QANTAS: A380 & First Class back on Melbourne to Singapore route from Monday 17 July, 2023

Good news, A380 is back on the Melbourne to Singapore route this week. Bad news, it’s only for a total of six days across a period of two weeks according to ET.

Award Seats

With the A380, a larger capacity plane replacing the usual A330 for the fortnight, comes more award seat availability, even in premium cabins, but at short notice. ET is reporting twice as many as usual. Also, you might be able as a premium member of the Qantas Frequent Flyer program be able to place yourself in the First Class cabin and enjoy more space, a better seat, and possibly more attentive service, although you will still receive only business class catering. Pay attention when you are selecting your seat. If the screen shows seats in rows 1 to 5, then you have access to First Class suites!

The flights

If you want to jump into some of these seats, then you need to look at the following flights:

• QF35 (Melbourne-Singapore)
• QF36 (Singapore-Melbourne)

On the following dates:

• Monday 17 July
• Wednesday 19 July
• Friday 21 July
• Monday 24 July
• Wednesday 26 July
• Friday 28 July

Qantas A380 – old style

You won’t be getting an A380 with a shiny new interior. This unit is old school, with those superseded Business Class SkyBeds in a 2-2-2 configuration.

The upside is that with 64 Business Class births, and 14 First Class suites on the A380, Qantas has released a lot more Classic Reward seats in Business to be redeemed with 68,400 points. There are also Business Saver fares available for AU$ 3,500.

2PAXfly Takeout

If you have the flexibility, these Singapore trips are worth booking. If you do, but you can’t see seats in those first five rows, which will be First Class Suites, it’s worth either asking at the airport or, applying the T-80 rule. That is, Qantas releases previously reserved seats (for allocation to top-tier frequent fliers, that is Platinum One and Chairmans Lounge members) in desirable cabins and rows 80 hours before the flights’ scheduled departure. It’s worth checking if you want to nab one of those First Class Suites.

The A380 will be replaced by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner from 31 July on the QF35/QF36 flights on most days.