Qantas
Airbus A380 First Landing in Melbourne - 2008
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Airbus A380-842 cn 014 was flight tested in Europe as F-WWSK, making its first flight on 25 January 2008. It was then registered in Australia as VH-OQA Nancy-Bird Walton on 4 September 2008 and delivered to Qantas on 19 September. The aircraft was then ferried to Australia, arriving in Sydney on 21 September. Following a few days of checking over and entry-to-service preparations, Nancy-Bird Walton commenced a period of crew training flights. The photo above shows Nancy-Bird Walton on short final for Runway 34 at 7.47 am, just prior to making the first landing in Melbourne by a Qantas A380. Note that the aircraft is painted in Qantas' new livery, introduced in July 2008. this features a more sylised and sleeker kangaroo, deletion of the gold stripe between the red and white areas, and a sleeker typeface for the company name (compare with the old livery on a Boeing 747). The inaugural Qantas A380 commercial service departed Melbourne on 20 October 2008 non-stop to Los Angeles. (Photo: Phil Vabre) Back to the main Items of General Interest index
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