Airbus A380's in Sydney

The Airbus A380 - Love it or hate it, it's one truly amazing feat of engineering. 

Conceived into an industry full of doubts, this aircraft has proven itself time and time again on the high density routes around the world. Even with the current trend of fuel efficient twin engined aircraft in full swing, this aircraft is proving to be the right choice, and flagship aircraft for several airlines around the world.

In total there are 317 firm orders for the passenger aircraft across 18 customers - To June 2015, 173 of these have been delivered. Originally, an A380 freighter was on the cards and 27 orders were placed but when the programme was cancelled, 20 orders were scraped and 7 were converted to the passenger type.

Emirates airlines lead the way with the A380, and as at January 2015 they had 44.8% of the total available A380 seating capacity. Singapore Airlines coming in2nd with 11.9% and Qantas 3rd with 6.6%.

2015 has been a very fortunate year for A380 enthusiasts in Sydney. With 3 airlines adding YSSY to the occasional, and long term roster for these enormous beasts, bringing to the total to 6 different airlines flying their Supers into YSSY. (Qantas - Singapore Airlines - Emirates - Malaysian Airlines - Korean Airlines - Etihad) 

Emirates

In 2015, Emirates Airlines received 15 A380's, and they are on track to receive another 21 in 2016. In total, the airline has a staggering 72 currently with an average age of 3.4 years, and many more due for delivery in the coming years. Emirates are quite unique in their approach with the utilisation of this aircraft, outstripping the nearest rivals in terms of quantity and drive to enhance and stretch the A380 into the 900 series. (not yet - if ever in production)
Emirates send their A380's across the globe, with a complex selection of long and short haul routes that's ever expanding.  They have already announced 3 new routes for 2016, with Taipei, Prague and Birmingham being added to the list.
Emirates have multiple seating configurations across their A380 fleet.

     Photo: EK413 arriving from Auckland - December 26th, 2015

Eithad

Etihad are relatively new to the A380, receiving their first on 15th of December 2014. They currently have a fleet of 5, with 3 more on order. A6-APE seen below was delivered most recently, in October 2015. Etihad currently fly the A380 to London (twice Daily), New York and Sydney. In 2016, Mumbai and Melbourne will be added to the list as they receive more aircraft. This aircraft is bar-none my favourite Livery on any aircraft - a stunner. 

Etihad use the A380 in a 4 class configuration, with:

Economy - 417

Business - 70

First Class - 9

The Residence - 2 (A 5 star experience with your own living room, bedroom and bathroom to help sooth those long hours in the air - my kind of paradise!)

Photo: EY454 arriving at sunset - December 26th, 2015

Malaysia Airlines

MH received its first A380 in May 2012, and the love for these aircraft lasted only 3 years, with the airlines openly putting its entire fleet of A380's up for immediate Sale or Lease in early 2015 along with several other aircraft. This is part of a drastic course of action to turn around the airlines flagging financial performance. Several low performing routes around the globe were also cut (most notably the KUL - BNE route for Aussie spotters).
The remaining MH A380's are solely used on the KUL-LHR route after the KUL-CDG route was dropped in August. Fortunately for Sydney spotters (like myself), this has seen MH swap the A380 out for the usual A330 route to Sydney a few times so far in 2015, most recently on December 19.
The airlines uses the A380 in a 3 class configuration:
420 Economy
66 Business
8 First Class

     Photo: MH122 departing Sydney - May 31st, 2015

Korean Airlines

KE started commercial service with the A380 in June 2011, with routes to Bangkok, Hong Kong, Tokyo (all aircraft proving routes). Now the airline uses the A380 on routes to Atlanta, LAX, New York, Paris and currently to Sydney during the peak season.

In total, the airline has 10 A380's on the books and they have gone with the lowest density seating of any A380 carrier and the first to dedicate the entire upper deck to Business class. 

A mere 407 seats in a 3 class configuration:

301 Economy

94 Business

12 First class

Photo: KE121 arriving at sunrise - December 24th, 2015

Qantas

Qantas went ahead with its A380 orders amidst financial turmoil and hardship, with the belief from the CEO Alan Joyce that this aircraft would be the flagship Qantas needed to turn around years of tough times. After a few more years of stagnant growth and more than a few publicity nightmares with this aircraft type, and a bit of well thought out tinkering with the schedules, the A380 has proven Joyce correct with the company now in a strong position. In November 2015, the airlines International wing, grew by 9% over the previous month with higher aircraft utilisation, especially to the Asian markets who are flocking to Australia for the summer season. The A380 is integral for Qantas to continue growth through the coming years.
QF has 12 A380's in the fleet using Sydney as the main hub for its destinations which include Hong Kong, LAX, Dallas and London via Dubai.
The airline uses the A380 in the following 4 class seating configuration:
Economy 371
Premium Economy 35
Business 64
First Class 14

Photo: QF8 arriving after a marathon journey from Dallas - December 24th, 2015

Singapore Airlines

SQ was the launch customer for the A380, receiving it's first in October 2007. They currently have 19 aircraft of this type, with another 5 on order with Airbus. SQ use the A380 on plenty of long haul and short haul routes around the globe, with the second most expansive network to Emirates. Such destinations include: Sydney, Auckland, Frankfurt, London, Hong Kong, New York and Tokyo. 

SQ use the A380 in the following seating configuration:

Economy 399

Business 60

First Class 12

Photo: SQ221 arriving in Sydney with the SG50 livery - December 24th, 2015

Lush

Hainan Airlines - Xi'an to Sydney

HU7993 getting a shower on arrival

Christmas Eve 2015 welcomed a new airline to Australian skies with the arrival of Hainan Airlines, a 5 time winner of the Skytrax five star airline rating.

Flying direct from Xi'an in central China, the airline is using their Airbus A330-243 aircraft for the 10 hour flight in a 222 seat configuration. This service will operate twice weekly for the next few months, finishing up in late March 2016.

HU7993 slowing down on Rwy 16R

The arrival of Hainan Airlines makes Sydney a world leader with Chinese long haul carriers, with 6 different airlines.

Hainan have selected this route to capture some of the growing market within Chinese tourists looking to holiday through the summer down under. In the last financial year, over 526,000 Chinese tourists made the journey to NSW, injecting almost $2 billion dollars to the local economy.

On the flip side, this route gives Australian tourists a great chance to fly direct to Xi'an, the home of the ancient Terracotta Warriors and many more fantastic tourist attractions.

The Inbound flight is HU7993 and is scheduled to arrive at 7:20am on Thursday and Monday, returning to Xi'an as HU7994, departing Sydney at 10:15am.

HU7994 departing Sydney - 24/12/2015

Lush

The Return Of American Airlines

After a brief media visit in November, today marked the return of American Airlines servicing the LAX - SYD route for the first time in 23 years.

As part of a joint-venture with Qantas, the codeshare flights go beyond the usual agreements between airlines, and actually involve revenue sharing. The ACCC here in Australia granted approval for a 5 year deal between the airlines, on the basis that American Airlines was unlikely to return to Sydney and Qantas wouldn't be likely to return to San Fransisco without it. (this arrangement has free'd up some QF 747 metal to re-start flights to SFO)

AA are keen to erase the reputation of 23 years ago, where poor service and old aircraft were synonymous with it's reputation in Australia at the time. They are now using their new fleet of Boeing 777-300 aircraft in what could be seen as a 3 and a half class configuration. 

• 8 First Class
• 52 Business Class
• 250 Economy Class (30 of which are "Main Cabin Extra" seats with greater leg room.)

AA will arrive into YSSY at 7AM each day as AA73, and depart for LAX at 12PM as AA74.

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Star Wars - The Force Awakens

A fantastic turnout in Sydney on Saturday 12th Dec, to see the return of All Nippon Airways to the skies of Australia. Even more memorable thanks to the inaugural aircraft that ANA selected to mark the occasion, the stunning Star Wars R2-D2 Boeing 787-9. 

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Hello's & Goodbye's

Avgeeks, Plane Nerds, Spotters.. Some of the words used to describe the passion and hobby I am very much a part of.

The smell of the AvGas, the roar of the engines and the awe of standing next to something so massive and marvelous, and the sight of hundreds of tons of metal soaring through the air defying the laws of physics..... All of these reasons and more keep me, and many others coming back to the airport perimeter each week. 

But... There's something more amazing about the aircraft we seek out on sunny days. These magical feats of engineering enable an entire world of Hello's & Goodbye's every minute of every day. What was once inconceivable is now common place. What was once distant, is now just around the corner. 

The joy, the tears and the excitement of air travel and the interactions it provides us with the human race, the distant place and a friendly face are the most endering characters of Aviation in the year 2015.

Here's an image of just such an interaction. My wife's best friend in the world is onboard CX162 here, flying to HongKong, and then onto Paris to begin 3 years of cooking school. For her, excitement of the unknown and following her dreams,  for my wife, the loss of a best friend but also the pride of someone she cares about, doing what they love in life, and for me, another excuse to do what I love, aviation photography!

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