Brisbane Airport welcomes American Airlines

This morning began at 3:30 am for me as American Airlines launched its highly anticipated inaugural flight from Dallas, Texas (DFW/KDFW) to Brisbane, Queensland (BNE/YBBN). Departing from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport at 10 pm local time from runway 36R and arriving at Brisbane Airport on runway 19R at 4:55 am local time, the maiden flight AA7 became American Airlines' longest flight, covering over 13,000 km and lasting 15 hours and 40 minutes. 

It was among the most monitored flights on FlightRadar24. From 2013 to 2016, Qantas Flight 7 and 8 operated between Sydney Airport and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport via Brisbane with their Boeing 747-438, holding the record for the world's longest regularly scheduled non-stop commercial flights.

Brisbane airport corporation held a competition where you could win a chance to go airside for this event. They also broadcast the arrival live on YouTube, which in turn was picked up by the media worldwide.

AMERICAN AIRLINES BOEING 787-9 N825AA (MSN 40644)
AA7 ARRIVING FROM DALLAS (DFW) 7 YRS OLD

But the inaugural flight wasn't the only exciting thing happening today at the airport, United Airlines from San Francisco swapped their Boeing 787-9 for a Boeing 777-200 today.

QANTAS AIRBUS A330-202 VH-EBV (MSN 1365)
QF16 ARRIVING FROM LOS ANGELES (LAX) 12 YRS OLD

QANTAS BOEING 737-838 VH-VZX (MSN 34188)
QF942 ARRIVING FROM PERTH (PER) 12 YRS OLD

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA BOEING 737-8FE VH-YIZ (MSN 40702)
VA473 ARRIVING FROM PERTH (PER) 10 YRS OLD

JETSTAR AIRBUS A321-251NX VH-OYT (MSN 11977)
JQ967 ARRIVING FROM PERTH (PER) 1 MONTH OLD

MINRES AIR AIRBUS A319-132 VH-VHP (MSN 3757)
OFF TO WODGINA (QBW) 
OPERATED BY SKYTRADERS

QANTASLINK DASH 8 Q400 VH-LQJ (MSN 4414)
QLK806D OFF TO MORANBAH (MOV) 12 YRS OLD

QANTAS AIRBUS A330-303 VH-QPF (MSN 0595)
QF52 ARRIVING FROM SINGAPORE (SIN) 20 YRS OLD

UNITED AIRLINES BOEING 777-224 N78009 (MSN 29479)
UA96 ARRIVING FROM SAN FRANCISCO (SFO) 25 YRS OLD

QANTAS AIRBUS A330-303 VH-QPC (MSN 0564)
QF62 ARRIVING FROM TOKYO (NRT) 20 YRS OLD

BATIK AIR BOEING 737-MAX 8 9M-LRF (MSN 42994)
OD157 ARRIVING FROM DENPASAR (DPS) 7 YRS OLD

ALLIANCE AIRLINES FOKKER 70 VH-NUU (MSN 11532)
VA1709 OFF TO GLADSTONE (GLT) 29 YRS OLD 

LINK AIRWAYS CESSNA 441 CONQUEST VH-VEJ (MSN 441-0249)
OFF TO ROCKHAMPTON (ROK) 42 YRS OLD

LINK SAAB 340 VH-ZRM (MSN 340B-400)

NATIONAL JET DASH 8 Q400 VH-8QA (MSN 4582)
NC342 OFF TO MORANBAH (MOV) 6 YRS OLD

EMIRATES AIRBUS A380-861 A6-EOH (MSN 174)
EK434 ARRIVING FROM DUBAI (DXB) 9 YRS OLD

JETSTAR BOEING 787-8 VH-VKG (MSN 36232)
JQ10 ARRIVING FROM TOKYO (NRT) 10 YRS OLD

SKYTRANS DASH 8 Q100 VH-QQF (MSN 014)
QN902 OFF TO LORD HOWE ISLAND (LDH) 39 YRS OLD

ALLIANCE EMBRAER E190AR VH-UYK (MSN 19000089)
QF1880 OFF TO CAIRNS (CNS) 17 YRS OLD 
FLYING FOR QANTAS

AIR CANADA BOEING 787-9 C-FVLQ (MSN 38357)
AC35 ARRIVING FROM VANCOUVER (YVR) 6 YRS OLD

SINGAPORE AIRLINES AIRBUS A350-941 9V-SHP (MSN 436)
SQ235 ARRIVING FROM SINGAPORE (SIN) 4 YRS OLD