Qantas is bumping up capacity on its Singapore – Sydney flights from late 2026, with additional Airbus A380 services on the route, replacing Airbus A330s on selected flights and offering four cabin classes – including First Class and Premium Economy options.

The upgrade affects six QF81/82 flights per week in each direction, for a total of 13 A380 flights per week on the Sydney route instead of the current seven.

This will see Business Class and First Class seat capacity hiked by 37% and 86% respectively on the route, which should be good news for award space.

First: an A380 upgrade is already coming in March

Before we get to the December 2026 changes, it’s worth noting that QF81/82 is already due a temporary upgrade that we haven’t previously covered.

From 29th March 2026, Qantas will operate QF81/82 as an A380 on Fridays and Sundays throughout the Northern Summer 2026 schedule season, which runs from late March through to late October 2026. This is a nice step up from the Airbus A330 that normally handles this flight pairing, and brings the full four-cabin A380 experience, including First Class and Premium Economy, to those two days of the week.

However, this is just a seasonal arrangement. From November 2026, QF81/82 reverts to daily A330 operation again. It is then the December changes outlined below that make the A380 a more permanent fixture on QF81/82, upgrading six of the seven weekly flights on a long-term basis.

So if you’re planning to travel on QF81/82 and want to guarantee the A380, the windows to keep in mind are Fridays and Sundays between late March and late October 2026, or any day except Thursday from 7th December 2026 onwards.

The schedule

Qantas currently operates 14 weekly flights between Singapore and Sydney, the daily QF2/1 Airbus A380 service which also operates to and from London, and the daily QF82/81 service which uses an Airbus A330.

Starting from 7th December 2026, the QF82 flight from Singapore to Sydney will be upgauged to the Airbus A380 every day except Thursday, while the QF81 flight from Sydney to Singapore will receive the same treatment, as outlined in the schedule below.

Singapore Sydney
From 7 December 2026

			Days
			M	T	W	T	F	S	S
	QF2 A380
SIN 19:40		SYD 06:35*
Duration: 07:55
	QF82 A380
SIN 21:00		SYD 07:55*
Duration: 07:55
	QF82 A330 (AY)
SIN 21:00		SYD 07:55*
Duration: 07:55

* Next day

Sydney Singapore
From 7 December 2026

			Days
			M	T	W	T	F	S	S
	QF81 A380
SYD 12:00		SIN 17:30
Duration: 08:30
	QF81 A330 (AY)
SYD 12:00		SIN 17:30
Duration: 08:30
	QF1 A380
SYD 16:15		SIN 21:35
Duration: 08:20

This will increase the Oneworld carrier’s total number of Airbus A380 departures from Changi to 20 per week; 13 to Sydney and 7 to London Heathrow.

That will be the highest number of Qantas superjumbo departures ever seen from the Lion City each week, offering a significant capacity boost.

Here’s how the Qantas Airbus A380 looks capacity-wise against the Finnair-configuration Airbus A330-300 they will be replacing six days a week.

Qantas A330 vs. A380

Cabin	Qantas A330-300 (Finnair config)	Qantas A380
First Class	—	14 seats
Business Class	28 seats	70 seats
Premium Economy	21 seats	60 seats
Economy Class	230 seats	341 seats
Total	279 seats	485 seats

Overall, Qantas will be increasing capacity on its Singapore – Sydney route by 23% from early December 2026, to over 6,580 seats in each direction, compared to the November 2026 schedule.

Business Class and First Class seat capacity will see hikes of 37% and 86% respectively, good news for those looking to secure award tickets in these premium cabins.

“We’re seeing demand for premium travel continue to grow and moving to an almost entirely A380 operation between Singapore and Sydney means we can offer significantly more First Class, Business and Premium Economy seats for our customers.”

Nick McGlynn, EVP Asia, Qantas

Aside from Qantas, the Singapore – Sydney route is also served by:

• British Airways (7 x weekly)
• Scoot (14 x weekly)
• Singapore Airlines (28 x weekly)

Along with recent introductions of daily A380 services at Changi by Etihad and Qatar Airways, plus a third daily superjumbo flight by Qantas partner Emirates, Singapore will see its highest post-COVID tally of weekly A380 departures from 7th December 2026.

Qantas A380 cabin products

During the pandemic, Qantas took the opportunity to ensure that all of its Airbus A380s returning to service were fitted with the latest cabin products, first introduced a few months before global travel was disrupted in early 2020.

The new cabins actually debuted on the QF1 London-Singapore-Sydney flight on 1st October 2019, but relatively few passengers got to enjoy it on a handful of aircraft before the entire superjumbo fleet had to be grounded only months later.

Thankfully the pandemic is long behind us and the airline’s 10-strong fleet of superjumbos all feature the airline’s latest version of the popular Thompson Vantage XL Business Class seat.

This is similar to the current Qantas long-haul Business Class seat, which we reviewed on a flight from Perth to Singapore back in 2022.

What is different is that Qantas Boeing 787s and Airbus A330s don’t have the A380’s lounge area, ideal for a mid-flight change of scenery or meeting, or to dine with a partner, friend or colleague.

This area also includes a self-serve bar, and is shared with First Class passengers.

Speaking of First Class, there’s no such option on the Qantas A330s, with this 14-seat cabin exclusive to the airline’s superjumbos.

Despite its age, the Qantas First Class product is quite innovative. We’ve flown it a couple of times (see our review) and while it doesn’t boast fully enclosed suites or double beds, it still holds up strongly against many competitors.

Qantas A380s also have a 60-seat Premium Economy cabin, a travel class not offered on most A330 services.

Award tickets

Here are the one-way miles redemption rates and taxes payable for the Singapore – Sydney route, when travelling on a Qantas service.

Qantas Award Rates
(x 1,000 miles)

FFP	Singapore – Sydney
	Y	PY	J	F
	27 +S$157	43 +S$220	63 +S$249	100 +S$249
	20.75 +S$107	41.25 +S$107	62 +S$107	82.5 +S$107
	23 +S$107	46.75 +S$107	68.5 +S$107	91 +S$107
	25 +S$107		65 +S$107	90 +S$107
	29 +S$141	61.6 +S$223	82.1 +S$228	123.1 +S$229

As you can see, Qatar Privilege Club offers the best value in Business Class for Qantas redemptions on this route, followed by Asia Miles (with higher fees) and then Finnair Plus.

Unfortunately we don’t see any Business or First Class award space at this stage (February 2026) on these A380 Sydney flights, but keep an eye out as these will hopefully get loaded later, and Qantas does sometimes offer space even to partners on this route.

Qantas is significantly increasing capacity on its Singapore – Sydney route from December 2026, with an upgrade to the four-class Airbus A380 on six of the seven weekly QF82/81 flights, instead of the smaller two-class Airbus A330 normally used.

This will add First Class and Premium Economy seats on that flight number pairing, to supplement existing daily QF2/1 A380 services on the same city pair. To benefit you’ll have to be flying from Singapore to Sydney on any day other than Thursday, when taking QF81/82.

With premium cabin capacity on the route set to rise significantly, this should be good news for award hunters, so it’s well worth keeping an eye on availability as award space is potentially loaded in due course.

(Cover Photo: Qantas)