The landmark delivery to Emirates of its 100th Airbus A380 this month marks a key milestone in a journey that has its roots at the very start of the superjumbo programme.

Although there have been some small signs of life, a growing number of Boeing 777-200s and -300s appear to be headed for the scrapyard amid growing supply and poor interest in the secondary market.

Qantas s reversion to operating its Sydney-London services via Singapore says much more about its Asian ambitions than its legacy focus on flying to Europe.