Qantas Airlines named its future fleet of 20 Airbus A380 aircrafts after famous Australians in aviation.
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The full list of people who will have an A380 named after them are:• Nancy-Bird Walton – the first woman to fly a commercial aviation service in Australia.
• Hudson Fysh – one of the founders of Qantas and the airline’s first Managing Director.
• Paul McGinness – one of the founders of Qantas.
• Fergus McMaster – one of the founders of Qantas and the first Chairman of the Company.
• Lawrence Hargrave – inventor of the box kite, linking four of these together in 1894 to fly 16 feet.
• Charles Kingsford Smith – Australia’s most famous aviator, who made the first trans-Pacific flight from the USA to Australia in 1928, and founded Australian National Airways Limited.
• Charles Ulm – Co-pilot, on Kingsford Smith’s record-breaking trans-Pacific flight between the USA and Australia in 1928 and co-founder of Australian National Airways Limited.
• Reginald Ansett – Founder of Ansett Airways Pty Ltd.
• David Warren – Inventor of the Black Box Flight Recorder.
• Bert Hinkler – Pilot of first solo flight from Britain to Australia in 1928.
• John and Reginald Duigan – First Australians to design, construct and fly a powered aircraft, in 1910.
• Phyllis Arnott – First Australian woman to gain a commercial pilot’s license.
• Keith McPherson Smith and Ross McPherson Smith – winners of the famous ‘Air Race’ between London and Australia in 1919.
• Lester Brain – Piloted one of the first Qantas routes in 1925 and ferried the first wartime Catalina Flying Boat delivered by Qantas Empire Airways in 1941. Later appointed General Manager of Trans-Australia Airlines in 1946.
• Lores Bonney – First woman to fly solo around Australia in 1932 and the first woman to fly solo from Australia to England, in 1933.
• Norman Brearley – Founder of Western Australian Airways Limited, which operated Australia’s first scheduled air service on 5 December 1921.
• P G Taylor – Navigator and co-pilot alongside Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm on many record-breaking flights between Australia and the United States and England and Australia. Taylor was awarded the Empire Gallantry Medal in 1937 for one of the most revered acts of bravery in the history of aviation.
• Scotty Allan – Co-pilot alongside Charles Ulm and P G Taylor on the 1933 record-breaking flight from England to Australia and later joined Qantas and flew DH86 aircraft on the Brisbane-Singapore route.
• John Flynn – Founder of the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
• Gaby Kennard – First Australian woman to fly solo around the world in 1989.
Qantas’ chief Geoff Dixon will step down next month with US $8.5 million (Australian $11.92 million) package this year which is still less than $10.3 million that United’s Glen Tilton received in 2007. But it does make Mr Dixon the second highest paid airline head! It is interesting to note that his compensation is much higher than the other US, European and Asian heads.
September 21st 2008, Sydney got its first landing by an Airbus A380 with Qantas’ first A380 delivery.
A Qantas 747-400 (QF 30 from London to Melbourne) was cruising at 29,000 feet when there was a loud boom. The boom was because of a hole which grew with a time extending from cargo hold into the passenger cabin. The cabin lost pressure and the aircraft started losing altitude (quickly descended 10,000 feet). The plane made an emergency landing at Manila airport (Philippines) and all the 346 passengers landed safe (though some vomited after landing).
Brazil is the most popular South American destination for Australian travelers and Thailand is Australia’s 6th largest destination.
Earlier last week, V
Rising gas prices have lead airlines around the world to try every kind of cost cutting measures like capacity reductions and new travel fees. 
Australia has signed a deal with South Africa and Kenya to open up their airspace for the countries’ airlines allowing more flights between the South Africa – Kenya and Australia.
