Melbourne's run of Qantas superjumbos is almost over. On October 24, the airline's final scheduled Airbus A380 service will leave Melbourne Airport, after which all of the Australian carrier's double-decker flights will operate exclusively out of Sydney. The last routing is the long-running Melbourne–Los Angeles service, which the A380 has served since October 2008 — exactly 18 years.

The farewell plays out over a few days: the final A380 arrives in Melbourne on QF94 on October 24, having left Los Angeles on the 22nd, then turns around and departs for LAX as QF93 that same morning. From October 25, the 6,883-nautical-mile route switches entirely to the smaller Boeing 787-9, flying daily.

That aircraft swap matters if you're booking. The Dreamliner seats 236 passengers against the A380's 485, so round-trip capacity drops by 498 seats. More significantly for premium travellers, first class disappears from the route altogether, while business seats fall 16%, premium economy drops 25% and economy shrinks 23%. If you want a flat bed in the pointy end on Melbourne–LA, book soon — or look at connecting through Sydney, where the A380s remain.

Qantas is now one of only ten airlines still flying the A380, and its fleet of ten frames is among the oldest in service, averaging 17.1 years and including four of the world's five oldest active airline-operated superjumbos. Melbourne has seen the type fly well beyond LA in the past: daily A380s ran to London Heathrow and Dubai between 2010 and 2018, Singapore Changi hosted the type on and off from 2010 through 2025, and Tokyo Narita got a one-off points-only flight in 2019. The Melbourne–Perth–London same-plane service that replaced the A380 on the Heathrow route is also in flux — a planned return of the full routing in October 2026 was shelved due to the conflict involving Iran, with the Melbourne leg now slated to resume in February 2027.

Melbourne isn't losing the A380 entirely. Emirates keeps two daily superjumbo services to the city, and Singapore Airlines flies the type daily following its return in March 2026. But after October 24, Qantas joins the list of airlines that used to bring the double-decker to Victoria, alongside China Southern, Etihad, Malaysia Airlines and Qatar Airways.

For plane spotters, the practical takeaway is simple: if you want to fly a Qantas A380, you'll need to start or end in Sydney from late October onwards. For Melbourne travellers, the LA route gets quieter and loses its first-class cabin, so snagging award seats or premium fares on the remaining 787-9 flights could get competitive. Anyone keen to mark the occasion can still book one of the final superjumbo departures before the type exits the city for good.