Stunning photos, video as Qantas, Emirates A380s fly over Sydney Harbour

By David Flynn, March 31 2013
Stunning photos, video as Qantas, Emirates A380s fly over Sydney Harbour

Latest | Following this morning's historic Sydney Harbour A380 flyby featuring superjumbos from Qantas and Emirates, to mark the start of the alliance between these two airlines, here's a selection of fantastic photos capturing the moment.

On the runway, ready to roll.... Brent Winstone/Qantas
On the runway, ready to roll...
Brent Winstone/Qantas
Formation flying. James Morgan/Qantas
Formation flying
James Morgan/Qantas
Formation flying. Keith McInnes
Formation flying
Keith McInnes
Formation flying. Ashan Karunagaran
Formation flying
Ashan Karunagaran
Formation flying. James Morgan/Qantas
Formation flying
James Morgan/Qantas
Formation flying. Shaun Amy
Formation flying
Shaun Amy
Formation flying. Qantas
Formation flying
Qantas

Now THAT'S a tight formation!. Trent Lidstone
Now THAT'S a tight formation!
Trent Lidstone
Heading towards Sydney Harbour. Brent Winstone/Qantas
Heading towards Sydney Harbour
Brent Winstone/Qantas
A380s over Sydney. Brent Winstone/Qantas
A380s over Sydney
Brent Winstone/Qantas
A380s over Sydney. Brent Winstone/Qantas
A380s over Sydney
Brent Winstone/Qantas
Skirting around Sydney Tower. Shaun Amy
Skirting around Sydney Tower
Shaun Amy
Flying high over Sydney Harbour. Qantas
Flying high over Sydney Harbour
Qantas
Framed by the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. Richard Bell
Framed by the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge
Richard Bell
Flying high over Sydney Harbour. James Morgan/Qantas
Flying high over Sydney Harbour
James Morgan/Qantas

Approaching the Harbour Bridge. Keith McInnes
Approaching the Harbour Bridge
Keith McInnes
Flying over the Harbour Bridge. Keith McInnes
Flying over the Harbour Bridge
Keith McInnes
Flying over the Harbour Bridge. Keith McInnes
Flying over the Harbour Bridge
Keith McInnes
Flying over the Harbour Bridge. Keith McInnes
Flying over the Harbour Bridge
Keith McInnes
Over the iconic sails of the Opera House. James Morgan/Qantas
Over the iconic sails of the Opera House
James Morgan/Qantas
Over the iconic sails of the Opera House. James Morgan/Qantas
Over the iconic sails of the Opera House
James Morgan/Qantas
Over the iconic sails of the Opera House. James Morgan/Qantas
Over the iconic sails of the Opera House
James Morgan/Qantas
Over the iconic sails of the Opera House. James Morgan/Qantas
Over the iconic sails of the Opera House
James Morgan/Qantas

Over the iconic sails of the Opera House. James Morgan/Qantas
Over the iconic sails of the Opera House
James Morgan/Qantas
Over the iconic sails of the Opera House. Qantas
Over the iconic sails of the Opera House
Qantas
Turning back to Sydney International Airport.... Keith McInnes
Turning back to Sydney International Airport...
Keith McInnes
Heading cack to the airport.... Brent Winstone/Qantas
Heading cack to the airport...
Brent Winstone/Qantas

Want to share your pics? Tweet your best shots to @AusBT, or email them to [email protected] and we'll add them to this page for all the world to see!

You may also enjoy this YouTube video clip shot by Jase AURadio, although you see much more of the aircraft than of the city below.

Previous | Two Airbus A380s – one Qantas, the other Emirates – will buzz Sydney Harbour today, Sunday March 31, to mark the new alliance between the two airlines.

The 10 minute flyover will take place around 10.30am and include two low passes over the Harbour Bridge at a height of 1500 feet, affording Sydneysiders a stunning view of these two superjumbos travelling in tight formation.

It's believed to be the first time that two Airbus A380s from different airlines have flown together in such a display, and the crew of both aircraft have practised by flying the route dozens of times in sophisticated A380 flight simulators over the past few months.

Both the Qantas and Emirates A380s taking off from Sydney Airport at 9.20am.

They'll head north to Longreef, then turn back to Watson's Bay and head west along the harbour before passing over the bridge at around 10.30am, with the Qantas plane in the lead and the Emirates A380 sitting slightly higher to its right.

Both A380s will continue towards Gladesville Bridge, then return in the same formation, before heading back to Sydney Airport to ferry travellers – including a sizeable media contingent – to Dubai on inaugural flights for the Qantas-Emirates alliance.

During the run the aircraft will use the special callsign 'Seismic', chosen because Emirates president Tim Clark is fond of saying the Qantas-Emirates partnership will cause a "seismic shift in global aviation" – the Qantas A380 will be Seismic 1 and the Emirates' plane, Seismic 2.

The special flight numbers allocated to this unique jaunt are QF6600 and EK8388.

Australian Business Traveller will be travelling on the Qantas A380 flight QF1 to Dubai as a guest of Qantas.

Get up to speed with how the Qantas-Emirates alliance will affect your travel

Follow Australian Business Traveller on Twitter: we're @AusBT

David

David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

30 Mar 2013

Total posts 8

Well, this should be very cool to see. I will be at Sydney airport on Sunday around that time. Hope to catch a glimpse of the action

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

17 Aug 2012

Total posts 2199

AWW YEAHHHHHHHHHHH

XD

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

18 May 2011

Total posts 233

Little confused.
If you are going from Watson's Bay towards the Bridge and then onwards to Gladesville, wouldn't you be flying West instead of East?

24 Oct 2010

Total posts 2560

Indeed, and then east on the way back.

26 May 2012

Total posts 149

This is what Qantas needs to do more of!

10 Mar 2011

Total posts 526

Had a great view of them...  They flew in perfect unison and looked great despite the grey skies!

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

07 May 2012

Total posts 371

Looks amazing!

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

13 Sep 2011

Total posts 180

Fizzer.

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

05 Jun 2012

Total posts 54

I know I've been banging on about this for a couple of weeks now - but the price differential is astronomical

2 weeks ago - I checked QANTAS and Skyscanner for price comparisons on the same Emirates flights

Adelaide/Zurich

Two weeks ago -->> Skyscanner - $6716, QANTAS - $9700

As at today -->> Skyscanner - $6716, QANTAS is $11,670

QANTAS has to recoup the the fly overs some how

07 Oct 2012

Total posts 1251

As has been said before, approval was needed from regulatory bodies before coordination on air fares. See below from businessspectator:

Emirates president Tim Clark said the two carriers have only just started the process of aligning fares, following Australian Competition and Consumer Commission approval.

"We have only just got the approval to actually start aligning fares," Mr Clark said.

"We couldn't even contemplate that beforehand." (1.04.2013)

As stated previously, I wouldn't be suprised if EK's fares rise a little and QF's go down... but that is pure speculation. There is a bundle of competition around at the moment, so pricing will need to be competitive.

So if you really want too, do a comparison again in two weeks and no doubt the pricing will have the same differential. I'm sure going through the process of streamlining pricing (amongst other things) will take some time... maybe even months. In the meantime book with another airline like EK or SQ if one stop is important.

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

05 Jun 2012

Total posts 54

Aligning Fares is a corporate excuse.

The easiest way to aligh fare is to make it the same as you get it.

Qantas made a conscious decision to jack the price up

07 Oct 2012

Total posts 1251

I would suggest it is way more complex than it seems...

Emirates and Qantas have not gone through several regulatory processes (with NZ still to come) for the fun of it. It is required so that amongst other things, that can work together to price.

An example, is Air Niugini between PNG & Aus (SYD/BNE). Qantas sells seats on Air Niugini but each airline is still meant to compete with each other. If Qantas just matched Air Niugini's price they would find themselves in trouble with the ACCC.

I would suggest that the current pricing of EK flights by QF would be something similar. This is without factoring each airlines pricing formulas (not-yet aligned) and other factoring like supply/demand etc.

There are heaps of quirks in aviation which don't make sense to the wider world... at times its cheaper to fly to europe through dubai than it is to fly just to dubai.

If someone who's worked in the pricing area of an airline knows more, I'd be glad to learn from you!

My personal view is that Qantas can charge what it likes, the market will decide what it is willing to pay. (...and that corporate excuse came from EK not QF)

CL9
CL9

22 Mar 2012

Total posts 200

Very beautiful display indeed...

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

17 Aug 2012

Total posts 2199

It was a sight to behold. All it needed was the main theme from The Battle Of Britain :P

24 Oct 2010

Total posts 2560

So very true - that stirring theme always gives me goosebumps!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFEXitPn1ko

Now, if only one of them had dipped their wings in a bit of a 'victory roll'...

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

18 Oct 2012

Total posts 133

Does anybody know what % of seats will be sold per flight for QF code share on EK  aircrafts?

Im still struggling with "whats in it for EK?" as are EK staff at this point

QF

05 Apr 2013

Total posts 1

Bet Emirates did,nt arrange for a QF/ER flight around Duabi and the Burj Al Arab hotel to publicise the event.


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