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Tall order ... Qantas will have three of the 450-seat double deckers by the end of the year
IT'S game-on in the battle of the big birds after the first Qantas Airbus A380 touched down in Sydney.
The arrival of the aircraft, before a crowd of Qantas workers, ends Singapore Airlines' monopoly on services to Australia by the double-decker planes, reports The Australian.
It also lays down a strong challenge to Dubai-based juggernaut Emirates before it starts its A380 service in February.
The arrival of Emirates will make Sydney, at least temporarily, the only city to be serviced by A380s from all three operators of the big jets.
The challenge began when Qantas conducted a low-level flight over Sydney Harbour to introduce the jet to its customers after a successful flight from Toulouse, France, via Singapore.
Pictures: The Qantas A380
Arrival: Qantas' first A380 touches down
Pictures: Inside Emirates' A380
Pictures: Singapores' luxury A380
The airline will have three of the 450-seat double deckers by the end of the year and will launch them initially on routes from Melbourne and Sydney to Los Angeles before taking on Singapore and Emirates on the kangaroo route to London.
About 80 passengers arriving back on the ferry flight from Toulouse yesterday were sprawled out in the 72-seat business-class cabin that is likely to become the principal war zone for the three carriers.
Qantas has opted for a gun-metal grey variation of its existing Skybed as its weapon in the fight for crucial business passengers.
In what is likely to be a closely fought battle, each of the airlines has opted for a different strategy based around lie-flat seats.
Singapore has opted for the world's widest seat in a four-across configuration that gives everyone aisle access. Emirates has given business-class passengers their own private suite, also with guaranteed aisle access, complete with a personal mini-bar. It also has a full bar at the back of the plane that has proved to be a big hit with customers.
But it is the Australian plane that provides the business cabin with the biggest sense of space.
Qantas executive general manager John Borghetti said the airline was confident its new product would give it an edge.
"We are exceptionally confident that the product we have on this aircraft will last for years and I think it will be the envy of many other airlines," he said.
Qantas is hoping publicity surrounding the arrival of the A380 will offset the damage its reputation has suffered in recent months over perceptions it has maintenance problems, though the suggestion has been strenuously denied by the airline.
Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon conceded in Toulouse that the airline's research showed its image was taking a battering because of what he termed "pretty excessive" media coverage in the wake of the QF30 oxygen bottle explosion near Manila in July, as well as recent reliability problems.
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He blamed recent falls in on-time performance and increases in cancellations on industrial action by engineers.
Steve Creedy flew from Toulouse courtesy of Qantas
Read more A380 news in The Australian.
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