Qantas A380 touches down in Sydney

The most amazing thing about the behemoth A380 is the gentle, almost surreal way it lands, appearing to hang in the sky seconds before it touches gently on the tarmac with a puff of smoke and less noise that the 737’s that had been landing before it made yesterday at Sydney’s International airport

That may have been assisted by only reportedly 80 or so passengers being on board, but having seen the Singapore Airlines A380 also touch down, the experience is very similar.

It appeared that every aircraft spotter in Sydney had turned up for this moment of aviation history, lining the perimeter fences, with the fortunate few of media camped right alongside the runway for that moment we will all remember.

Bringing the monster into Sydney and I am sure making sure he did not stuff it up, was Captain Peter Probert, whose father also delivered the first 747 into Australia in 1971, telling media afterwards in a lackluster hanger party for 3,000 Qantas staff and guests that the flight had been a highlight of his career, adding, “”It’s one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had in my life flying the Qantas A380 down to Sydney”.

Having flow over the harbour in a classic fly past of the harbour bridge, the first QF A380 had left its birthplace of Toulouse in the South West of France after what appears to have been a pretty spectacular ceremony to land in Sydney about 9:00am yesterday morning, to a rather less glittering event, considering that the bosses at Qantas claim that this is the beginning of a new era for the airline…The Mole believes that is truer than we could all ever imagine! [Pictured above: the massive aircraft seems to be waving at its new friends!]

If all goes to plan, Qantas will receive three A380 by the end of this year, eight by the end of 2009 and, cross everything all 20 it has on order by the end of 2013.

With the ever changing aviation landscape, the Mole believes [as reported some time ago, along with Joyce’s appointment as the CEO] that some of these massive aircraft will ultimately be delivered in Jetstar colours, but nobody would be drawn on that issue yesterday.

It is not rocket science to work out though that with Joyce at the helm of the mother ship Qantas, cost cutting like the airline has never seen before will take place and the low cost model has to be applied to the ultra long haul routes, with the A380 bringing even greater economies and profit in JQ colours, on the classic high volume, low yield route of them all, the kangaroo route, with Qantas continuing to evolve into a premium carrier, perhaps even taking over the 787’s in a virtually all J and F configuration.

Allan Joyce is reported as saying that the A380 will deliver up to 25% improvement in fuel efficiency and carbon emissions per revenue tonne than large jets currently operating…so what about Jetstar, rememebr it is his baby, which The Mole reckons he will be even more determined now to see succeed, with Bruce Buchanan waiting in the wings to take it over, when Joyce moves into the QF HQ.

The newly delivered A389 will make its maiden commercial flight between Melbourne and Los Angeles on October 20, with its first flight out of Sydney to LA, on October 24 and flights from Sydney to London beginning in February.

A Report by The Mole on location from Sydney International Airport and the arrival of Qantas first A380.