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A380 Continues To Conquer The World, But Still Has Leaky Sink

March 17, 2009 at 12:22 PM | 0 Comments

When we last left the biggest bird in the sky, The A380, she was looking to welcome her one-millionth passenger aboard Singapore Airlines. Now she’s looking to continue her world dominance, by initiating service from Toronto to Dubai three times a week starting in June thanks to Emirates. Hopefully the citizens of Canada can provide some life into the Middle East party zone, because all we here about it lately is more and more bad news.

To handle the big beast, Toronto Pearson International Airport had to fix up some of its infrastructure. Over the last 10 years the airport had been sprucing things up, including strengthening and widening the runway. They’ve also got two new double-decker gates that can handle the unloading of almost 500 passengers and their 1,000 pieces of carry on luggage.

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Singapore Airlines Readies Millionth A380 Passenger Party

January 16, 2009 at 9:35 AM | 0 Comments

Flying to Singapore anytime soon? If so, watch out for party balloons and press a la Publisher's Clearing House at your boarding gate because Singapore Airlines is on the lookout for its millionth A380 passenger in February.

To fete the single, clueless guest who puts them into seven figures, the airline will roll out the red carpet with champagne and Singapore Airlines goodies for all passengers on the winning flight. If you just happen to strike gold as Mr. or Ms. 1,000,000, you'll be getting upgraded with a special in-flight package plus a three-night luxury hotel stay, limousine from the airport and meals at nicey nice restaurants.

It seems like only yesterday that Airbus birthed the big baby A380 and we all fantasized about joining the mile high club in their semi-private on-board suites. In actuality, that was already more than a year ago, and we're sure that at least a small percentage of the million passengers did make it past third base at 35,000 feet. Surely they won't deny a simple pleasure to their honored guest?

Related Stories:
· Singapore Airlines Prepares for One Millionth A380 Passenger [Asia Travel Tips]
· No Sex, Please: We're on Singapore Airlines [Jaunted]
· A380 coverage [Jaunted]

[Original photo: asiatraveltips]

Qantas Gets More Seats, Just When They Don't Need Them

December 17, 2008 at 9:30 AM | 0 Comments

Back when Qantas first put an order in for some super-sized A380s, they probably saw the grand new planes arriving at the height of a boom in travel to Australia.

Oops. These days Qantas is doing half-price deals to get passengers to fill up its long haul routes--and might be secretly wishing the new A380 they just received in France didn't exist. The airline's second A380 will fly the Melbourne to Los Angeles route starting from December 22.

A third A380 should join the Qantas ranks just after Christmas to fly the Melbourne-Singapore-London route. Qantas should have had a dozen A380s by now if production had run according to schedule, but that would probably just mean even more empty seats. Maybe Qantas has flown into one of those clouds with a silver lining after all.

Related Stories:
· Qantas Receives Second A380 Superjumbo [Jaunted]
· Qantas A380 Takes Off, Flies Just Like the Other Ones [Jaunted]
· Emirates Superjumbos Aim For Down Under [Jaunted]

[Photo: awmolloy]

Emirates Pilots Can't Sleep; We Hope A350 Solves Their Problem

December 17, 2008 at 9:00 AM | 0 Comments

Had enough A380 news this year? We think we've almost reached our fill of tales of the new superjumbo, although the complaints from Emirates pilots that the plane runs so quietly they can't sleep definitely amused us. Apparently the sounds of screaming babies, flushing toilets and call buttons being pushed is no longer drowned out by engine noise and the pilots are not impressed.

The overly-quiet problem aside, we think we're ready to move on to the A350. It's the first Airbus plane to be largely constructed from carbon fiber reinforced plastic and should compete against Boeing's 777s and 787s.

Emirates is starting to look ahead to these planes too. They've said they expect to see the final design this February and have ordered 70 of the aircraft already. Hopefully the new design makes the A350 noisy enough for the pilots to sleep. And yep, we know that sentence doesn't make sense--obviously Emirates pilots are a special breed.

Related Stories:
· Emirates Air Expects A350 Design By Feb '09 [CNN]
· A380 Is Too Quiet Say Sleepless Pilots [The Age]
· Emirates coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: hartlandmartin]

Emirates Superjumbos Aim For Down Under

November 7, 2008 at 9:30 AM | 0 Comments

With the Aussie version of the A380 now flying Australia to US routes, the big guns in A380s, Emirates, are throwing their jumbo-sized hat into the same ring.

Yep, more flights heading Down Under are likely to be flown in the A380, if the Emirates plan pans out. The first route would be a Dubai-Sydney-Auckland flight, with Dubai to Melbourne routes planned for later on in 2009.

We’re not complaining about (hopefully) a bit more comfort on these long-haul routes. But since we found out that one A380 is just like another the excitement’s definitely died down a bit. In fact we’re probably ready for a new generation plane right about now.

Related Stories:
· Emirates Push for Aussie A380 Routes [The Australian]
· Qantas A380 Takes Off, Flies Just Like the Other Ones [Jaunted]
· A380 coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Ammar Abd Rabbo]

Qantas A380 Takes Off, Flies Just Like the Other Ones

October 21, 2008 at 9:30 AM | 0 Comments

In the ongoing saga of the big A380 super-jumbos, another historical milestone has just occurred with Aussie airline Qantas making its first A380 flight.

The Qantas A380 flew from Melbourne to Los Angeles where it was greeted with plenty of excitement--along with was-an-Aussie Olivia Newton-John and sometime pilot, sometime actor John Travolta.

Heaps of people were keen to be on that first flight, and one of them was Perth travel agent Luke Chittock who also wrangled a seat on the first Singapore Airlines A380 flight and the first Emirates one, too. But reports say that when journos asked him how the flight was, he wasn't too impressed: "It's all about the same now."

We're still waiting for our first A380 flight but now we're going to try to be as cool as Luke Chittock when we get there. It's just another plane.

Related Stories:
· Qantas A380's First Commercial Flight Takes Off [SMH]
· A380 Planes: Flying Kangaroo is Next in Line [Jaunted]
· Qantas coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Joits]

My A380's Better Than Yours

September 22, 2008 at 9:30 AM | 0 Comments

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]

A380 Planes: Flying Kangaroo Is Next in Line

September 19, 2008 at 9:00 AM | 0 Comments

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]

Superjumbo Travel: Emirates Grounds Its A380

September 10, 2008 at 9:30 AM | 0 Comments

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]

In-Flight Shower Travel: Inside Emirates' Airborne Spa

August 8, 2008 at 1:33 PM | 0 Comments

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]

Smoke Smell Causes AA Emergency, Disrupts A380 Visit to LAX

August 5, 2008 at 4:00 PM | 2 Comments

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!

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Emirates and the In-Flight Shower

July 24, 2008 at 9:25 AM | 0 Comments

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]