Qantas A380 refurbishment news and updates

[jb747]

When you extend the bed out, your feet have to go into a little hutch under the TV, and where do you put your shoes? The Jumbos were more generous with space. I guess the pay-off is fewer seats across the plane.

Am I the only one who despises these layouts in which your feet have to fit into some little hole. The old seat might not have been as lay flat as they should have been, but I liked them much more than this new arrangement. Having said that, I found the setup on Singair's 777 and 380 to be no better.

That was SkyBed I.
A380 has SkyBed II - they are fitting 70 Business Suites where there were 64 SkyBeds.

Yes, but aren't they moving PE back into the rear compartment, so J is simply taking over the space currently occupied by PE. That's roughly how the aircraft were delivered originally.

When are they going to get rid of that stupid lounge upstairs on the A380, never seen such a waste of space , said it before first class on the A380 is anything but ............

The lounge is getting revamped into what appears to be a much more useful space, and in fact the refurb’d A380s will have two separate lounge nooks, one on either side of the staircase which leads down to F.

The design of the 'lounge' is forced by the stairs. They don't leave much space on either side. We did hear that when the upgrades were first mooted, moving 1st upstairs was investigated. Apparently there are structural issues with regard to moving or modifying the stairs that made the cost prohibitive. At the same time they were also looking at removing the crew rests and toilet behind the coughpit, so that they could fit in a couple more toilets (and make downstairs all economy and premium). There were many negatives to this, so as crew we were very glad the idea wasn't all that feasible.

 

[moa999]

Yes, but aren't they moving PE back into the rear compartment, so J is simply taking over the space currently occupied by PE.

Unfortunately the seatmap posted by theinsider earlier has been lost to the tinypic closure.

Front of PE stays where it is, just behind Door 2. PE extends rearwards to take over the former Y space and what's released by blocking Door 3R and goes from 35 seats to a whopping 60.

In the very original A380 config with 72J seats, J extended 2 rows beyond Door2, but that disappeared in 2012/13 when it went to 64J with the Y cabin upstairs
(Older article on this - Qantas revamps Airbus A380: less business class, more economy seats)

Can imagine removal of crew rests wouldn't have gone down well.

The stairs were a pretty bad design feature by Airbus, given most airlines hardly use them.

 

[defurax]

Unfortunately the seatmap posted by theinsider earlier has been lost to the tinypic closure.

I saved a copy.

 

[kpro]

Yes, but aren't they moving PE back into the rear compartment, so J is simply taking over the space currently occupied by PE. That's roughly how the aircraft were delivered originally.

No. There's only 5 rows of economy seats in the very rear of the A380 upper deck in it's current configuration. QF are putting in 10 rows of PE in the refurb configuration.

There's now 20 J seats where there used to be 18 between the lounge and the first set of doors, 50 J seats between the first set of doors and second set of doors (46 previously). Then PE starts where it currently does, but also replaces where the economy mini cabin was. So no change to the J floor space, but increase in density due to product.

I believe the last set of doors are de-activated to fit the 10 rows of PE in the space?

 

[jb747]

Can imagine removal of crew rests wouldn't have gone down well.

There still would have been crew rest spots, but I guess they would have had to be within the cabin crew area. Straight away you've now got a noisier environment, and it would make it even less likely that the pilots would get any worthwhile sleep. In the worst case, in the current setup, the Captain is only a metre from the coughpit, but this would move him quite a distance (and time) away.

Beyond that though, the current setup has what is effectively an air lock between the cabin and the coughpit. There are two doors, so passengers are never near the real coughpit door. This is something that should be forced by the regulators on to all aircraft, and it certainly should not be removed where it already exists.

The stairs were a pretty bad design feature by Airbus, given most airlines hardly use them.

I guess they'd just been watching Titanic, and liked her stairs. Probably a pity they didn't take the rest of the movie to heart.

 

[serfty]

I guess they'd just been watching Titanic, and liked her stairs. Probably a pity they didn't take the rest of the movie to heart.

Ha! I see what you did there ...

 

[I love to travel]

Ha! I see what you did there ...

Yes it was sublime in how subtle it was. I don't think history will judge the A380 well and given the financial environment do question whether refurb is smart or whether they should have just moved on.

 

[Snowant]

Am I the only one who despises these layouts in which your feet have to fit into some little hole. The old seat might not have been as lay flat as they should have been, but I liked them much more than this new arrangement. Having said that, I found the setup on Singair's 777 and 380 to be no better.

It was really noticeable, going from a 747 to a Dreamliner. First time I was in PE rather than Business, but walking through Business to get to PE, I at first though it was PE, it was so much more squishy than Business in the Jumbo. And PE was squishier still. The dreadful foot-nets in PE are vile, in the Jumbo you had a proper seat with a proper foot rest that extended out (I'm short), but in the Dreamliner (and now presumably the A380) you wrestle with your feet suspended in a stupid net. Which reminds me, the seats in Business in the Dreamliner are also annoying if you're short. Sitting for takeoff, my feet don't even touch the ground! I have to move the whole seat forward so I can put my feet on those black cushions under the TV, and so lose whatever small space I had. Jumbo seats had a foot-bit that you could flip up.

And Business on the Dreamliner was so much less spacious, and your feet disappear into a hole. My shoes got caught up with the bottom of the seat, and first trip I kept kicking them out of the way while my bed was fully out. If they didn't have the 1-2-1 layout, it would be very difficult for the window person (usually me) to escape to the toilet.

First two trips in Business in the Dreamliner, I was right up the front, just behind the coughpit, you could see in and see what the pilots etc were up to in there before they closed the doors. A hostie commented that where I was sitting on one trip (which was the inner bulkhead), I might find crew falling through the ceiling as their sleeping quarters were directly above me (which is why I didn't have an overhead bin). From the window seat though, you had a great view into the coughpit.

 

[PineappleSkip]

Haven't done a QF 787, but I quite like the cave-like ambience in J in the A330.

cheers skip

 

[Daver6]

The design of the 'lounge' is forced by the stairs. They don't leave much space on either side. We did hear that when the upgrades were first mooted, moving 1st upstairs was investigated. Apparently there are structural issues with regard to moving or modifying the stairs that made the cost prohibitive. At the same time they were also looking at removing the crew rests and toilet behind the coughpit, so that they could fit in a couple more toilets (and make downstairs all economy and premium). There were many negatives to this, so as crew we were very glad the idea wasn't all that feasible.

Would have been better to just get rid of those stupid lounges and put in a couple of extra decent size toilets in that space. I think that would be a much better enhancement of the J experience on the QF A380.

 

[pm3207]

Official seat map now up in the Qantas site although the colour scheme for each class is presently showing upper deck PE as Y in error.

 

[Snowant]

Would have been better to just get rid of those stupid lounges and put in a couple of extra decent size toilets in that space. I think that would be a much better enhancement of the J experience on the QF A380.

Decent sized toilets with SHOWERS. I'd pay $20 for a shower. That's the only reason I am interested in the QF club and if you have tightish connections, the LAX one is useless as you have to book the damn thing. Some other premium airlines have showers on board.

 

[Max Samuels]

At the same time they were also looking at removing the crew rests and toilet behind the coughpit, so that they could fit in a couple more toilets (and make downstairs all economy and premium). There were many negatives to this, so as crew we were very glad the idea wasn't all that feasible.

Like EK do with the 5 toilets behind the coughpit...

 

[moa999]

Official seat map now up in the Qantas site although the colour scheme for each class is presently showing upper deck PE as Y in error.

Link to new map - https://www.qantas.com/content/dam/...ence/onboard/seatmaps/A380-14F70J60PY341Y.pdf

It does show two new windows installed where the old Door 3R was next to 38/39K

 

[Max Samuels]

Link to new map - https://www.qantas.com/content/dam/...ence/onboard/seatmaps/A380-14F70J60PY341Y.pdf

It does show two new windows installed where the old Door 3R was next to 38/39K

View attachment 190897

Well I am either colour blind or they have not done the seat map correctly, but the "lime green" PE is nowhere to be seen..... (I could work it out though!)

 

[moa999]

Decent sized toilets with SHOWERS. I'd pay $20 for a shower. ...Some other premium airlines have showers on board.

Add a few 00s to account for the weight of the water.
Only the EK (and EY) A380s have showers - and it's only available to pax in F/Residences, and is time limited.

 

[defurax]

Add a few 00s to account for the weight of the water.
Only the EK A380s have showers - and it's only available to pax in F, and is time limited.

And EY The Residence, but that's a bit expensive for a shower!

 

[schilla46]

I'm flying MEL - SIN QF 35 in F on 16/11 & MEL - SIN (return) in J 12/02/20 - 16/02/20 - fingers cross I get one flight on the refurbed bird!

 

[levelnine]

Well I am either colour blind or they have not done the seat map correctly, but the "lime green" PE is nowhere to be seen..... (I could work it out though!)

Let's hope they've done a better job on the actual refurbs than they've done on the seat map.

 

[jb747]

One of the main electronics bays is just forward of those spaces, and the lounge is the access route, so you can’t just close it off. Plus a water leak from that area would potentially reach two different electronics bays, and the coughpit.