* BRAND NEW INTERNATIONAL ROUTES AND DESTINATIONS FOR V AUSTRALIA
* THAILAND, SOUTH AFRICA, LOS ANGELES
* $399* ONE WAY “TUK TUK TO THAILAND” FARES* EX BRISBANE AND MELBOURNE
* $1899 “FAR OUT SAFARI ” RETURN FARES* EX MELBOURNE
Monday 17 August 2009: Australia’s new international airline V Australia today announced Phuket and Johannesburg as its next two destinations along with a strengthened focus on Melbourne just six months after launch. Four new V Australia routes to commence from December onwards^ include:
* Brisbane to Phuket, Thailand direct twice weekly from 22 November 2009.
* Melbourne to Phuket, Thailand direct flights 1 a week from 3 December 2009.
* Melbourne to Los Angeles, USA direct flights twice weekly from 1 December 2009.
* Melbourne to Johannesburg, South Africa direct flights from 13 March 2010.
QANTAS077 From China, joined Jan 2004, 5751 posts, RR: 49 Reply 3, posted (3 years 10 months 1 week 18 hours ago) and read 13524 times:
Quoting BNE" class=quote target=_blank>BNE (Reply 2): Monday 17 August 2009: Australia’s new international airline V Australia today announced Phuket and Johannesburg as its next two destinations along with a strengthened focus on Melbourne just six months after launch.
they can't even get MEL-LAX up and running on time, MEL-JNB will turn out to operate via SYD as has been the case with some LAX bound passengers having to go via BNE.
and not utilising PER which has a massive ex-pat population is beyond stupid...the fares are higher with VA than SA, QF, SQ and others.
a true friend is someone who sees the pain in your eyes, while everyone else believes the smile on your face.
ETA Unknown From Comoros, joined Jun 2001, 2016 posts, RR: 0 Reply 4, posted (3 years 10 months 1 week 18 hours ago) and read 13522 times:
Big 773's to HKT and limited frequency on high yield routes- what a recipe for success! QF briefly operated MEL-JNB, so will be interesting to see if VA can make it work. In what is obviously a desperate attempt to keep these birds flying, I predict BNE/SYD/MEL-DPS soon.
MCOflyer From United States of America, joined Jun 2006, 8556 posts, RR: 14 Reply 5, posted (3 years 10 months 1 week 18 hours ago) and read 13520 times:
Sounds like competition to Qantas. Would not be surprised if JQ enters and Qantas withdraws from those markets that V is entering.
QANTAS077 From China, joined Jan 2004, 5751 posts, RR: 49 Reply 6, posted (3 years 10 months 1 week 18 hours ago) and read 13504 times:
Quoting MCOflyer (Reply 5): Sounds like competition to Qantas.
on what route? SYD-JNB? why would Sydney's ex-pat community fly down to MEL to fly back to JNB when they can fly QF nonstop for the same, if not lower price? Melbourne has a very small South African community so making this work will be even more difficult.
VA states that connecting flights will be available from key Australian ports, I really see the large SA community flying PER-MEL-JNB.
[Edited 2009-08-16 18:29:49]
a true friend is someone who sees the pain in your eyes, while everyone else believes the smile on your face.
Gemuser From Australia, joined Nov 2003, 5239 posts, RR: 6 Reply 7, posted (3 years 10 months 1 week 18 hours ago) and read 13490 times:
Quoting MCOflyer (Reply 5): Sounds like competition to Qantas. Would not be surprised if JQ enters and Qantas withdraws from those markets that V is entering.
??????
QF does not serve Phuket or NAN, JQ or FJ does, it already serves MEL-LAX and JQ does not have a suitable aircraft to operate MEL-JNB. So what is going to JQ?
MCOflyer From United States of America, joined Jun 2006, 8556 posts, RR: 14 Reply 8, posted (3 years 10 months 1 week 18 hours ago) and read 13438 times:
My apologies. I thought Qantas flew the routes being entered by V.
Smi0006 From Australia, joined Jan 2008, 1407 posts, RR: 0 Reply 12, posted (3 years 10 months 1 week 14 hours ago) and read 12960 times:
Glad to hear of these new routes! Very Exciting indeed hope we can see the schedule beefed up a bit with more frequencies soon! What frequency will they operate to JNB? I could see JQ trying to compete out of MEL to HKT I would have thought that perhaps their product was more suited to the market?
Could someone remind me of the schedule of delivers after this fourth aircraft? They were mostly delayed weren't they?
I did report the rumor of a delay or cancellation on the LAX route, however that thread was locked due to questions on my ability to report rumors based on my age..... sad to see I was rightish though, glad we wont have to wait too long for the LAX route!
I wonder if we will see VA open a crew base in Melbourne now as well?
QF744FAN From Australia, joined Jan 2007, 116 posts, RR: 0 Reply 13, posted (3 years 10 months 1 week 13 hours ago) and read 12899 times:
Quoting ETA Unknown (Reply 4): and not utilising PER which has a massive ex-pat population is beyond stupid
Agreed. Afrikaans is the second most commonly spoken language here now, after English. Even more than any SE Asian language. LCC fares between Perth and Cape Town or Johannesburg would go like hot cakes.
Plus, if nothing else, its 3 to 4 less hours in cattle class across the Indian Ocean than if you were flying from the eastern states, which would certainly help make the trip seem attractive or at least worth comparing to the service offered by SAA.
Thegeek From Australia, joined Nov 2007, 2627 posts, RR: 0 Reply 15, posted (3 years 10 months 1 week 13 hours ago) and read 12680 times:
Quoting Cloudyapple (Reply 1): The slot application for Hong Kong has been cancelled.
That's not exactly a surprise, it only ever made sense if VS were planning on keeping a greater service on LHR-HKG than SYD-HKG. The weird part was that they even considered it.
Quoting QANTAS077 (Reply 3): MEL-JNB will turn out to operate via SYD
I seriously doubt that. SYD-JNB just about overflies MEL on the Great Circle route.
The problem with PER-CPT is that it would only be good for O&D pax at both ends, and also PER is so far from their base. How do you get the aircraft there in the first place?
MEL-JNB is good for pax connecting from BNE/CNS/OOL/ADL and NZ, so there might be some connecting business here.
Gemuser From Australia, joined Nov 2003, 5239 posts, RR: 6 Reply 16, posted (3 years 10 months 1 week 13 hours ago) and read 12601 times:
Quoting Kleinsim (Reply 14): How does the ETOPS with the 77W on the MEL-JNB route work?
You'd ned ETOPS 330 for no diversion, some with 240 and quite a bit with 180. In fact with ETOPS 180 you'd just about have fly overhead PER. AFAIK, CASA is not handing out ETOPS 240 & 330 approvals, especially to one year old airlines, especially while the new extended range reg are in progress. That's V-E-R-Y lonely ocean down there!
Kleinsim From Qatar, joined Jan 2007, 154 posts, RR: 0 Reply 17, posted (3 years 10 months 1 week 12 hours ago) and read 12499 times:
I know it's fairly lonely. My French colleague looked surprised when I told him that his fellow countrymen neglected to put an airport on the Kergulen islands
Smi0006 From Australia, joined Jan 2008, 1407 posts, RR: 0 Reply 19, posted (3 years 10 months 1 week 12 hours ago) and read 12215 times:
Quoting 6thfreedom (Reply 18): MEL must be pretty busy prior to 8am based on this schedule.
Indeed it is peak hour really, with international arrivals most days of the week from 6:00-8:00 including EK from DXB and DXB/SIN, MH from KUL, SQ from SIN, CX from HKG, GA from DPS or CGK, NZ from CHC, QF from LAX, plus other not daily arrivals from KE, D7, DJ, MK, CZ, MU etc. Plus all the domestic flights, probably the only time it realy get busy in MEL.
Ouch indeed! It seems like they will be taking a bit of a detour to remain with ETOPS limits.
Quoting BNE (Reply 11): Now lets hope that Australia qualify for the FIFA World Cup in South Africa 2010.
That's already been sorted out. Australia were second in the world to qualify for the 2010 World Cup. At l east it will provide some certainty on that route for a period of time.
Very bad arrival times for anyone not living in Gauteng. Allowing for time getting through immigration and a slight delay, not a wise option if one has to catch a connecting flight to CPT or DUR.
Gardermoen From Australia, joined Jul 1999, 1518 posts, RR: 1 Reply 22, posted (3 years 10 months 1 week 10 hours ago) and read 11537 times:
So V Australia are going to send brand new 777s to Phuket, a leisure route. Call me an armchair CEO, but this sounds disastrous. Yield will be terrible. Personally, I can see this route being canned once the US markets returns post recession.
They're better off sending 737s to Phuket, something like MEL-DRW-HKT.
I'd think even MEL-SIN and BNE-SIN would be a better option for them to operate.
JNB - I hope this works, but I do agree that PER will definetly boost numbers and yield if included - they are excluding a large share of the market here. Premium cabins tend to go out full from PER on SAA.
MEL-PER-JNB would work - thereby capturing both SYD/BNE/ADL and NZ transit pax.
Zeke From Hong Kong, joined Dec 2006, 7767 posts, RR: 73 Reply 24, posted (3 years 10 months 1 week 9 hours ago) and read 11497 times:
Quoting BNE (Reply 2):
* Brisbane to Phuket, Thailand direct twice weekly from 22 November 2009.
* Melbourne to Phuket, Thailand direct flights 1 a week from 3 December 2009.
How do you turn a 773ER around on the runway ? What gate would it use ?
Quoting Gemuser (Reply 16): AFAIK, CASA is not handing out ETOPS 240 & 330 approvals, especially to one year old airlines, especially while the new extended range reg are in progress. That's V-E-R-Y lonely ocean down there!
Airlines do not need to use the new rules if they had an approval issued under the old, they had grandfather rights for a fair bit of time. I do not know if VA has a new or old approval.
We are addicted to our thoughts. We cannot change anything if we cannot change our thinking – Santosh Kalwar
25 Smi0006: I agree I would have thought it would have made more sense to have at least three weekly MEL-LAX flights then two and one weekly HKT, would be better
26 CV990Coronado: I wish them lots of luck but I wouldn't fly on a 777 across the Southern Atlantic if I could fy on a QF 744 or SAA 346
27 AlexEU: Seems like AUS-RSA demand is quite high (SA´s immigration in Australia). Any chances of flights to Europe?
28 Gemuser: You can fly a QF B744 across the South Atlantic??? to RSA??? Gemuser
29 Gemuser: AFAIK, CASA has never issued an ETOPS 240 or 330 approval. I assume VA has ETOPS 180 as it is needed across the Pacific. I really, really doubt CASA
30 CV990Coronado: Thanks I know you can fly a 744 with QF & SAA 346. I personally think that a 777 across the southern ocean is step too far, with no alternates and the
31 Ben175: And my dreams of seeing the gorgeous VA 773 in PER are shattered. I think VA needs a few 777-200ER's to expand their operations. Some of the route cho
32 Gemuser: Really? Not with QF across the South Atlantic, as per your reply 26, you can't! Gemuser
33 CV990Coronado: Quoting.Gemuser Really? Not with QF across the South Atlantic, as per your reply 26, you can't! Sorry! what is wrong with my geography today it was a
34 Monteycarlos: They already did. Otherwise you can bet V wouldn't have entered the JNB market so quickly. Deutsche Bank have cited that one big risk facing VBA is p
35 Sydscott: That's what I predicted would happen with the V 773's. It seems that V Australia have tried to jump on these two routes before JQ receives their 2 ne
36 Mpdpilot: Just out of curiosity after looking at the Great circle mapper picture above. It got me thinking. Do they use Oceanic Tracks like across the north Atl
37 Airbazar: Maybe there's more demand than the 1 daily flight? You could make the same argument towars just about any city pair. You can always find a non-stop o
38 SAA201: I don't!!!! Unless the fares are VERY attractive. And they would need to be VERY attractive to convince someone to fly 3,5 hours from PER, on an over
39 Aussieindc: I think you'll find that QANTAS077 said that very tongue in cheek. Very very doubtful he was being serious. It's that Aussie type of humour....
40 Tayser: re: Saffas in Australia. 20,000 in Sydney, and no doubt more scattered up the NSW and QLD coast of which MEL is a shorter distance (edit: snort - well
41 Mpdpilot: After looking at those numbers V Austrailia should really be doing SYD-SIN-DUB. All kidding aside MEL doesn't appear to be the best choice for South
42 Borism: There are airways. Frankly, Australia-South Africa/America is as interesting in quad as it is in twin. I wonder how it is allowed at all? It's certai
43 Gemuser: I agree. I would have thought MEL-PER-JNB would have been a LOT more profitable and it still would have been the best, most convenient choice from ME
44 Alangirvan: I would guess VA is not doing PER to South Africa because they are sweet with South African Airways? This is a bit complicated with the Joint Service
45 ANstar: Long term it would seem to make more sense for SAA to partner with VA rather than QF given SAA's rival domestically is comair (BA). They already inte
46 Tayser: quite funny I read this on crikey: http://blogs.crikey.com.au/planetalk...as-how-wrong-it-was-about-the-777/ and yet Qantas can manage a MEL-SYD-JNB 1
47 Sydscott: " target=_blank>http://blogs.crikey.com.au/planetalk...-777/ He seems bitter on that blog? The problem is that SYD/PER-JNB are so profitable under th
49 Alangirvan: A quick look at Great Circle Mapper shows: DRW (12°24'53"S 130°52'36"E) HKT (08°06'48"N 98°19'01"E) 300° (NW) 2646 mi Distance from Darwin to Phu
50 Sydscott: Or they could use the additional A332's coming into the fleet to undercut V Australia using their lower cost base and start MEL/BNE-Phuket direct. Af
51 Alangirvan: http://www.skystarairways.com/ A nice way to fly to Phuket might be this Thai airline called skystar (remember Ansett originally tried to call their A
52 SAA201: Ahh, Aussie houmour. Now I get it! As in Aussies know how to play cricket and rugby??!!
53 ANstar: I'm pretty sure they are also hoping that they are able to get an increase from 180 before or soon after the route launches.
54 Gemuser: Really? What do you think their chances of getting it are? Gemuser
55 CV990Coronado: Can anyone explain to me how the ETOPS 180 is calculated I assume it is 180 minutes on one engine at best cruise altitude. What altitude would that be
56 Haan: Sorry but I don't see them operating the B777-300ER on optimum routing without ETOPS 240 or the least 207. If they do operate on 180min they going to
57 Tayser: PER-JNB would still need some fairly significant diversions according to GC... 180, 207, 240 and 330 minute ETOPs rules on the last one.
58 ANstar: Yep - a very senior DJ staffer who is a regular on another site mentioned. Also if they get 207minthat custs something like 30 mins off the route. Th
59 Gemuser: There is, but its only nav aid would be an NDB and I doubt it is lighted for night ops. There may be flares for an emergency night landing, but I wou
60 Borism: CCK is nowhere near PER-MRU and it probably couldn't handle 77W anyway! There is RRG but it is even more unsuitable. Anyways, PER-JNB is not doable w
61 Monteycarlos: Remember to check the 'nm' button when you play with the great circle mapper. It is probably pushing the limits of the A320's operating range with a
62 Tayser: VA need to ask Monsieur Sarkozy to kindly build a runway approximately 3km in length on Iles Kerguelen which lies almost directly under the GC SYD/MEL
63 Gemuser: It's not that far away! PER-CCK-MRU is about 20% longer than the direct track. For about a third of PER-MRU, CCK is closer than either. Indeed back i
64 6thfreedom: Does the 738 have better range than the 320?? what about the 321. is that better or worse range than the others? i'm asking about 'real life' situati
65 AlexEU: Which ETOPS are currently used by B747, A340 and B77E. Sorry for the offtopic.
66 QANTAS077: a few years back a QF 63 diverted to Perth from deep in the Southern Ocean due to an onboard issue, iirc the diversion was around 1500nm.
67 Haan: Currently only twins like the B777, B767, A330 etc are subject to ETOPS now. Max ETOPS is 207min for the B777-200LR and 300ER range. They are current
68 Thegeek: I personally would much rather be on a 77W on a MEL-JNB ETOPS-330 flight than a 743 flying PER-JNB like QF did a couple of years ago. One thing that t
69 TN486: LOL , is this SA humour? we have a little saying here in Aussie "what goes round comes round".
70 AlexEU: What about B737, B757 and smaller aircraft like ATRs and others?
71 Monteycarlos: Operationally I couldn't answer that for the 738, however from what I recall it is roughly a bit more than the A320. I think you would be capped at a
72 Alangirvan: You will have seen that Jetstar Asia have announced new Singapore Phuket flights ( I am a bit surprised that it took them this long to offer this rout
73 Flyibaby: I don't agree with this. I am arriving from the US at 1715 next month in JNB and although Mango and Kulula don't offer much after this arrival time,
74 ANstar: They used to fly SIN-HKT but pulled the route aropund 12 months ago
75 Cchan: Hopefully your international flight won't get delayed, you have one more hour than VA's proposed arrival time, which can make a lot of difference. Us
76 FLYIBABY: Last time I flew from ATL via DKR and onto JNB, I think immigration took about five mins, going through the non-SA citizen line, and I wasn't even in
77 Cchan: The immigration and customs are reasonably fast. Depends on which gate your aircraft parks, the walk to immigration can be long, and the wait for lug
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