Qantas has been making headlines today in Sydney and Dallas as it officially replaced its Boeing 747-400 with the Airbus A380 for Sydney-Dallas/Fort Worth service, which is the world’s longest route.

The inaugural flight, Qantas Alan Joyce told The Australian.com.au, signals the airline’s confidence in the North American market. The aircraft – the world’s biggest commercial jetliner – has four classes, including first class.

“We think this is first class market as well and first class will sell very effectively on it. So we’re very optimistic the economics will continue to improve and continue to offer us growth.,” Joyce is quoted as saying.

Qantas recently expanded its presence in North America by announcing season flights to Vancouver and signing a codeshare deal with Canada’s WestJet, the paper says.

Links to more coverage of the history making flight: The News.com.au, which includes video footage from an A380 test flight, and of course the Dallas Morning News.

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