Qantas schedules A380 to take Swifties to Sydney as storms reduce runway rate

With fans to deliver and severe storms brewing in Sydney, Qantas has made a rare move to ensure flight schedules stay on track ahead of the Taylor Swift concert.

A Qantas A380 landing in Sydney.

A Qantas A380 will make a rare appearance on a domestic route late Friday, as forecast severe storms in Sydney threaten to derail additional flights scheduled for the Taylor Swift concert.

Airservices Australia has halved the rate of arrivals and departures in response to the weather, posing challenges for airlines who had organised extra services to deliver “Swifties” to Sydney for the first of four concerts this weekend.

In an effort to work around the problem, Qantas has scheduled an A380 to fly from Melbourne to Sydney carrying 485 passengers, or the equivalent of three Boeing 737s which normally operate the route.

The superjumbo is an “operational spare” and will take off from Melbourne at 5pm, with an expected arrival time of 6.40pm.

A Qantas statement said normally the A380 would be used to support the international network but given the “incredibly high demand into Sydney on Friday” it was being brought into help out the domestic operation.

Qantas noted that passengers booked on the 737 flights being consolidated into the one A380 service were unlikely to be travelling so late in the day for the concert but the airline was not leaving anything to chance.

“A fourth flight has also been cancelled with customers re-accommodated on other Qantas services today,” said the statement.

Virgin Australia and Jetstar have also axed flights but were confident the affected services would not be carrying Swift concertgoers due to their timing on Friday afternoon.

However travellers heading to Sydney were urged to check their flight status before heading to the airport.

An Airservices spokeswoman confirmed arrivals and departures at Sydney Airport had been limited for “purely weather and safety reasons”.

“With dangerous storms predicted for Sydney, Airservices Australia is delighted to be assisting our key customer Qantas in ensuring Swifties can get to Sydney before the inclement weather impacts the airport,” said the spokeswoman.

“Safety is Airservices’ number one remit.”