Another Airbus A380 arrives in Johannesburg

Another airline will deploy the renowned Airbus A380 for scheduled flights to Johannesburg.

Qantas will use the Airbus A380 for its long-haul flights between Sydney and Johannesburg from 30 September.

QANTAS TO FLY AIRBUS A380 TO JOHANNESBURG

Initially, Qantas will offer five flights a week between Johannesburg and Sydney using an Airbus A380-800.

This aircraft will carry up to 485 passengers per flight.

It offers 14 seats in First Class, 70 in Business Class, 60 in Premium Economy and 341 in Economy Class.

MORE SEATS FOR TRAVELLERS

The large aircraft means more seats being made available between Johannesburg and Sydney.

This could possibly also translate to cheaper flight tickets for passengers.

This is good news for South Africans since Australia is the country with the second largest  South African community outside of South Africa.

AIRBUS A380 FLIGHTS TO JOHANNESBURG

Qantas is not the only airline operating scheduled flights to Johannesburg with the iconic Airbus A380.

Emirates Airlines operates two of its three daily flights between Dubai and Johannesburg with the Airbus A380.

British Airways also operates flights between London and Johannesburg with an Airbus A380.

EMIRATES JOHANNESBURG FLYOVER

The airline used one of its Airbus A380 aircraft to perform a flyover at a rugby test match between South Africa’s national team, the Springboks, and New Zealand’s national team, the All Blacks, on Saturday 31 August.

This was the first time an Airbus A380 performed a flyover at Johannesburg’s Ellis Park stadium.

Aircraft flyovers are not new to rugby matches in South Africa.

However, the flyover was the first time Emirates Airlines (a foreign carrier) was involved in performing a flyover during the opening moments of a rugby match in South Africa.

AIRBUS A380 FOR SCHEDULED FLIGHTS

The Airbus A380 has become somewhat of a rarity in certain parts of the world.

Many airlines decided to scrap these aircraft during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The pandemic led to declining passenger demand for flights. Hence aircraft with the capacity to carry large numbers of passengers were not of much use.  

OPERATING THE AIRBUS A380

That said, many airlines like Emirates and Qantas opted to store their Airbus A380s during the pandemic, instead of decommissioning them.

Airlines are indeed seeing rising passenger demand, enabling them to bring A380s back into service on routes with high demand.

GROWING THE JOHANNESBURG PASSENGER COUNT

At the launch of Lufthansa’s new Johannesburg route, ACSA CEO Mpumi Mpofu stated that Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International was seeing a rise in passenger numbers.

“We as Airports Company South Africa have seen a remarkable recovery. We’ve seen a growth in this particular airport, from 2 million passengers in the previous first quarter to 2.1 million.” Mpofu said.

Mpofu said that the airport noted international visitors returning, close to numbers seen before the onset of the pandemic.

“We are at 88% performance of pre-Covid. However, our domestic market is saturated, and has reached 2019 performance levels.” Mpofu said. 

AIRBUS A380

The Airbus A380 is the largest commercial passenger aircraft with four jet engines.

Though no longer being produced, the Airbus A380 is still in service with some airlines.

The twin-deck aircraft can carry around 500 passengers on each flight, depending on seat and cabin configuration.