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Qantas used an Airbus A380 to replace three flights from Melbourne to Sydney on Friday.
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A severe storm warning in Sydney caused flight delays and cancellations.
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Qantas said demand for air travel had been “incredibly high” during Taylor Swift’s Australian tour.
Australia’s Qantas flew a Airbus A380 from Melbourne to Sydney on Friday to help cope with high demand for air travel during Taylor Swift Eras Tour.
The double-decker superjumbo, normally used for long-haul international flights, traveled about 540 miles, a distance similar to that from Boston to Pittsburgh.
Its 485 passengers were originally booked on three separate flights operated by the narrow-body Boeing 737.
But a severe storm forecast limited flights to Sydney Airport, Qantas said in a news release.
Coupled with “incredibly high demand” for flights to the city due to Swift’s tour, Qantas said, it decided to operate a special flight to transport passengers.
The airline said A380 passengers had initially booked flights that suggested they were not traveling for the concert because they would arrive later in the day.
But because so many people were traveling to see Swift, it would be difficult to find seats for them on other flights.
More than 600,000 people saw Swift perform at four shows in Sydney and another three in Melbourne. Her last show is Monday night.
Qantas normally flies the huge plane only to destinations such as Los Angeles, London and Singapore, but also has one on standby.
After leaving late, Flight 7168 was in the air for only about an hour, according to data from flight radar24. She flew 13 hours to Los Angeles the next day.
Swift’s tour. It has been huge for local economies. In Cardiff, Wales, where he won’t perform until June, hotel rooms already cost $230 more than usual, according to analytics firm Lighthouse.
And in Warsaw, Poland, demand for short-term rentals increased 2,020% year over year, vacation rental data firm AirDNA found.
Read the original article at Business Insider