With Qantas finally taking delivery of its first, long-awaited A380 yesterday, the battle of business class in the super-jumbos is really starting to heat up.

Over the weekend, a totally biased review from an Australian journalist who got a free seat on the A380's maiden flight into Sydney claimed that Qantas's layout in business class is the best because it "provides ... the biggest sense of space."

If space is not everything, then the other airlines already flying the A380 might actually be the winners. Emirates has a business cabin layout that gives everyone privacy plus a personal minibar. And Singapore Airlines has the world's widest seat, plus double beds, though you're not allowed to get up to any fun in them.

Related Stories:
· Which Airline Has the Best A380? [The Australian]
· A380 Planes: Flying Kangaroo is Next in Line [Jaunted]
· No Sex, Please: We're on Singapore Airlines [Jaunted]

[Photo: NguyenDai]]]> amandak 2008-09-22T09:30:32-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/9/19/790/54736

Emirates might've been grounding its A380 recently, but Aussie airline Qantas is getting very excited about picking up its first A380 this week.

Eight long years and $200 million in delay compensation payments after it was ordered, the Qantas A380 will touch down in Sydney early on Sunday morning, if all goes according to plan.

Qantas is desperate for some good publicity. On top of all its recent mechanical snags, its just been "awarded" the title of the airline with the most delays on Australian domestic flights. Boss Geoff Dixon reckons the A380 will help Qantas "reinvent the airline experience." We just hope it's a positive experience that he's talking about.

Related Stories:
· Qantas Unveils A380 Super Jumbo in France [Herald Sun]
· Qantas Is Worst for Delayed Domestic Flights [Courier Mail]
· Coming Soon: A380 Kangaroos [Jaunted]

[Photo: mathoov]]]> amandak 2008-09-19T09:00:31-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/9/10/84044/1993

Is all not rosy on board the much-anticipated A380 with showers, of Emirates Airlines fame? After just a few weeks, Emirates stopped flying its A380 due to an electrical fault this week.

The carrier is hoping to start flying the superjumbo again by the end of the week, but even then the airline is cutting its use on the Dubai to New York route from three times to twice a week so that they'll be more time for training flights and engineering work.

Either that, or the bathrooms at Emirates HQ have hit a snag and they need the plane there more often so that staff can take showers.

Related Stories:
· Emirates Stops Flights of Its First Airbus A380 [Telegraph]
· Emirates and the In-Flight Shower [Jaunted]

[Photo: Telstar]]]> amandak 2008-09-10T09:30:25-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/8/8/133315/2542

Cranky Flier Brett Snyder got a sneak peak at Emirates' new A380 recently, and this quick video explores the one thing everyone is wondering about: How's the shower?!

It doesn't look too big, but you know it'll be nice and clean: The airline plans to have two dedicated "shower attendants" on every flight to clean up after every use and restock the towels and amenities.

We're willing to look past how absolutely ridiculous that is simply because it's a shower. With heated floors. On a plane.

Related Stories:
· Flying the Emirates A380 in Business and First [Cranky Flier]
· Emirates and the In-Flight Shower [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-08-08T13:33:43-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/8/5/145113/3619

The last thing you want on a flight is a suspicious smell. But after a passenger caught a whiff of smoke, American Airlines Flight 31 to Honolulu turned around and made an emergency landing back at LAX this morning.

Even though emergency slides were involved, investigators never found the source of the odor. Ironically, firefighters were already at the airport to welcome an incoming Airbus A380 from Emirates Airlines. After the jump, break out the water cannons!]]> egw 2008-08-05T16:00:04-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/7/24/8450/05858

We've been waiting for this since the start of the year and now it's just a week away: Emirates is really, truly about to fly planes with showers.

We hate that grimy flying feeling but unless our fairy godmother throws us a first-class ticket for a flight on the new Emirates A380, we'll have to deal with it. The 14 passengers in first class will have access to two showers between them, and everybody else just has to be jealous.

Emirates is keeping most of the shower details hushed up until the official launch next week. So we don't yet know, as Business Traveller pointed out,

How cabin staff will extricate a passenger mid-shower if turbulence occurs.

Is tossing life jacket over them quite sufficient?

Related Stories:
· Showers in the Sky [Business Traveller]
· Emiratse Planes Will Shower You [Jaunted]
· Emirates Coverage [Jaunted]]]> amandak 2008-07-24T09:25:18-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/6/18/102857/586

Qantas doesn't plan to let V Australia steal away its customers when Richard Branson's newest airline takes flight December 15. So the old-line Aussie carrier is hyping some great fares on its A380 flights between LA and both Melbourne and Sydney.

Qantas says it's selling tickets for as little as $380 round-trip on flights departing between November 2 and December 8. But as far as we can tell, those super-cheap tickets are already gone.

We did find an LAX-Melbourne round trip in November for $1,215. Not less than 400 bucks, but that's certainly not bad! If you're willing to spend a bit more, A380 service between the US and Oz starts on October 20.

Related Stories:
· Qantas Strikes First in Virgin Price War [SMH]
· Fare Wars coverage [Jaunted]
· A380 coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Naddsy]]]> pbb 2008-06-18T10:35:01-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/