We made it home...not without a little extra entertainment.
We were flying from LAX direct to Melbourne on an A380....one of THE longest direct flight routes on the planet....listed as 8001 miles.
The fuel capacity [for a full passenger load] means that if there's an issue with landing in Melbourne the 'bug-out' Airport [also in Melbourne] Avalon is still in range for secondary go-round and approach, etc.
Cleverly both Melb and Avalon were fogged in meaning the next bug-out would be Adelaide [South Australia] and way too far away.
So...solution was to land in Sydney and refuel ..... so there would be enough reserve for the Adelaide bug-out....that wasn't needed.
An hour or so in Sydney getting refuelled...then the half hour or more on the tarmac in Melb waiting for a gate to clear for us...and the flight was probably all up 18 hours.
It was all more an issue for the pilot...as he now has to explain in writing why he took the course of action that results in a lot of connecting flights etc. being missed...also therefore missing the gate allocation....
Personally I'm on his side....cos he got 500+ people and a rather expensive bird on the ground without issue...
