanshin]

Just reading that Qantas is looking to reconfigure the a380 to have 34" Economy Plus seats on the a380.

No timeline yet nor exactly how many seats they'll cut to create this.

 

[AuSammy]

Taking a punt that since the ME deal to install WiFi was untenable due to the war consequently causing heat over the delayed A380 installation program, QF has found some spare slots at Dresden and making the most of the opportunity to catch up on the installation program. Guess we will see over the coming weeks.

 

[RSD]

Did anyone else see where BA are converting their A380's so that the entire upper deck is J class? An interesting way to make the A380 profitable if they can fill the seats.

 

[SYD]

Did anyone else see where BA are converting their A380's so that the entire upper deck is J class? An interesting way to make the A380 profitable if they can fill the seats.

Yes. Fairly widely reported eg

In Photos: British Airways Unveils All-New Airbus A380 Interior With World’s Largest Business Class Cabin

The new Club World cabin will feature 106 business class seats.

simpleflying.com

 

[RSD]

Yes. Fairly widely reported eg

In Photos: British Airways Unveils All-New Airbus A380 Interior With World’s Largest Business Class Cabin

The new Club World cabin will feature 106 business class seats.

simpleflying.com

Will be interesting to see if BA can make it work and which routes they put them on. Might be hope yet for the QF A380's if BA proves that it works.

 

[madrooster]

Will be interesting to see if BA can make it work and which routes they put them on. Might be hope yet for the QF A380's if BA proves that it works.

BA has very different markets to QF - what works for BA doesn't work for QF and vice versa.

The routes they tend to put the A380 on are SFO, LAX, MIA, DXB, SIN, JNB and sometimes IAD. JNB (strong leisure and business demand) and MIA (cruise traffic galore) tend to be year round, both of which are often double daily A380, whereas the others are seasonal.

 

[RSD]

BA has very different markets to QF - what works for BA doesn't work for QF and vice versa.

The routes they tend to put the A380 on are SFO, LAX, MIA, DXB, SIN, JNB and sometimes IAD. JNB (strong leisure and business demand) and MIA (cruise traffic galore) tend to be year round, both of which are often double daily A380, whereas the others are seasonal.

Ah OK - cheers!