On September 30, Qantas will start using an Airbus A380 superjumbo on its services from Sydney to Johannesburg, doubling its capacity on every flight.

Michi Messner, Regional Manager Africa for the airline, told Tourism Update it was a very exciting development for the route.

“This adds 55 000 seats per year, and our peak period capacity will be doubled. Our flights on the currently used Boeing Dreamliner have 236 seats. This will rise to a total of 485 seats.”

Messner says the A380 will be configured in a four-class interior with 14 first-class suites, 70 business-class seats (currently the number is 42), 60 premium economy seats (currently 28) and 341 economy-class seats. And more exciting news is that the aircraft will have an onboard lounge seating 10 passengers (only for premium-class passengers).

Messner says the flight frequency, once the A380 is introduced, will toggle between five and six flights per week.