Qantas A380 to Visit Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth

Following the arrival of Qantas' new Airbus A380, the airline is to commence a program of pilot training flights today that will take the aircraft to Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. The aircraft will also undertake promotional flights in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

"The Qantas A380 will operate its first commercial service between Melbourne and Los Angeles on 20 October, and a range of pilot and ground training, maintenance and promotional activities are planned in the lead up to this milestone," Executive General Manager of Qantas, Mr John Borghetti said.

Melbourne: The Qantas A380 is scheduled to land for the first time at approximately 7.30am on Thursday 25 September. It will then return regularly through to Friday 17 October before operating its inaugural service to Los Angeles on 20 October. The aircraft will fly over the MCG as part of the AFL grand final pre-match celebrations on Saturday 27 September. A promotional flight is also scheduled for the morning of Thursday 2 October.

Brisbane: The aircraft is scheduled to land for the first time at approximately 11.20am on Thursday 25 September. It will then return regularly until Saturday 11 October. A promotional flight is planned for the afternoon of Thursday 2 October.

Adelaide: The aircraft is scheduled to land for the first time at approximately 12.15pm on Saturday 27 September. It will then return regularly until Friday 17 October.

Perth: The aircraft will land at approximately 8am and depart at approximately 1pm on Tuesday 14 October. On board the promotional flights will be Qantas' corporate customers, frequent flyers, local dignitaries and media.

Following its inaugural service on 20 October 2008, the first service from Sydney to Los Angeles will operate on 24 October. Qantas A380 services between Sydney and London via Singapore will commence in January 2009.

Qantas will take delivery of three 450-seat A380s by the end of 2008, eight by the end of 2009 and have 20 aircraft in service by the end of 2013.

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