Qantas A380 First Class Review
Dubai to Sydney
Qantas fly from Dubai to Sydney and Melbourne daily as part of their London to Australia service. Quite often, I use Emirates and Etihad to fly to Australia but this time I opted for flying Qantas, the Australian carrier for a style change.
Qantas is a one world partner. I can redeem my American Airlines AAdvantage Miles on flying Qantas. Prior to the devaluation of AAdvantage miles, it cost only 60,000 miles to fly Qantas First Class from Dubai to Sydney one way. A considerable bargain! The availability on redemption seat is generally quite good on Qantas out of Dubai if you book in advance!
I arrived 2.5 hours before my departure time. Nothing beats the wife drops me in her own car (which is better than Emirates Chaffeur drive!) at the kerb side of Premium Check-in
Qantas use Emirates Terminal 3 check-in. First and Business Class check-in is done at the dedicated area.
After a swift check-in with almost no passenger (very few joining from Dubai) I went straight pass security and head over to Emirates First Class Lounge in A concourse where my flight departs from.
You can read the detail report of the lounge here.
Boarding commenced around 30 minutes before schedule departure time.
Passengers in the lounge can board directly from the lounge.
Extra security on every flight bound for Australia. No liquid over 100ml allowed.
Main podium boarding underway.
VH-OQI "David Warren" is operating to Sydney today as QF002
Welcome onboard Mr Chui!
My suite 1A just after turning right at door 1L.
The seat can be swiveled around, but at upright position it faces at a straight up angle.
Pol Roger Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill vintage 2004 Champagne is served
View from Suite 1A
It is considerable more private than other suite in First Class as you are seated in front of the whole cabin. The drawback is, there is a bathroom and closet in front of you and you get the foot traffic occasionally.
Qantas First pyjama and SKII amenity kit.
We pushed back on-time and took off on Runway 30R around 9:40am
Windows on A380 always posing problem for filming, the gap between inner and outer window is large and size are drastically different.
We climbed to FL330 initially track over Oman, then towards Mumbai and Southern India and Sri Lanka.
Then we will fly pass Singapore before continue heading SE direction into Western Australia and across central Australia to Sydney.
The First Class Cabin from the rear.
Today's flight menu - created by Rockpool chef Neil Perry
Seat control unit, also serve as a flight map unit.
Canapes: Caviar tartlet and rare beef tartare.
Apptitzer: Salmon Tataki
Main Plate: Seared Black cod.
One of the best airline meal I have to this day!
The food in both presentation and taste is excellent.
The presentation is simple yet elegant. The taste is done just right without overly tasty. It has a good balance of flavour without being too salty or enhanced. It is also served with good moist without being too dry. Well done to the galley crew onboard.
A bathroom visit after the meal 🙂
The staircase to upper deck.
A photo with Qantas A380 F/O Don C. He was informed by the crew that a "special" aviation enthusiast is onboard and Don came out during his breaks to chat with me. We had a great chat and even found out we know some common persons in the aviation circle in Australia.
On the upper deck of Qantas A380, it feature a lounge with red leather sofa.
There is also a serve self bar.
Back to my seat after a quick look around.
Dessert: Sticky Rice with Mango pudding and ice cream.
After a very satisfying meal, I opted for a day nap. The bed is turned down with a very thick and soft wool mattress. This is definitely substance over style, the mattress has to be the best one in the air I've slept on.
The bed is wider than the usual First Class convertible bed and my foot do not touch the wall in front.
I slept firmly for 4 hours and we're over Indonesia when i woke up.
Another meal (Dinner time in Dubai) I chose the grass fed steak fillet. It is done just the way I wanted. Still tender inside and not too dry. Note how simple and elegant plating on Qantas!
Some tea and get back in bed!
The flight went non-eventful and most passenger have woken up for breakfast 2 hours before landing into Sydney. It was pitch dark outside while we flew past some of the very isolated Central part of Australia.
Again, the breakfast really impress me. It is simple eggs and toast yet the eggs are good running and moist.
We landed at 05:07am in Sydney Kingsford Smith Internatonal Airport. The airport has a curfew and arrival are only allowed after 5am and have to land from the South overwater. We were the second in landing just after a British Airways B777 from Singapore.
Captain Steve H allow a cockpit visit and gave me a very informative A380 cockpit orientation. We exchanged lot of pleasantries and joked about losing the race to BA in landing ("A fine line between childish and professionalism") was his reason!
Conclusion
I am extremely glad I chose Qantas to fly to Australia. There are many occasions the crew did way more than they normally would to make sure I enjoyed the flight. They observed that I am an aviation enthusiast and ensured I was looked after and even informed the pilot an "Avgeek" is onboard!
A cabin crew also showed me the tail camera while he realized I didn't have it turned on during flight!
Before landing, the crew would gladly took my phone camera to film the landing for me!
It is these little details that count and standing out!
The Qantas pilot are really the best pilots, they're very professional and able to share lot of knowledge and engage in a good chat in aviation matters. They're also very down to the earth.
The quality of food and beverage, amenity kit, comfort of the mattress is second to none. Qantas may not be a very flashy airline but they got everything right for me!
I would have no doubt looking forward to fly Qantas again, the spirit of Australia!
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