Qantas axes A380, first class from Melbourne
A softening of Australia-US leisure travel sees Melbourne lose its LAX superjumbo.
By David Flynn, March 10 2026
Qantas is removing the Airbus A380 from its flagship Melbourne–Los Angeles route as the airline fine-tunes its flying between Australia and the USA.
The superjumbo currently appears two days a week on the trans-Pacific QF93/QF94 flights, with a Boeing 787 for the remaining five days, but from October 25 the route will be switched to a daily Dreamliner.
Qantas says that while the appetite for business travel and premium cabins remains strong, “this has not offset reduced demand in economy for flights from Australia to the US.”
Right now, the A380 is a little too big for the Australia-US market.
Fine-tuning capacity
The double-decker A380 has 341 economy seats – more than twice as many as the Boeing 787 – as well as double the number of premium economy seats and 40% more in business class.
The superjumbo also carries 14 first class suites, which are not found at all on the 787.
The daily Sydney–Los Angeles service, flown exclusively by an Airbus A380, is also being trimmed to six days per week beginning October 25.
Qantas will redirect its Melbourne–Los Angeles A380s onto the Sydney-Singapore route to better match demand.
Read more: Qantas boosts A380 flights to Singapore
Melbourne loses its A380 first class flights from October.
“This is just a normal course of optimising network management,” said Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson, speaking at the airline’s recent half-yearly market update.
Hudson and Qantas International CEO Cam Wallace are both champions of treating the red-tailed fleet as “mobile assets” to be focused on the most suitable routes at any time.
For Qantas, this means amping up capacity between Sydney and Singapore, where the A380 can fly daily.
“But it’s also coupled with us announcing a new route into Las Vegas, which will be operated by a 787 over that peak period in December,” Hudson remarked of Qantas’ revised Australia-US network.
Also read: Qantas launches non-stop flights to Las Vegas
The return of the Melbourne-Perth 787
But every cloud has a silver lining – or in this case, a Platinum one.
Also beginning October 25, the Perth-London Boeing 787 will start its journey from Melbourne, bringing back the popular east-west leg of QF9, which was dropped in July 2024.
The ability to book just that four-hour leg between Melbourne and Perth in modern Dreamliner comfort – especially in business class – made QF9 a prize pick over the more common Boeing 737 flights.
QF9 is a Dreamliner rose between two 737 thorns.
In fact, a Perth-bound Boeing 737 leaves Melbourne less than an hour before the Dreamliner, and we know which plane we’d rather be on.
The Melbourne–Perth leg of QF9 was especially appealing to Qantas Platinum and Qantas Platinum One members, who took advantage of the 4pm flight’s departure from Melbourne Airport’s T2 international terminal to visit the Qantas first class lounge for lunch at the à la carte dining room.
Fancy a lunch at the Qantas First Lounge before your quick Melbourne-Perth hop?
In fact, if you don’t mind an early start to the day and are travelling with only carry-on baggage, you can head to T2 extra-early and enjoy breakfast at the Qantas First Lounge (the eggs Benedict or corn fritters are always hard to pass up), then get down to some work until lunchtime and, later, boarding QF9.
The QF10 return leg from Perth to Melbourne doesn’t offer the same pre-flight lounge perks for Platinums, but again, it’s a better ride in any cabin than the Boeing 737.
Also read: Why Finnair chose Melbourne for its first Australian route
24 Aug 2011
Total posts 1270
So MEL returns to the situation where it has a Qantas First Class Lounge but no Qantas First Class flights. In theory, this changes when the Sunrise flights to London commence from MEL, probably some time in 2028.
11 Sep 2015
Total posts 269
Yes, once again the Qantas First Lounge becomes the Qantas Platinum Lounge! Ah well, at least QF9 MEL-PER is back, so bring on those First lounge lunches!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
06 Oct 2016
Total posts 193
MEL Sunrise flights will be years away, more likely 2029, SYD will get both LHR and JFK before that starts, and need 5 aircraft before they are prepared to compromise anything to do with SYD!
11 Sep 2015
Total posts 269
This is a sadly familiar tune for Melbourne, I've lost count of the number of times the A380 has been yanked off MEL-LAX. Ironic, because MEL-LAX was the launch route for the Qantas A380 back in 2008, and then until the QF-EK partnership we also had MEL-SIN-LHR.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
04 Mar 2013
Total posts 49
Sad but also a reflection where the demand is.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
06 Oct 2016
Total posts 193
Sure that is one way to think of it, the other is MEL is so disenfranchised with Qantas we have just given up.
SQ an do 5 flights daily to SIN couple of 777 and A359 - QF can't even do twice daily , CX, who came within a micron of bankruptcy in COVID, does 3 daily HKG (2x777 and an A359) vs 1 A330 5 times a week. In less than 10 years 95% of my spend has gone to SQ and Virgin, I will never be PPS Solitaire, and OneWorld Platinum was better than Star Gold, but, facts
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
24 Jan 2018
Total posts 860
I've always gleaned that, but for the lucrative 'bottom leg' of the golden triangle business run, QF would prefer to excise Melbourne altogether, favouring other cities. I think it's a 'Sydney thing' largely isolated to QF (not so much Sydney-siders per se) and I've both felt and noticed it since 2009. Were it not for competition from VA, I suspect the standard of service would be even less. Let's at least hope QF puts the First Class lounge to good use for business class travellers on QF's international routes.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
11 Nov 2016
Total posts 72
You're suggesting J pax should have entry to the MEL F lounge?
20 Nov 2015
Total posts 601
LOL Why on earth should Qantas open its MEL First lounge to every international business class passenger??
Etihad - Etihad Guest
11 May 2018
Total posts 7
I wish Qantas could get SYD-MEX going. There is a huge market for people in Australia going to Mexico and Central America who have zero desire to transit through the USA right now.
Even if the route didn't operate every day, I imagine it would see decent demand. A problem would be capacity in MEX right now, though. AICM is saturated, and I don't think they can take any more aircraft. AIFA has capacity, but it would not make much sense for Qantas to go there, because a significant proportion of passengers would be connecting onto other flights departing from AICM to head to other places in Latin America.
Still, I'd love to be able to get between Australia and Latin America (especially Mexico) without having to go through the USA or Santiago.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
01 May 2019
Total posts 40
This is a reflection of how Qantas customers in Melbourne have moved to other carriers as Qantas slowly over time became more Sydney centric.
Singapore Airlines - The PPS Club
21 Feb 2022
Total posts 8
Yes, Qantas are the national carrier for Sydney only! Same with Australian Opera who are really Sydney Opera...
QFF
12 Apr 2013
Total posts 1614
Would be nice if Qantas became a bit more consistent. For example if MEL-LAX (or MEL-SIN for this merit) considered as "First Class Route" then all planes serving this route should have First Class cabin. And if they roasted it somewhere else like MEL-HKG (route not considered as "First Class Route") then simply sell First Class seats either for additional money as Air New Zealand does or allocate them to status pax with business level service. But this is no more than a dream.
11 Mar 2026
Total posts 1
How typical of Qantas - to treat Melbourne with disdain like the poor relative, notwithstanding it is expected to become the most populous state in Australia within 2 years or so. Since Geoff Dixon left Qantas, Melbourne has become increasingly marginalised in terms of aircraft and route and frequency choices. Little wonder then that Melbourne passengers in increasing numbers have switched to other airlines that provide newer, cleaner and more frequent choices (and better schedules) to Europe and the US. Good luck Qantas on building your business around Sydney - but don't expect customer loyalty in Melbourne. Unlike the past, we are now afforded many more, cheaper and better alternatives to flying with Qantas.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
13 Nov 2018
Total posts 145
What is the obsession with Sydney? Melbourne is potentially a larger market based on population size alone. Furthermore, transferring between a domestic and international at Sydney is a pain in the behind! Whereas Melbourne, you don’t even leave the building. What is wrong with the people in mascot?
At least give us the chance for the A380 on the MEL– SIN, that could rendezvous with the SIN – LHR. Currently, you are forced to go through Sydney if you want first class to SIN. What do we just switch to Singapore airlines?
15 Dec 2021
Total posts 5
It seems quite staggering the difference in flights and capacity between two cities that have almost identical populations. Yes, I understand Qantas is headquartered in Sydney and for them they ideally would like people to transfer there but I just don’t buy all they say. Qantas will offer virtually double the number of seats from Sydney to Singapore than Melbourne to Singapore, yet BITRE data shows demand from Melbourne more often exceeds that of Sydney. Is this truly adjusting capacity to where it is needed or more about the convenience of centralising A380 operations out of one city for convenience and operational benefits? Bali is another example of where more fly from Melbourne to than from Sydney yet Sydney gets more capacity with the A330. On Los Angeles interestingly Delta are boosting capacity from Melbourne later in the year as Qantas eases back. Perhaps that’s the point. Whilst I am no expert something just doesn’t add up. I read a stat the other day, and I can’t verify this, but something like 25% of available international seats out of Sydney are on Qantas. In Melbourne the comparative figure is 15% (so 85% in other airlines).
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
28 May 2012
Total posts 94
Perhaps Qantas has all the data? It is a data and revenue based business so im pretty sure they would allocate resources (aircraft) on the routes that make the most money and have the most demand.
Everyone in Melbourne would love more first class and flights to more destinations and the best business class, but are they willing to put their money where their mouth is so to speak.
15 Dec 2021
Total posts 5
I don’t think anyone is suggesting that Qantas are trying to sacrifice money just to spite Melbourne. I think the points are that data shows that there is demand from Melbourne. It is simply not the case that Sydney has significantly more traffic to Singapore to justify two A380 flights from there versus two A330 flights from Melbourne. For me it is ‘operational convenience’ to run all A380s from Sydney. Why is it that Qantas accounts for around 25% of all international seats from Sydney and only 15% of all international seats out of Melbourne? The answer being they have made a strategic decision to focus on Sydney and cede demand from Melbourne to other carriers, in my opinion. That’s entirely their right. But arguments that there is not demand from Melbourne don’t hold when other carriers are boosting capacity, e.g. Delta, Sri Lankan, China Eastern because they see opportunities
15 Jun 2022
Total posts 3
I flew back from LAX at the end of last month on an A380 and the Y cabin, which has a capacity of 340, had 229 unsold seats! That can't be good for business.
22 May 2011
Total posts 93
Qantas is a publicly listed company and needs to maximise return for shareholders, so it is trying to maximise its return on its assets. If they deem SYD to have stronger return, then they’ll move aircraft there. They aren’t intentionally trying to be a Sydney focused airline or anti Melbourne airline.
Does that mean they won’t offer massages in the first lounge anymore? They seem to only offer it when there is a first class product flying out
Hi Guest, join in the discussion on Qantas axes A380, first class from Melbourne