shnoob940 From Australia, joined Sep 2008, 162 posts, RR: 0 Posted (1 year 1 week 6 days 12 hours ago) and read 1232 times:
Have been checking the Qantas Source website and have noticed that there have been a huge number of disruptions with Lord Howe Island flights lately.
15th April -
QF2261 Lord Howe Island - Sydney
17th April -
QF2260 Sydney - Lord Howe Island
QF2261 Lord Howe Island - Sydney
20th April -
QF2258 Sydney - Lord Howe Island
QF2259 Lord Howe Island - Sydney
QF2260 Sydney - Lord Howe Island
QF2261 Lord Howe Island - Sydney
21st April -
QF2264 Sydney - Lord Howe Island
QF2265 Lord Howe Island - Sydney
22nd April -
QF2240 Brisbane - Lord Howe Island
QF2241 Lord Howe Island - Brisbane
QF2254 Sydney - Lord Howe Island
QF2255 Lord Howe Island - Sydney
QF2260 Sydney - Lord Howe Island
QF2261 Lord Howe Island - Sydney
QF2262 Sydney - Lord Howe Island
QF2263 Lord Howe Island - Sydney
26th April -
QF2260 Sydney - Lord Howe Island
QF2261 Lord Howe Island - Sydney
29th April -
QF2254 Sydney - Lord Howe Island
QF2255 Lord Howe Island - Sydney
3rd May -
QF2260 Sydney - Lord Howe Island
QF2261 Lord Howe Island - Sydney
4th May -
QF2260 Sydney - Lord Howe Island
QF2261 Lord Howe Island - Sydney
Why are there so many cancellations at the moment?
QF175 From Portugal, joined Mar 2007, 599 posts, RR: 2 Reply 1, posted (1 year 1 week 5 days 12 hours ago) and read 1162 times:
I would say that these cancellations are all directly weather related...
Over the past few weeks, South East Queensland and Northern New South Wales has seen powerful surf conditions, strong winds, heavy rain and generally unpleasant weather through a series of lows and other weather events. It would be safe to say that Lord Howe Island has also been directly affected this serious of inclement weather systems.
QantasLink flights to/from Lord Howe Islands are usually always cancelled at the last minute or in advance due to the inclement weather the Island faces. Another factor is that the Dash 8s fly over a vast amount of water to reach the Island, and last thing you would want to be doing is making a number of unsuccessful attempts to land and then have to turn back to the flight origin port, Brisbane, Sydney or Port Macquarie. If inclement weather was prevalent (and it was going by SEQ/N NSW weather conditions and also going by the number of cancellations), I would imagine that Qantas Flight Ops/IOC/Q Met officers, in consultation with the crew would have decided to cancel the flight on the day (or perhaps the day before), instead of operating the flight and making attempts to land.
Norfolk Island suffers the same weather related issues and in the past a number of flights have been cancelled. I am no expert, but now that Air New Zealand operates services to Norfolk Island, coupled with the A320s and their vast experience flying in to difficult ports such as Wellington and Queenstown, I wonder what the cancellation rate is like during times of inclement weather?
skyhawkmatthew From Australia, joined Oct 2005, 99 posts, RR: 0 Reply 2, posted (1 year 4 days 7 hours ago) and read 958 times:
Quoting QF175 (Reply 1): last thing you would want to be doing is making a number of unsuccessful attempts to land and then have to turn back to the flight origin port, Brisbane, Sydney or Port Macquarie.
IIRC, the Dash 8 has enough fuel for 12 minutes holding/conducting missed approaches at the island before they must divert back to the mainland.
PlymSpotter From Spain, joined Jun 2004, 11106 posts, RR: 63 Reply 3, posted (1 year 4 days 1 hour ago) and read 933 times:
Quoting skyhawkmatthew (Reply 2): IIRC, the Dash 8 has enough fuel for 12 minutes holding/conducting missed approaches at the island before they must divert back to the mainland.
The Q200 has a pretty good range so I'd expect it to be capable of a little more than that, but it probably narrows down if QF require higher reserves than manufacturer's spec.
What are the long term plans for the Q200 in QF's fleet - so far as I can see it's their only aircraft capable of operating this sector?
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