D/FW to Sydney: Qantas introduces giant A380 for world's longest scheduled flight

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The Qantas A380 makes a textbook landing Monday at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

Nicholas Sakelaris

Staff Writer- Dallas Business Journal

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Qantas on Monday officially began the Airbus A380 era at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport with the arrival of the giant plane to fly the Australian airline’s nonstop route to Sydney, the longest scheduled commercial flight in the world.

The massive airliner, sporting a hat-and-bandanna-wearing kangaroo on the tail, arrived at about 1:18 p.m. Monday to begin the long-haul service back to Australia.

It’s a flight that covers 8,577 miles and takes roughly 15 hours. The world's largest passenger airplane, the A380 can carry roughly 500 passengers.

The plane taxied to Terminal D, where it will occupy three gates, D-15, D-16 and D-16X. Yes, it requires three gates to load and unload the plane.

Emirates will follow suit Wednesday in the A380 derby when it begins using the aircraft on its service from D/FW to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, one of the longest flights on its schedule. It’s roughly 8,031 miles from Dallas to Dubai, and the flight lasts roughly 16 and a half hours on the Boeing 777 currently in use.

But, the arrival of the A380 service for Qantas and Emirates is more than just about size, prestige and long flights, it’s about making money.

Qantas said its D/FW to Sydney route now will be able to operate directly to Sydney rather than via Brisbane because of the A380’s additional range. Qantas had been operating the flight using a Boeing 747.

The price of an A380 is roughly $414 million per plane, while a Boeing 747-8 costs roughly $367.8 million, but Qantas sees the D/FW to Sydney route as an important one for trade and tourism between the two countries.

"With $2.9 billion in annual trade between Texas and Australia, the Qantas service has allowed for many new business, trade and tourism connections with the Dallas/Fort Worth region,” Qantas said in May when it announced the new service. “On the tourism side, since the route began three years ago more than 50,000 Australians a year are now visiting Dallas and Fort Worth and that number is growing. The great success of the flight is reflected in Qantas's decision to place an A380 on the DFW to Sydney route."

Nicholas covers the energy, manufacturing, aviation and transportation beats for the Dallas Business Journal. Subscribe the Energy Inc. newsletter