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Australian flag carrier Qantas has plans to axe its Airbus A380 service to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) from Melbourne Airport (MEL) on October 22, as the airline opts to deploy the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner on the route instead. This will leave the US with just A380 services from the airline’s home of Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD).
The Melbourne to Los Angeles city pair is currently the second-longest A380 service in the carrier’s network, after Sydney to Dallas/Fort Worth. The Melbourne route is the fifth-longest A380 overall globally.
Qantas Changes To The Boeing 787-9 To Los Angeles
Melbourne is an important market for Qantas, and the airline’s second-largest base after Sydney. The airport handled more than 36 million passengers in 2025, making it the second-busiest airport in the country.
Qantas has a handful of long-haul international flights from Melbourne, including Dallas/Fort Worth, Denpasar, Hong Kong, Jakarta, London Heathrow (via Perth), Los Angeles, Singapore and Tokyo Narita. It has seasonal services to Delhi during the Southern Hemisphere summer season.
From October 25, Qantas will switch the Airbus A380 to deploy elsewhere, while establishing the 787-9 on the route to Los Angeles; this flight will operate daily:
Looking at data from the Department of Transportation (DOT), the oneworld carrier has otherwise maintained healthy load factors of an average of 80% across the last four years. Despite subdued demand in the wake of COVID-19, the airline has carried more than 120,000 passengers in 2022, 138,000 in 2023, and more than 172,000 in both 2024 and 2025 (total two ways).
Qantas maintains nonstop flights to the City of Angels from all three of its Australian east-coast hubs, Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne, and sees direct competition on the route from Melbourne from United Airlines. A snapshot of all Australian flights from LAX below:
Qantas is removing the A380 between Melbourne and Los Angeles because lower economy-class demand makes the double-decker unsuitable for the current market. With economy demand softening, while Premium and Business remain steady, the Dreamliner is a suitable replacement on the route.
The final flight of Qantas’ Airbus A380 from Melbourne to Los Angeles on October 24 marks the end of an era, as the airline opts for Boeing 787-9.
Qantas has plans to ultimately retire the Airbus A380 fleet, with withdrawals planned from 2028. The airline operates 10 superjumbos, and the oneworld carrier is the only operator of the type in the Southern Hemisphere.
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As Qantas removes the A380 from Melbourne, it will deploy the aircraft on its four remaining routes, including Sydney to London, which transits via Singapore, arguably one of its most high-profile routes. Other routes include Sydney to Los Angeles and Dallas, and Sydney to Johannesburg Airport (JNB), the only A380 nonstop flight that remains within the Southern Hemisphere.
The A380 is the only aircraft in Qantas’ current fleet with a first class; however, this will change with the delivery of the hotly anticipated Airbus A350-1000ULR as part of its Project Sunrise initiative to connect Sydney to London and New York nonstop.
