Australia’s flagship airline, Qantas, has received the first of 20 Airbus A380s on order, at a ceremony in Toulouse, France. The Rolls-Royce powered aircraft was handed over to Qantas Chief Executive Officer, Geoff Dixon and Qantas CEO-Designate, Alan Joyce by Tom Enders, Airbus President and CEO and John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer Customers.
Photos and videos at http://www.a380delivery.com/qantas/
The aircraft – VH-OQA / MSN014 – is named in honour of “Nancy Bird Walton“, an female Australien aviation pioneer.
Qantas’ A380 cabin was created by internationally renowned designer Marc Newson. Typically the A380 seats 525 passengers in three-classes, however Qantas’ cabin is extra spacious with 450 seats (14 First, 72 Business, 32 Premium Economy and 332 Economy) (seat plan).
Qantas’ A380 will stop-over in Singapore before arriving in Sydney on September 21st at 9:00am local time. Qantas’ first commercial A380 services will be launched on October 20th from Melbourne to Los Angeles, and on October 24th from Sydney to Los Angeles. Later Qantas will also fly the A380 to Singapore and London.
Source: Airbus