Qatar Airways has confirmed that four extra A380s are coming back, joining the four it is currently using. Sydney will see the type from June 1st.
If Qatar Airways will use eight of its ten A380s, will it also use the remaining two?
Qatar Airways has confirmed that it is reactivating four more A380s, according to an interview between the carrier’s Chief Commercial Officer and Executive Traveller. The Gulf carrier will now use eight of the double-deckers, up from the current four.
Last year, Qatar Airways’ CEO said that the A380 was its biggest mistake, although it might have been partly driven by its spat with Airbus. Despite this, reactivating the type is seemingly another consequence of the ongoing problems with its A350s. It also contributed to the A380 reintroduced last year, B777-300ERs acquired from Cathay Pacific, and A330-300s wet-leased from Oman Air.
Sydney is coming back
After a 26-month absence, the 7,687 miles (12,371km) between Doha and Sydney will again see the iconic A380. Qatar Airways first used the double-decker on the route in September 2016, and it remained until March 2020.
Now it’s back, with its relaunch on June 1st from Doha and June 2nd to Doha. It will land in Australia six weeks after the nation scraps pre-departure testing for international tourists, another way of boosting confidence and demand.
The schedule for the 1x daily service is as follows, with all times local. It follows Emirates reinstating 2x daily A380s to Sydney on March 1st.
- Doha to Sydney: QR908, 20:15-17:10+1
- Sydney to Doha: QR909, 22:00-04:55+1
All of these routes were operated by the A380 pre-pandemic.
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