End of an Era? QF ends A380 operations ex MEL 24 October 2026

[esseeeayeenn]

Just as a matter of accuracy AF operates international flights out of at least 7 French airports.
France is 1/12th the size of Australia, it could fit into the "golden triangle" between BNE SYD & MEL (if you rotate it and move Corsica).
It is well connected by one of the world's best high speed train networks: for example Lyon & Bordeaux are each only about 2 hours from Paris by TGV.
France's population at 69 million is only about 2.4 times the population of Australia.
It's average population density is 127.7 ppl/km2: about 35 times ours at 3.62 ppl/km2.
The two population figures below are because officially French cities don't include their suburbs.
The second figures are for metropolitan agglomerations (for example Marseille includes Aix-en-Provence).

Also I am well aware that AF no longer operates any A380s.

Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG)	Paris	2,059,821	12,568,755	France's largest and busiest airport
Orly Airport (ORY)	Paris	2,059,821	12,568,755	Major international gateway
Nice Côte d'Azur Airport (NCE)	Nice	368,553	1,006,402	Key airport for the French Riviera
Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport (LYS)	Lyon	518,778	2,310,850	Major airport for central and eastern France
Marseille Provence Airport (MRS)	Marseille	895,713	1,756,296	Important for south-eastern France
Toulouse-Blagnac Airport (TLS)	Toulouse	532,795	1,345,343	Known for serving the aerospace industry
Bordeaux Airport (BOD)	Bordeaux	274,160	1,232,550	Important for south-western France

 

[TheCollecter]

(1) If the A321s with business suites ever fly to or from PER they might be suitable replacements. I am not paying QFD J fares to sit in a recliner that is a PE hard product.
(2) I don't want to fly on a Boeing death trap.

If it’s Boeing, I ain’t going!

 

[esseeeayeenn]

If it’s Boeing, I ain’t going!

To be fair I would only label the 737MAX family as death traps.
For very widely known reasons.

 

[dajop]

To be fair to QF when I was travelling a fair bit out of MEL in the noughties IIRC there was basically 3 daily services (other than NZ) - a single SIN/LHR service a single HKG/LHR service, a single LAX service (some times a second service but not daily). There also used to be BKK service but that went away in the early noughties. Now they fly 2x SIN, HKG, CGK, DPS, NRT, LAX and DFW. Supplemented by “group” services (JQ) to SIN, DPS, HKT, BKK, SGN and CMB. Easy to forget where they came from.

For me still not a fan, particularly without day flights from Asia to MEL !

 

[TheCollecter]

To be fair I would only label the 737MAX family as death traps.
For very widely known reasons.

Agree… it’s just something one of my kids likes to say. As a rusted on 747 fanboi I grew up loving Boeing

 

[esseeeayeenn]

To be fair to QF when I was travelling a fair bit out of MEL in the noughties IIRC there was basically 3 daily services (other than NZ) - a single SIN/LHR service a single HKG/LHR service, a single LAX service (some times a second service but not daily). There also used to be BKK service but that went away in the early noughties. Now they fly 2x SIN, HKG, CGK, DPS, NRT, LAX and DFW. Supplemented by “group” services (JQ) to SIN, DPS, HKT, BKK, SGN and CMB. Easy to forget where they came from.

For me still not a fan, particularly without day flights from Asia to MEL !

Fair points.
However I don't buy into this "group" concept.
QF & JQ are different airlines, catering to different markets.
That is a deliberate corporate strategy.
When I am looking for flights I only look at QF, then other OW airlines, then EY because the experience is amazing or AF if I am in France.
I would never look at JQ precisely because they are selling a product which they have deliberately pitched to a different type of customer.

 

[esseeeayeenn]

Agree… it’s just something one of my kids likes to say. As a rusted on 747 fanboi I grew up loving Boeing

We are on the same page.
In 2017 I took my son on a trip to Vanuatu.
On the return I deliberately booked us on BNE-SYD-PER because it gave us the chance to experience business upstairs on a 747 BNE-SYD.
I later had 4 flights on 747s on two trips SYD-SCL but it remains his only 747 experience.