A380 arrives at LAX

[Dave Noble]

Qantas Airways made US aviation history today when its new superjumbo passenger jet touched down at Los Angeles International Airport.

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The Qantas A380 did not have the airline's famous flying kangaroo insignia, instead carrying the Airbus insignia.

Qantas was included in today's landing because it will be the first airline to fly an A380 commercially to Los Angeles.

Full article at Qantas flying high - World - smh.com.au

Dave

 

[NM]

Geez, you would think th media would start to get some accuracy in their reporting:

The dual landings will test both airports, which have spent millions of dollars building longer runways and boarding areas to cater for the A380s.

Wrong, at LAX they moved the runway. Runway 25L is the same length (11,096 feet) and width (200 feet) as it used to be, just moved it to the west to allow more separation from 25R and to make the taxiway turn-ins comply with recommended radius requirements. As far as I know there have not been any runway modifications at JFK. They have had to resolve issues around the separation distance for runway and taxiways (450 feet minimum) and had to do the usual extensions to taxiway fillets etc. Not sure if they have resolved the issue of taxiway Kilo yet?? Some other taxiways (e.g. November) needed realignment which I believe has now been completed.

JFK still has the issue that its only runway that is 200 feet wide is also its shortest runway. 4R/22L is 8400 feet x 200 feet. All other runways are 150 feet wide. They are expecting that the A380 will be certified for operations on 150 feet wide runways as is currently planned by Airbus.

I believe Runway 13R/31L is to be widened to 200 feet before 2008. Runway 4L/22R is planned to be widened to 200 feet in 2012 and Runway 13L/31R gets its widening in 2016. No plans for any runway lengthening at JFK.

Qantas Airways made US aviation history today when its new superjumbo passenger jet touched down at Los Angeles International Airport.
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The Qantas A380 did not carry passengers, while Lufthansa's had 500 passengers on board.
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As the Qantas A380 landed in Los Angeles,
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The Qantas A380 did not have the airline's famous flying kangaroo insignia, instead carrying the Airbus insignia.

The aircraft that landed in LAX is MSN001. It is owned by Airbus and is planned to remain that way. The first A380 that could be seen as belonging to Qantas will be MSN014 and that aircraft is still under construction.

The only thing "Qantas" about this flight was that there were some Qantas tech crew on board to observe the Airbus flight crew who were flying the mission.

 

[turtlemichael]

Geez, you would think th media would start to get some accuracy in their reporting:

The only thing "Qantas" about this flight was that there were some Qantas tech crew on board to observe the Airbus flight crew who were flying the mission.

In which case this is unlikely to be the new Qantas J class cabin/seat! Airbus makes first US landing - Travel - smh.com.au

Michael

 

[NM]

In which case this is unlikely to be the new Qantas J class cabin/seat! Airbus makes first US landing - Travel - smh.com.au

Michael

most definitely not a QF seat. Standard Airbus demo guise I am afraid.

 

[turtlemichael]

most definitely not a QF seat. Standard Airbus demo guise I am afraid.

Well, no one could have complained about the new open plan seat side carry on storage.

 

[aus_flyer]

Great pic:
http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,5422812,00.jpg
Compare the size!