Today, Qantas will fly the Superjumbo for the first time from Africa on its inaugural Airbus A380 flight. The A380 will fly up to six times per week and will see a near-doubling of capacity, with an extra 130,000 seats between South Africa and Australia every year.
The Qantas A380 can accommodate 485 passengers in four cabins. With the introduction of the Superjumbo, First Class will be available on this route for the very first time since 2018. Qantas First has 14 individual suites that are arranged in a 1-1-1 exclusive configuration. They can also be converted into a 212 centimetre bed. Theupgauge will more than double the number Premium Economy seats between cities.
The mega aircraft features a lounge on the upper deck for passengers in First or Business. This lounge has booth-style seating that can accommodate 10 people. There is also a bar with self-service and an option to purchase signature drinks and snacks.
Qantas’ first flight to South Africa was a Lancastrian survey from Sydney via Perth, Mauritius, the Cocos Islands and the Keeling Islands in 1948. The first passenger service began along the same route on September 22, 1952, using a Lockheed Constellation L-749A. The journey took 66 hours and became affectionately known as the Wallaby Route – a nod to the Kangaroo Route from Australia to London.
The Flying Kangaroo is now flying nonstop. The upgauge marks the first A380 flight across the southern Indian Ocean by any airline. The Australian national airline also plans to relaunch flight service from Johannesburg to Perth by mid-2025.
Qantas and Airlink codeshare
Qantas has announced a new partnership with Airlink that will significantly expand its network of inbound flights to South Africa. Qantas’s code will be added to Airlink’s domestic network allowing seamless connectivity between Qantas’s flights to Johannesburg, and nine South African destination. The carrier plans to add more Airlink destinations, in southern African nations nearby, over the next few months.
