Business | Aviation
Qantas will fly A380 on Dubai route
Qantas, the Australian carrier, will launch flights to Dubai within about three years once the A380 superjumbo starts joining the fleet, a top official said.
- By Saifur Rahman, Business News Editor
- Published: 00:22 July 8, 2007
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Seattle: Qantas, the Australian carrier, will launch flights to Dubai within about three years once the A380 superjumbo starts joining the fleet, a top official said.
"Yes, Dubai is very much on our radar and when we plan for new routes, Dubai will be in the network," Geoff Dixon, Qantas chief executive, told Gulf News on Friday.
"This will have to wait until we start receiving the A380s, which will serve the US markets and later, Dubai."
The airline on Friday said it will top up its order for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner to 85, including 20 options. It placed 45 firm orders with 50 purchase rights in 2005.
Qantas also has a further 30 purchase rights for the Dreamliner.
Dixon, who was in Seattle to participate in the 787 rollout programme, said the 787s would be used by the Qantas group's two major brands - Qantas and Jetstar - for both domestic and international routes.
Qantas' entry in Dubai will heat up the competition on the Dubai-Australia route served by Emirates with seven daily flights. Both airlines are expected to operate the A380s that will carry at least 50 per cent more passengers.
Emirates, which launch-ed services to Australia in the 1990s via Singapore, popularised the route and managed to snatch Europe-bound traffic with a stopover in Dubai.
With its vast route network in Europe, the airline also managed to offer better alternatives to Europe's Australia-bound travellers with a day's stopover in Dubai.
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