Qantas A380 to deliver more tourist dollars to Sydney
New South Wales Minister for Tourism, Jodi McKay, said yesterday that by November Qantas A380 services between Sydney and Los Angeles will deliver more than $1 million in direct tourist spending to NSW every week.
Jodi today attended the official ceremony for the naming of Qantas’ first A380 aircraft after Sydney born aviation pioneer Nancy-Bird Walton, saying, “The extra capacity of these incredible aircraft will help us to further grow overseas visitor numbers, increase investment and create more jobs in NSW,â€
“Each Qantas A380 is capable of carrying 450 passengers to NSW including visitors from some of our most important and lucrative overseas markets.â€
The first commercial A380 Qantas service from Sydney to Los Angeles will begin on October 24 and with the addition of a second Qantas A380 aircraft in November services will increase to three flights a week between Sydney and Los Angeles.
“According to Tourism NSW estimates every Qantas A380 that touches down in Sydney carries visitors who will spend a total of $356,000 during their stay in NSW.†“Every week that adds up to more than a million dollars spent in our hotels and motels, restaurants, souvenir stores and attractions.â€
Tourism directly employs 156,000 people in NSW and injects more than $24 billion into to the State’s economy each year.
Qantas A380 services between Sydney and London via Singapore are scheduled to begin in January 2009. Qantas will take delivery of three A380s by the end of 2008, with eight by the end of 2009.
“Steady growth in visitors is forecast from the US, the UK and Singapore,†Jodi said, adding, “It was a fitting tribute to name the first Qantas A380 after Nancy-Bird Walton AO, OBE, with Nancy the first female pilot in the Commonwealth to carry passengers and the founder of the Australian Women Pilots’ Association, saving the lives of many patients when she operated an air ambulance servicein Outback NSW in 1935.
“Nancy-Bird Walton’s pioneering spirit is an inspiration to us all and this aircraft is a fitting tribute to Nancy’s contribution to the role of women in aviation,†Jodi said.
Tourism NSW regularly works in partnership with Qantas on a range of marketing activities to promote travel to NSW and she added, “NSW gets the lion’s share of international visitors to Australia at 54 per cent, which is more than any other Stateâ€.
“Last financial year international visitors spent nearly $6 billion in NSW, an increase of 7.6 per cent compared to the previous year“.
In the year to June 2008, NSW received more than 2.8 million international visitors who spent 56.8 million nights in this State, with the UK the largest source market for international visitors to NSW, followed by New Zealand and the US.
Singapore Airlines operates daily A380 services from London and Singapore to Sydney and Emirates is scheduled to commence its A380 services in February next year.
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