Qantas boosts A380 flights to Singapore
It’s a superjumbo surge between Sydney and Singapore.
By David Flynn, February 26 2026
Qantas is adding a second A380 superjumbo onto the Sydney-Singapore route, in a move which will see the double-decker jet flying almost twice-daily on the popular route.
Beginning December 17, the current QF81/QF82 flights will be handed over to an A380 for six out of seven days, with the remaining day continuing on an Airbus A330.
This superjumbo has been taken off the Melbourne-Los Angeles route, where a Boeing 787 will swing in as its replacement.
“While demand for flights from the US to Australia has increased, this has not offset reduced demand in Economy for flights from Australia to the US,” Qantas notes.
“In response, Qantas is adjusting some US schedules, replacing the A380 with a 787 on Melbourne-Los Angeles and redeploying the A380 to Sydney-Singapore.”
Singapore’s superjumbo surge
Swapping the A330 for the A380 delivers a 60% surge in capacity, most notably doubling the number of business class seats between the two aircraft – while also putting an extra 120 premium economy seats per day (60 each way) onto the route.
Savvy flyers should also be watching for any uptick in the number of highly-prized Classic Reward seats bookable at the lowest number of Qantas Points.
The additional A380 brings with it a substantial boost in business class availability.
That includes 82,100 points for one-way in business class; 61,100 points for premium economy; and a low 29,000 point for economy (quite sufficient for the daytime leg from Sydney to Singapore, but less so for the overnight return).
Of course, the A380 also unlocks the possibility of an indulgent trip in first class for 123,100 points.
Also read: Qantas reveals new Classic Reward search tool
Premium economy is another winner from the extra Sydney-Singapore A380.
Asia is home to one of the largest populations of Qantas Frequent Flyer members outside Australia – a cohort ranging from Aussie expats living in Singapore to locals who travel regularly for business and leisure.
“We’re seeing demand for premium travel continue to grow and moving to an almost entirely A380 operation between Singapore and Sydney means we can offer significantly more first class, business and premium economy seats for our customers,” says Nick McGlynn, Qantas’ Executive Vice President, Asia.
08 Feb 2018
Total posts 179
<insert whinge from melbourne-based follower here>
10 Jan 2019
Total posts 7
Great - do we know when?
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
25 Feb 2014
Total posts 31
Still No daytime flight back but 2x A380 flight about 2 hours apart will be very in Sydney with at least 4 A380s arriving within 90 minutes...
22 May 2011
Total posts 93
When?
15 Dec 2021
Total posts 5
@dm12 - I’ll take the bait and kick off the ‘whinging’ for you.
What I will say is that now it means no more First Class from Melbourne on Qantas with both Los Angeles and Singapore gone.
I don’t pretend to know the financials behind any of this nor question Qantas’ commercial decisions but it seems a little surprising that they’ve gone down this path.
Brite stats more often than not show more traffic between Melbourne and Singapore than Sydney to Singapore more often than not, so I don’t buy the less demand from Melbourne on that route for example.
To be honest, Qantas is becoming less and less relevant in Melbourne anyway …
@dm12, what was actually the point of your post anyway?
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
08 Mar 2017
Total posts 15
I am based in Melbourne and due to some happy circumstances, I will always choose first class when it is available.
However, the idea of starting the journey on a small jet, going through the mad scramble from Syd domestic to Int - just for the priviledge of flying Qantas (and mostly at a higher price) is no longer my first choice.
08 May 2020
Total posts 67
I have noticed how Sydney centric all the announcements are today, i'd challenge the Qantas board to relocate to anywhere else in Australia for 6 months to have a go at bashing some of that unconscious bias
20 Nov 2015
Total posts 604
Or maybe Qantas knows something you don't about the profitability of a SYD service?
20 Nov 2015
Total posts 604
Be interesting to see how many Classic Reward seats this extra A380 gets. I think it was last year that Qantas also did this double-A380 for a while and it had a STACK of business and premium economy seats at Classic rates. They might not all be up now but no doubt closer to the star, a lot of empty seats will become Classic Rewards seats!
01 Apr 2014
Total posts 117
Given the difference in flight times / turnarounds for MEL-LAX versus SYD-SIN, wouldn't that effectively free up a spare A380?
With these changes starting in Dec, it may be related to the peak DEC-JAN period when they usually had all A380's flying (and no scheduled deep maintenance) which has caused havoc in the past if an A380 goes tech over this busy period. This might give them an operational spare over this period, that could allow some scheduled servicing? Hopefully the ageing A380's don't become "hangar queens".
As for losing QF First from MEL - that's a pity, but I'm sure QF Rev Mgmt have run the numbers, and wonder if that will result in shuttering the F Lounge in MEL?. Doing the Dom-Intl shuffle in SYD is a bad experience, so after I burn through my remaining QFF points (buy an overpriced toaster), QF will lose my significant $$ amount of paid flights that previously earned those points. *** Will the last person to leave the failing state of Victoria please remember to turn off the lights.....
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
08 Dec 2023
Total posts 16
I think this says more about the current attractiveness of America for non business flyers than it does about Melbourne.
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