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Despite it monstrous size and feted arrival, the
latest addition to the Qantas family is the quietest passenger jet on the
planet.
The roar was left to the thousands of intrigued onlookers, plane spotters
and aviation enthusiasts who flanked Sydney Airport to witness a piece
of Australian aviation history.
It was the long-awaited arrival of Qantas' first Airbus A380 – named after
Nancy-Bird Watson who, in 1933, became Australia's youngest female pilot –
the revolutionary double-decker jet that boasts greater fuel efficiency and
less noise than a Boeing 747.
Flight QF6008 from Toulouse via Singapore touched down at Sydney's
Kingsford Smith Airport at 9am on Sunday 21st Sept, the first of 20 A380
aircraft to be delivered to Qantas albeit 2 years later than
originally planned. But it looks to have been worth the wait, wi th the in-cabin
product revolutionising the Qantas offering in all classes.
The QF A380 has 332 economy class seats on the lower deck located behind
the 14 First Class private suites. Economy passengers, like those in
other cabins, have self-service bars and full in-seat inflight
entertainment.
Business class travellers on the A380 will be the first to experience the
new generation of the Qantas Skybed, which for the first time for the
carrier offers a horizontal flat bed.
Qantas will operate its first commercial A380 flight on 24 October between
Melbourne and Los Angeles, and is expecting a further two A380 deliveries
by the end of this year.
Passengers flying out of Australian airports
in the coming weeks could be asked to undergo "virtual strip
searches" as part of a security screening trial.
Designed to detect weapons and explosives, including those not picked up by
metal detectors, the body scanning machines see underneath a person's
clothes, providing a detailed image of their body.
Schiphol airport in Amsterdam was the first to introduce the body scanners,
going live in May 2007 after a year-long trial at crew security
checkpoints.
The Australian Transport Security Office said this week that it would start
a five-week trial of the scanners and other security measures at Sydney,
Melbourne and Adelaide airports from the middle of this month.
Measures were in place to protect passengers' privacy and dignity. They
included locating the examining officer away from the scanning lane so they
could not see who was being scanned.
Faces were automatically blurred and images were not saved and could not be
transferred.
Passengers on whom the scanners were used would still be required to take
off their shoes and coat, and to remove all items from their pockets and
all jewellery.
It was hoped second generation scanners would not require passengers to
remove anything, thereby speeding up the security process.
Those apprehensive about having their body shapes revealed on the scanner
screens could opt to go through the existing hand-luggage scanners and
walk-through detectors.
A decision on which, if any, of the trial security measures would be
adopted permanently was more than a year away.
Virgin Blue's long-haul international offshort V
Australia has been forced to suspend ticket sales for travel between its
planned 15 Dec start date and 28th Feb 2009 due to ongoing industrial
dispute at Boeings US factories. Boeing can't predict the
duration of the strike so can't confirm the delivery date of the VA's new
777-300ER Aircraft.
The revised launch date for the new SYD-LAX services is 28 Feb 09, but
Virgin said if the industrial action is resolved in the short term it would
"move swiftly to bring forward V Australia's start-up schedule.
Passengers already booked to travel between 15 Dec 08 and 16 Jan 09 will
receive a full refund, an alternative flight on another airline or if
they rebook on V Australia on or after 1st Mar 09 they'll receive a $200
voucher for travel on Virgin's Australian network.
Air Pacific will commence two weekly direct
services between Gold
Coast and Nadi, Fiji on
1st Dec. These flights will depart Coolangatta each Monday and
Saturday at 4:15pm and will arrive in Fiji at 9:35pm local time.
Pacific Blue has just announced that it will launch flights to Denpasar, Bali
in time for Christmas. From 01 Dec the carrier will
operate twice weekly from Adelaide, 5 times a week from Brisbane and four
times weekly from Perth. The services are on sale now, with
fares leading in at $199 one way ex PER, and $299 one way ex BNE and ADL.
Pacific Blue will also commence twice weekly services between Brisbane and Honiara, the
capital of the Solomon Islands, from 02 Dec and will operate on Tuesdays
and Thursdays. Pacific Blue is offering launch fares to Honiara
priced from $249 until 10 Oct, while regular lead-in fares will be priced
from $379.
Jetstar has announced its third overseas port from Darwin, with the
03 Dec debut of daily A320 services to Denpasar. Jetstar operates
four weekly services from Sydney to Bali and two flights
from Melbourne to Bali and is also set to launch Perth to Bali
A320 flights on 27 Oct.
Virgin Blue will operate four return flights per week from Brisbane to Port Moresby PNG. Regular
lead-in fares will be priced from $289 one-way between Brisbane and PNG.
An Aussie trade media this morning claimed an
exclusive revelation that Tourism Australia's new global advertising
campaign will urge travellers to "come walkabout" in
Australia. This will be the new strap or tag line to replace the
controversial and very dead "Where
the Bloody Hell Are You?’ with Tourism Australia placing
all its bets and budget by spending $50 million on a advertising campaign,
being launched in conjunction with the new Baz Luhrmann film Australia.
Produced in conjunction with DDB Worldwide, Tourism Australia's new
advertising agency, each ad will use the words "arrived" and
"departed" with emphasis on replacing a stressful everyday life
with a holiday that promises that a traveller will return home a new
person.
Film director Baz Luhrmann's Bazmark team has produced two new film
advertisements to replace the Lara Bingle and Fran Bailey, highly
controversial, ”Where the Bloody Hell Are You?”, with the new ad to be
screened in 22 countries, with the first being shown in Britain today.
Federal Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson said, "The ads unveiled today
are the first instalment of a campaign which will take advantage of the
massive publicity push around Luhrmann's soon-to-be-released film
Australia.”
It is hoped the ads will erase memories of the $180 million "Where the
Bloody Hell Are You?" campaign, which was dubbed a "rolled gold
disaster" by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
Well as the industry says, the proof of the pudding will be
in..................but in the true Aussie way, let’s give it a fair go!
End of
2008 is fast approaching......are you looking for new and
exciting ideas for your end of year staff or client function?
Why not book a Wine & Spa Package for the perfect day out......wine,
food, cheese, shopping and pampering, does it get any better?
Your Wine &
Spa Package costs $199pp and includes:
- Return door to door transfers from Brisbane
- Wine tasting at 2 wineries
- Gourmet lunch at Montville
- Cheese Tasting
- Wine glass
- 1-hour body treatment (massage, facial or body
exfoliation)
Departs
daily at 9:30am and returns approx 5:30pm
Minimum of 6 passengers
Other Wine Tours are available starting from $95pp in Mt Tamborine and
Brisbane.
Please e-mail Alisha at Leisure@PulseTravel.com.au
or phone 1800
810 557.
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