Experience on A380

[Pennylane]

Hello all

New to the forum...

I might be flying on the A380 from Sydney to Singapore with Qantas soon...of course there is the option of being on a 747 as well leaving at different time of the day.

I've flown heaps on the trusty 747...a little apprehensive about flying on such a new (hence untested by time) and massive A380...A bit paranoid i know!

What's everyone's experience with A380? Saftey problems encountered on your trips? How does it cope in turbulence? (I get motion sickness easily...)

Thanks heaps!

 

[moa999]

Which class?
In terms of overall comfort.
First - Much better
Business - Slightly better (real flat, more legroom)
Prem Econ - Identical
Economy - Slightly better

AVOD is much better on the A380, both in terms of speed and uptime, and size of screen.
Cabin pressure is meant to be better on the A380
A380 definitely quieter.
You get a real seatbelt on the A380.

I think we can say the A380 by now is well tested.

On turbulence, like any plane, sit as far forward as you can.

 

[munitalP]

Hello all

New to the forum...

I might be flying on the A380 from Sydney to Singapore with Qantas soon...of course there is the option of being on a 747 as well leaving at different time of the day.

I've flown heaps on the trusty 747...a little apprehensive about flying on such a new (hence untested by time) and massive A380...A bit paranoid i know!

What's everyone's experience with A380? Saftey problems encountered on your trips? How does it cope in turbulence? (I get motion sickness easily...)

Thanks heaps!

Welcome to the site...

As a reasonably seasoned traveller, I too will avoid the 380 at all cost as I am waiting to see all the teething problems ironed out...

Mr!

:shock:


Yeah, I know - go on, call me a sook....

 

[Bundy Bear]

Which class?
In terms of overall comfort.
First - Much better
Business - Slightly better (real flat, more legroom)
Prem Econ - Identical
Economy - Slightly better

AVOD is much better on the A380, both in terms of speed and uptime, and size of screen.
Cabin pressure is meant to be better on the A380
A380 definitely quieter.
You get a real seatbelt on the A380.

I think we can say the A380 by now is well tested.

On turbulence, like any plane, sit as far forward as you can.

I think MOA999 assessment is pretty good, the one thing with turbulence is that the A380 can fly higher from the start where sometimes the 747 will have to burn off a bit of fuel to get up higher.

Don't expect any better legroom in the A380 which I think is a major let down.

 

[harvyk]

The A380 itself, I had no problems flying on it, and I'd do it again happily... It was smooth, quite and whilst there was a bit of turbulence (LAX - SYD) it's something which is more dependant on what your flying through than the plane itself.

Now I can only speak for Y, but it was certainlly very comfortable for a night time flight provided you either want to sleep \ watch movies or just listen to music. Don't even think about working unless your in a bulkhead seat \ exit row as the recline on the seats are massive and you just about end up with the person in front in your lap. That said, when you leave at 10pm that's not really a problem.

The AVOD is MUCH better than the B747's most of the complaints I had with QF's AVOD (when compared to AirNZ) have been ironed out, with exception to the moving map. The larger sized screens (and in widescreen) is a nice touch.

I'd personally fly in the A380 quite happily. As for the problems, well look at the B777. It took 10 years for one to finally be written off, and even then everyone survived. The odds of a plane falling out of the sky is pretty low, and certainlly not something I'd consider when choosing one type of plane over the other...

 

[Alanslegal]

The A380 due to its weight does seem to take a longer time to take off and it also seems to take a much longer time to decelerate at landings but maybe the quietness of the plane exxagerates the slowness?

Also given that the cabin is much quieter, once at cruising altitude it feels that the actual flight is much more smoother than a 747.

When I flew SYD-LAX in J on the QF A380 I didn't want to get off the plane even after 13hours or so in the air!!

When I flew SYD-AKL in Y on the EK A380 last week I wanted to get off the plane as fast as I could - but I pin point the reason because it was an economy seat rather than anything else because the In Flight Entertainment on both EK and QF are superb! Much superior than the older IFE's I'd say!

 

[notzac]

Yeah, I know - go on, call me a sook....

Sook.

The A380 is a fantastic plane to fly in. Sure, it doesn't have the 30+ yeah history of the 747 series - but I'll do the opposite to munitalP and go out of my way to fly on it instead. whY in particular is noticably better in that the cabin pressure is higher and the plane is quieter .. which means I have a better chance of getting to my destination feeling reasonably refreshed.

 

[Flashback]

Welcome to AFF Pennylane! serfty had similar apprehensions to you, but due to a change of plane one on of his flights he then flew the A380 and is now most happy to fly on it. Take what you will from that...

 

[canabear]

I flew it in Y in November 08 LAX-MEL and will be doing so again in 2 weeks SYD-LAX. I went out of my way to book onto the 380 over the 744 as i thought it was much more confortable and i actually managed to get 5 hours sleep which is unheard of for me in Y on a 744. Oh yeah and the flight was completely full so no added comfort from empty seats.

 

[Voyages]

I experienced the A380 in J from LAX to SYD earlier this month. A wonderful experience with the flat bed, the long massages (but the function failed mid-flight, even after 2 re-boot attemps), and the good-as-usual customer service.

Turbulence-wise, it was a bit rough over the Pacific for about 15 minutes. This was much less than the full hour of rocking turbulence when I was heading from BNE to LAX, on a 747, also in J (the pilot said we were in a jetstream), and lunch service had to be cancelled.

 

[NYCguy]

Turbulence-wise, it was a bit rough over the Pacific for about 15 minutes. This was much less than the full hour of rocking turbulence when I was heading from BNE to LAX, on a 747, also in J (the pilot said we were in a jetstream), and lunch service had to be cancelled.

On long TransPacs, I have been on flights where there was sustained turbulence for a lot longer than an hour... I can't see how the 388 could be that superior to the 744 in that regard, it's just a matter of luck.

 

[straitman]

On long TransPacs, I have been on flights where there was sustained turbulence for a lot longer than an hour... I can't see how the 388 could be that superior to the 744 in that regard, it's just a matter of luck.

The only potential advantage with the A388 is the ability to reach higher altitudes earlier and therefore a greater range of options if/when they hit the turbulence zone.

 

[Aikicoops]

I flew QF A380 SYD-LHR-SYD, back in February. Was a great experience. I am doing that trip again and am disappointed to that I am unable to fly the A380 this time.

I flew in premium economy (first time for me) being upstairs there was bugger all noise. If I didn't know any better you would would not have know anyone was below you. I had the feeling that we were the only ones on the whole plane.

IFE was good. Food was great (for plane food) and the seating was great.

Turbulence was minimal, rearly felt any.

I would defiantly recommend flying. Try it at least once. you never know you might love it.

As for falling out of the sky? Well you have more chance of getting killed in a car crash. Besides, if your time is up nothing is going to stop that ) lol.

Cheers
Coops

 

[auriga]

As for falling out of the sky? Well you have more chance of getting killed in a car crash. Besides, if your time is up nothing is going to stop that ) lol.

I quite agree there are much more important things to worry about!

The plane is really quiet, that's for sure, but I am not too certain about it being better in turbulence.

 

[Pennylane]

Well, currently at the airport. 3.5 hours delay with the QF A380!!
'Engineering issues...more work to be done in the hanger'.

Fills me with confidence

 

[harvyk]

Why wouldn't it fill you with confidence?

To me it says QF are serious about safety, and will not let their planes fly unless they are 100% safe to fly...

It also tells me they are taking their pre-flight checks seriously and doing them properly, no half coughd measures like some other airlines...

 

[Aikicoops]

Why wouldn't it fill you with confidence?

To me it says QF are serious about safety, and will not let their planes fly unless they are 100% safe to fly...

It also tells me they are taking their pre-flight checks seriously and doing them properly, no half coughd measures like some other airlines...

I totally agree with you on this post.

It's like a couple of months ago when 1/3 of the plane a flight to Adelaide, had boarded and we had to deplane due to a "technical issue". Some people refused to leave the plane as they we're "settled" and just want QF to take off.

My comment upon leaving the plane was "thats fine. But they fly this plane with issues then it's likely it will fall out of the sky." They looked at each other... then decided to leave the plane. Quickly.

How stupid some people are.

Coops

 

[raphsta]

I haven't been on the QF A380, but my experience on the EK 380 was fantastic!
I was in Business class from SYD --> DXB --> LHR .. (Off topic, but I really liked the approx 14 hour / 7 hour split)..

Anyway, the A380 was ssssooo quiet, and comfortable.. I don't even remember hitting a single bit of turbulence on the whole way over..
The way back was in a 777, and there were quite a few bumpy patches - but I think it's more luck (well.. weather) than anything... I did get a free upgrade to first class half-way home though I do think that the A380 would've handled the turbulence a bit better than the 777 though.

The A380 was an experience.. I was a bit worried about it being such a new aircraft, and not having been put through it's paces.. But I am a lot more comfortable about it now - technology improves year by year, as do testing and certification processes..

Enjoy the A380! Although, if you're not flying business or first, you're not gonna enjoy any type of aircraft

 

[Voyages]

I haven't been on the QF A380, but my experience on the EK 380 was fantastic!

Hey raphsta, is it true that the skycam on EK A380 is fixed in the nose of the aircraft, not on the tail like QF's?

 

[raphsta]

The EK A380 has 3 sky cams to choose from.
One is forward view (in nose I guess), one on tail, and one pointing straight down.
I took a vid landing in Dubai, showing a couple diff views. I'll upload it when I get a chance.