Tag: a380

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Finally! The First Real Photo Emerges of British Airways' A380

April 5, 2013 at 10:18 AM | by | Comments (0)

This is not a computer-generated rendering. This is the first real photo of the first Airbus A380 belonging to British Airways.

Early this morning, the image appeared on BA's instagram with the announcement: "Meet MSN95, our first A380 superjumbo to be painted in the famous red, white and blue livery." Airbus then also chimed in: "The next new #A380 operator in full livery fresh out of our Hamburg paint shop. Looking good @British_Airways."

There are 469 passenger seats inside of it, and all are already on sale from $830 and up, as we announced a month ago. First flights won't happen for several months, however, as regular service is due to begin between London and Los Angeles on October 15 and between London and Hong Kong on November 15, 2013.

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What You Should Know After Qantas and Emirates Hooked Up This Weekend

Where: Australia
April 1, 2013 at 11:25 AM | by | Comments (0)


Photo: Bernard Proctor/Qantas & Emirates Facebook

Easter Sunday in Australia was not only filled with egg hunts and chocolate bunnies, but it was the launch of the official partnership between Qantas and Emirates. The day signified the first flights for each of the airlines under the new friendship, all commemorated by each airline sending an Airbus A380 to buzz over Sydney Harbour at around 1,500 feet.

Alliances like this one are becoming a bit more commonplace in the industry, and they're pretty passenger-friendly in terms of more options for flying around the globe and for racking up frequent flyer miles.

Here are the immediate benefits of the Qantas-Emirates partnership for you:

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Your Chance to Get Naked on an A380 May Be Threatened

March 11, 2013 at 6:19 PM | by | Comments (0)

One of the craziest things you can do—at least legally—at 35,000 feet is to strip down to your birthday suit and take an in-flight shower. We’re not talking about a quick refresh in the airplane lavatory with a first class amenity kit, but we actually mean hot water, soap, and shampoo while on an airplane. Right now it’s only available to first class flyers aboard Emirates' A380 flights, but if Emirates gets their way there might just be a few less in-flight showers moving forward.

It sounds like Emirates is considering what a lot of carriers have already done, and shifting some of their planes to just a two-class configuration. That means just business and economy, no first class. The plan is to cram more seats into the oversized airplane, and more seats means more money. We’re hardly airline industry economists, but it’s pretty clear how this new move would benefit Emirates in a good way.

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Score a Seat on the First British Airways A380 Flights Later This Year

March 5, 2013 at 11:46 AM | by | Comments (0)

Six years! That's how long the Airbus A380 has been flying the skies with paying passengers on both decks. That's also how long British Airways has jealously watched other airlines fly their superjumbos around, anxious for the day they could play with their own.

That day is now within reach, as British Airways prepares to take delivery of the big plane later this year. Travelers may already book flights on the first British Airways A380, as it flies from London to Los Angeles from October 15, 2013 and London to Hong Kong from November 15, 2013. Tickets went on sale this morning, and you know British Airways is already rolling out special rates.

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The Newbie Traveler Takes His First Flight on an A380: An Illustrated Journey

February 22, 2013 at 3:19 PM | by | Comments (2)

What would your life be like if you hadn't yet traveled? If you'd spent years reading travel novels and fantasizing over guidebooks, but hadn't made the big leap? This is the case for Andy Miles, who in his late twenties has just embarked on trips to hit cities for the first time. He's walking us through the emotions and observations of a true Newbie Traveler.

Contrary to what I learned as a youngster growing up in Texas, everything is not bigger there. Truth be told, everything is actually bigger in France—Toulouse, France to be exact. The reason for this is because that's where Airbus completes final assembly of their massive A380 airplanes.

After years of waiting, I finally got the chance to experience one of these incredibly beautiful planes myself, on a Qantas flight from Los Angeles nonstop to Sydney, Australia.

Seeing as how I booked my first A380 flight six full months before the day of departure, I had a lot of time to tell my friends about it, i.e. brag incessantly. The thing I forgot about bragging is that in order for it to work, you have to be doing something others care about. Unfortunately for me, I did not hang out with many #avgeeks during this time, so my brags usually fell upon deaf ears and I just came off as "nerdy" for caring about something as uniquely marvelous as a two-story airplane.

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Hop an Airbus A380 for a One-Time-Only Flight to Mauritius

Where: Mauritius
January 22, 2013 at 10:27 AM | by | Comments (0)

If you’re feeling a little chilly this week may we suggest catching a flight to somewhere warmer? Forget Florida and cancel the Caribbean, as we’re all about heading over to Mauritius. Sure, it's on the other side of the world, but thanks to a special flight from Emirates things just got a little more convenient—and spacious.

Emirates already does the flying fun back and forth between Mauritius and Dubai, but they’re upgrading the aircraft flying to the island nation for one day, to celebrate the spot’s 45th anniversary of independence.

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Girl Power: The Photo of Female Pilots That Nearly Caused an Airport Controversy

Where: Germany
January 17, 2013 at 9:38 AM | by | Comment (1)

When was the last time you flew in a plane piloted by a woman? What about two women, both pilot and co-pilot? It's possible to not even know since passengers rarely see their flight crews much anymore, but they are up there. Trust us.

Starting this week, travelers on Lufthansa will get to see the very rare occurrence of two women in the cockpit...before even stepping onboard a plane. Famous Berlin-based photographer Kiki Kausch has installed her triptych, titled "A380 Female Cockpit," at the JFK Business Class lounge.

The three images capture two normal Lufthansa pilots, Fleur and Karin, at work in their office, which just happens to be the cockpit of one of the airline's A380 superjumbos en route from Frankfurt to Singapore (LH 778). The photos were actually taken as the plane cruised high above Afghanistan, the ethereal light of sunrise over the Hindukush illuminating the women.

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The Sweetest Airfare Deal of 2012 is...

December 28, 2012 at 4:46 PM | by | Comments (0)

It's that time of the year again, the time when the year just plain ends. Alas, we can't just let 2012 go that easily, especially since travelers spent it both up in the air and up in arms over a crazy range of topics. Needless to say, we're ready for 2013, but first we're taking a brief look back at the best of 2012 with the Jaunted Travel Awards,—or as we fondly refer to them—The Jauntys.

Cheapy-cheap mistake fares are great and everything but they're rarely reliable, so for our Sweetest Deal we turn to one offered by an airline itself, with guaranteed prices and guaranteed travel. The honor goes to Singapore Airlines and their recurring A380 to Frankfurt or Singapore fares from New York.

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Your Moment of Zen: A Time-Lapse Trip on a Lufthansa A380

December 21, 2012 at 1:49 PM | by | Comment (1)

We have a theory when it comes to enjoying seatback in-flight entertainment. You're either an Airshow person or not. By Airshow, we mean that channel that constantly rotates between the moving map and stats of your flight, like outside air temperature, speed and time to destination. Those passengers who are Airshow people could easily leave the seemingly boring channel on through the entire flight and be sufficiently entertained, whereas a non-Airshow person flips from movie to 30 Rock rerun, to playing Bejeweled.

This post goes out to all you Airshow people. The Airbus A380 is totally the plane for you. You see, it goes above and beyond the Airshow channel to offer three additional channels, each with a livestream from a camera on the exterior of the plane. One looks down to the ground below, one looks out front—a pilot's view, and the third looks over the entire plane from the rear.

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The British Airways B787 and A380 Seat Plans Are Here!

December 11, 2012 at 6:30 PM | by | Comments (0)

After much speculation, and a few glimpses in video clips the airline surreptitiously pulled from the internet, British Airways finally published seat plans for the Boeing 787 and Airbus A380, due to join its fleet next year.

So what can we expect on BA’s Dreamliner and Double Decker? We’ll start with the facts on both:

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We Haz a Sad: Qantas Unplugs Their In-Flight WiFi

Where: Australia
December 4, 2012 at 12:49 PM | by | Comments (2)

Booo. Some not so great news today from our pals down under, Australian Business Traveller...

While many airlines are scrambling to outfit their planes with WiFi, it comes with great sadness that we announce an airline that has stopped providing their passengers with the luxury to surf the web while surfing the clouds. After about 9 months, Qantas has deemed their trial of WiFi a failure and will not be offering on their flights between Australia and the US.

The Red Roo sited low utilization issues for axing the web browsing on their A380s to and from Sydney and Melbourne. The most interesting point of the story is the fact that they pulled the plug on the trail with very little notification to the public (unlike the launch) and just this week released a statement.

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Frankfurt Airport's New A-Plus Concourse: A Super Home for Superjumbos

Where: Frankfurt International Airport, Frankfurt, Germany
November 19, 2012 at 11:04 AM | by | Comments (0)

Last month, Lufthansa opened the brand-spanking-new A-Plus Concourse at Germany's Frankfurt International Airport. Why's it so special? Well, among other things, it's directly designed for the biggest, baddest airplanes out there. We're talking A340s, 747s, 747-8is, and the almighty A380. This week, we'll take you inside and all around this place through which some 6 million travelers will journey each year.

If you're an airport whose tarmac is already crawling with superjumbos and you're about to add another 6 million passengers per year, what do you need? The answer: Lots and lots of space. German efficiency. An airline with enough mega planes and super long routes to keep the place hopping. So there you go. The answer is Frankfurt and its hometown airline, Lufthansa.

Speaking of German efficiency, let's talk tech. For passengers, Pier A-Plus boasts self-scan boarding gates, which are awesome if you hate waiting in lines. For operations, the addition of A-Plus means Frankfurt International has the world's largest airport baggage handling system. All of this becomes more and more important with each day, as Frankfurt looks to have a whopping 90 million travelers annually by 2020, up from 56 million in 2011. And those flyers will be stepping into FRA from more and more superjumbo aircraft.

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