A Fresh New Look
The newly refurbished Qantas Airbus A380 will take to the skies this month, leaving many business and first class clients eager to experience the fresh makeover of one of the top first class airlines in the world. According to Qantas these major cabin upgrades have been conducted to “improve comfort on long haul flights” in all areas of the plane, that is, adjusting cushion comfort in economy to more luxurious amendments to business and first class. This year will mark a decade since Qantas first introduced their A380 airbuses and though some minor cosmetic touch-ups have been undertaken throughout the years, until this year, they have not been fully refurbished.
Amazing Destinations
These exceptional airbuses will be shared across Qantas’ popular A380 network, which includes flights from Sydney and Melbourne to Singapore, London, Los Angeles, Hong Kong (during peak season only) and Dallas/Fort Worth. Often they are on a charter at other international airports or seasonal flights, however, they also schedule specialised flights to certain destinations, for example airbus A380 to Tokyo in October. The airbuses are not dedicated to any particular route, so travellers will be pleasantly surprised and delighted the upgraded A380 airbus available.
Outstanding Design
Not that there was any aspect of Marc Newson’s original design that is less than outstanding, the modest sprucing up of the fourteen first class suites involve a refreshment of the cabins and materials included. Most customers would be of the opinion that alterations were not necessarily needed, however, due to the extremely competitive environment with airline branding and cabin design continuously evolving, the pressure to keep up with the competition consequently allows for slight adjustments.
Nevertheless, Newson again collaborated with Qantas to upgrade his incredibly prominent design, so travellers who appreciate the more opulent flight experience can enthusiastically look forward to flying any of the aforementioned flights from this month onwards. The most exciting of these changes include ultra-enhanced comfort through new contouring and cushioning in the suites as well as larger HD IFE screens that will replace the original 17-inch video panels for that unsurpassed, luxurious Qantas first class experience. Also, interior design, namely cabin colours have received a refashioning to be in perfect harmony with the latest Qantas lounges and the suits have no sliding privacy doors, keeping to the original design.
Infamous Australian designer David Caon was assigned the critical task of re-invigorating the inflight lounge design, as this aspect of the A380 airbus experience has been described as underwhelming, particularly in comparison to that of the Emirates A380 inflight lounge. Caon told the Executive Traveller, “Today everybody’s sitting along the bench and facing one direction, and that’s not necessarily the best layout and the best arrangement for people to be in” who is determined to make the area significantly more passenger friendly.
An Indulgent Future
The glamorously upgraded A380 airbuses are anticipated to fly by the end of this September, and more planes will be upgraded and taking off each month after undergoing maintenance or “C checks”, part of a major engineering overhaul after ten long years of loving wear and tear. Of course, these thorough refurbishments are expected to launch Qantas A380 into the next decade and last longer than a short-term manicure. These adequately-titled “superjumbos” are expected to be fully refurbished by mid-2020, and alongside other updated airbuses are expected to be part of the Project Sunrise Network launched by Qantas.
This project plans to revolutionise Qantas with expectations to be completely developed with direct flights from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to London, Paris and New York. Finally, luxury travellers should keep their eyes peeled for the trailblazing plans Qantas has for the near future and look forward to being the first to experience the same outstanding quality with a refreshed look that is soon to come.