Qantas flies Airbus A380 to San Francisco for G'Day USA promotion

QANTAS Airways has operated an Airbus A380 service to San Francisco as part of the annual G'Day USA promotion from January 14.

The Qantas A380 operated the scheduled QF73 service between Sydney and San Francisco instead of the usual Boeing 747-400 service. The flight was met on arrival by the Mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom, a statement from the carrier said.

Qantas general manager John Borghetti said Qantas was a founding partner of G'Day USA and was supporting the event's expansion into San Francisco.

Six years ago Qantas joined Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Austrade and Tourism Australia to support this important annual event that has been so successful in promoting all things Australian to the United States market, Mr Borghetti said.

G'Day USA began in Los Angeles, expanded to the US east coast and New York three years ago, and is now growing further with this move into San Francisco.

Mr Borghetti said it was appropriate for Qantas to mark G'Day USA's arrival in San Francisco with the newest addition to its international fleet.

In 1954, San Francisco became Qantas' first U.S. mainland destination and we have a long association with the city. We are delighted to showcase our new aircraft to the people of San Francisco.

Mr Borghetti said the Qantas A380 had more than matched the airline's expectations.

The Qantas A380 has been operating up to three services a week between Melbourne, Sydney and Los Angeles since October, and customer feedback has been extremely positive, Mr Borghetti added in the release.

Source: Schednet