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Inside Qantas’ A380 Fleet: Current Routes, Aircraft Status, and Future Plans

Qantas is one of the few remaining operators of the Airbus A380 in the world. Where does the Australian airline currently fly its fleet of mega-jumbos?

By Alex Achille
A Qantas Airbus A380 captured from below during its approach to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The massive four-engine superjumbo with its distinctive white fuselage and iconic red Qantas kangaroo tail livery is shown against a clear blue sky with trees visible in the foreground. This aircraft is one of eight operational A380s in Qantas' fleet that regularly serves the Melbourne-Los Angeles (QF93) and Sydney-Los Angeles (QF11) routes.
A Qantas Airbus A380 captured from below during its approach to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The massive four-engine superjumbo with its distinctive white fuselage and iconic red Qantas kangaroo tail livery is shown against a clear blue sky with trees visible in the foreground. This aircraft is one of eight operational A380s in Qantas' fleet that regularly serves the Melbourne-Los Angeles (QF93) and Sydney-Los Angeles (QF11) routes.

The Airbus A380 has been a tricky aircraft for all airlines to use to its full potential. Very few airlines have truly harnessed all that the mighty airbus jumbo can bring to the table. Emirates aside, all airlines which have taken delivery of the A380 have had some issues making the economics of this giant plane work in their favor. One of these airlines is Australia's Qantas. However, the issues the aircraft comes with are a topic for another post. Today we'll be touching on where Qantas currently flies its Airbus A380s and how many it still owns and operates.

Qantas And The Airbus A380 – How Many Does it Still Own and Operate?

The Qantas-A380 relationship is a love-hate one. In very simple and straightforward terms, the airline hasn't been able to harness the full potential of this aircraft type as Emirates has. However, compared to many of its peers (such as British Airways, Lufthansa or Qatar Airways) who also owned this unique aircraft it definitely has found a better use for it in its operations.

The distinctive nose section of a white Qantas Airbus A380 aircraft docked at an airport gate with 'Charles Ulm' name visible on the fuselage. Part of Qantas' operational fleet of eight A380s that serve premium routes including Sydney-London, Sydney-Johannesburg, and Los Angeles from both Sydney and Melbourne.
The distinctive nose section of a white Qantas Airbus A380 aircraft docked at an airport gate with ‘Charles Ulm' name visible on the fuselage. Part of Qantas' operational fleet of eight A380s that serve premium routes including Sydney-London, Sydney-Johannesburg, and Los Angeles from both Sydney and Melbourne.

The Australian airline had originally taken delivery of 12 Airbus A380s. As of March 2025, however, it only still possesses 10. Those outlying two, sadly, were scrapped in 2022. Out of those ten 8 are at this moment in operations with the Aussie airline. Their registration numbers are:

  • VH-OQA
  • VH-OQB
  • VH-OQD
  • VH-OQG
  • VH-OQH
  • VH-OQI
  • VH-OQJ
  • VH-OQK

We'll cover in the next section of this article where these planes are flying at the moment. However let's wrap things up in regard to the Qantas A380 fleet.

You might be wondering what is going on with the remaining 2 Airbus jumbos that are not in the list of operating planes above, right? Well until now they have been in desert storage in the United States. They will not be remaining there much longer though.

Qantas plans to bring back into operation these last 2 stored A380s too. It was announced as one of the key points in the airline's press release concerning the 2025FY H1 results. If you wish to you can read my post about that here. The registration numbers of these soon to return A380s are:

  • VH-OQC
  • VH-OQL

Despite the airline pushing heavily on fleet modernization and investing solely on ultra fuel-efficient twin engine aircraft for its long-haul operations, the A380 remains a formidable arrow in Qantas' quiver for high capacity and demand routes. So, let's find out which routes we're talking about.

Where Does Qantas Fly Its Airbus A380s Fleet?

As mentioned above Qantas deploys its Airbus A380s only to a handful of destinations. The Qantas A380 operates most flights out of Sydney (SYD), 3 flights out of 4, with the remaining service operated out of Melbourne (MEL). In particular they send their A380s to some of their flagship routes such as:

  • Sydney-Singapore-London QF1 (via Singapore)
  • Sydney-Johannesburg QF63
  • Sydney-Los Angeles QF11
  • Melbourne-Los Angeles QF93
A world map showing the international routes served by Qantas' Airbus A380 fleet. Red lines connect Sydney (SYD) to Singapore (SIN), London Heathrow (LHR), Johannesburg (JNB), and Los Angeles (LAX), while another route connects Melbourne (MEL) to Los Angeles. These strategic high-capacity routes represent the four flagship services where Qantas deploys its eight operational A380 aircraft, with the Sydney-Singapore-London route being a key service that operates via Singapore. Airport codes are labeled at each destination point on the dark blue world map.
A world map showing the international routes served by Qantas' Airbus A380 fleet. Red lines connect Sydney (SYD) to Singapore (SIN), London Heathrow (LHR), Johannesburg (JNB), and Los Angeles (LAX), while another route connects Melbourne (MEL) to Los Angeles. These strategic high-capacity routes represent the four flagship services where Qantas deploys its eight operational A380 aircraft, with the Sydney-Singapore-London route being a key service that operates via Singapore. Airport codes are labeled at each destination point on the dark blue world map. Image GCmap.com

These are some of the most strategic and important, in terms of yields, routes for the Australian airline. Routes that can be predictably filled year round with passengers in all classes with a profitable load factor. Hong Kong used to be in the list of A380 served destinations, however, it has been discontinued as passenger volumes just didn't add up to justify the use of such a massive aircraft.

The Qantas Airbus A380 Aircraft Configuration – The Only Aircraft With First Class Cabins

Qantas has its Airbus A380 configured with 2 different cabin layouts. The most common Qantas A380 cabin configuration features:

  • 14 First Class Seats
  • 70 Business Class Seats
  • 60 Premium Economy Class Seats
  • 341 Economy Class Seats

This cabin layout is present on planes that regularly fly to:

  • Singapore (SIN) – QF1
  • London (LHR) – QF1
  • Los Angeles (LAX) – QF11

The other configuration is available is featured on only 1 currently active A380: VH-OQA. This layout Features less premium economy seats and a portion of economy seats on the upper deck.

  • 14 First Class Seats
  • 64 Business Class Seats
  • 35 Premium Economy Class Seats
  • 371 Economy Class Seats

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Alex Achille
Alex Achille
Ex Emirates Cabin Crew and long time aviation enthusiast. I can remember loving aviation and planes since I was a very little boy. I have developed my passion into a deep knowledge of the sector and industry to offer on my sites in depth and precise analyses of what is going on. I also completed cabin crew training with Ryanair, however, I never worked for the company (more on that another time). Finally I also have taken flying lessons completing my first solo flights.

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