With the announcement that Qantas will soon be starting non-stop service from Australia to England I found this old news real of Qantas' inaugural Fiesta route. Thought I'd share along with other memorabilia I found of this route long gone.

1x 707 weekly service by Qantas: Sydney – Nadi – Papeete – Acapulco – Mexico City – Nassau – Bermuda – London

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlTgRQse_BE

I've always found the Fiesta Route to be one of the more fascinating and exotic routes flown during the pre-Jumbo-Jet era. Definitely a great example of a wonky once-weekly route that was killed off by higher fuel prices in the mid-1970s. I believe it was cut in the 1973-74 period; by then Qantas had 747s flying on the Kangaroo Route.

Those were the days eh!

Armodeen wrote:

Those were the days eh!

Too right.

I'd love to see Qantas back in Mexico City. Or Air New Zealand for the first time.

mariner

I notice on the envelope addressed to QF Head Office and stamped at Hamilton, Bermuda, above, that Acapulco is mentioned only in one direction, namely from LON to SYD. Was it, then, more of a refuelling stop, due to the hot and high location of MEX? Or is that a typo? If a technical stop, could you still stop over in ACA?

In the Qantas News article a bit higher up, Acapulco is mentioned both ways when describing the timetable (but still not, as the proving flight is mentioned to have flown "over empty oceans between Tahiti and Mexico City").

Great stuff you got hold of!! Thanks for sharing!!!

mariner wrote:

Armodeen wrote:

Those were the days eh!

Too right.

I'd love to see Qantas back in Mexico City. Or Air New Zealand for the first time.

mariner

I wish this could happen. I wonder if AM could do it at some point non-stop from MEX. If they cannot pull out a MEX-PVG (8,026 mi) right now (except for this ferry flight http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AMX8000), I wonder if they would be able to pull a MEX-SYD that is 8,086 mi. Maybe via ACA, ZIH, or even AKL!

MalevTU134 wrote:

I notice on the envelope addressed to QF Head Office and stamped at Hamilton, Bermuda, above, that Acapulco is mentioned only in one direction, namely from LON to SYD. Was it, then, more of a refuelling stop, due to the hot and high location of MEX? Or is that a typo? If a technical stop, could you still stop over in ACA?

In the Qantas News article a bit higher up, Acapulco is mentioned both ways when describing the timetable (but still not, as the proving flight is mentioned to have flown "over empty oceans between Tahiti and Mexico City").

Great stuff you got hold of!! Thanks for sharing!!!

I've got a few QF timetables with this route, In mine it flew in both directions. It may have changed at some point. I would have loved to take this routing.then combine with as many stops going eastbound.

The most boring part of that journey would be the destination.

.....and London isn't that boring!

It would be a great routing for back packers. Good way to see some of the more obscure parts of the world on a budget.

KLAM wrote:

mariner wrote:

Armodeen wrote:

Those were the days eh!

Too right.

I'd love to see Qantas back in Mexico City. Or Air New Zealand for the first time.

mariner

I wish this could happen. I wonder if AM could do it at some point non-stop from MEX. If they cannot pull out a MEX-PVG (8,026 mi) right now (except for this ferry flight http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AMX8000), I wonder if they would be able to pull a MEX-SYD that is 8,086 mi. Maybe via ACA, ZIH, or even AKL!

PPT would be a good stop. Virtually the same distance on both legs. I doubt it would ever happen though.

I never did like "milk routes" as a kid, and for those you didn't fly one of them, you didn't miss anything but tiredness and annoyance.

I once flew DFW-JFK-CAI-KWI-BOM-MAA.
It sucked and I felt three times as jet lagged and tired as DFW-LHR-MAA in modern times.

Longest pre-jumbo era flight I've ever taken is JFK-GIG-JNB & that was just under 24 hours on a 707-300, that was enough. Can't see being on the same plane longer than that. But the routing of the entire journey (with 2 plane changes) was LAX-DAL-ATL-JFK-GIG-JNB-BUQ. July 1970.

At one stage it was twice per week with the second service terminating in mexico city. I shall try to locate the timetables I have of this era and will give more precise detail. I think at one stage there was a 14 hour layover on the outbound route to London, (due to landing slots in London) at Mexico city I think however I shall confirm

TN486 wrote:

At one stage it was twice per week with the second service terminating in mexico city. I shall try to locate the timetables I have of this era and will give more precise detail. I think at one stage there was a 14 hour layover on the outbound route to London, (due to landing slots in London) at Mexico city I think however I shall confirm

That's correct. For at least a while, the routing of the second weekly was SYD-AKL-PPT-ACA-MEX. IIRC, there may have been a need to have PPT as a tech stop only on the second weekly, due to French government restrictions.

Thanks David for your confirmation. The Mar/Apr 71 schedule shows QF 580 twice weekly Dep Sydney Tue and Fri with the Tue service terminating at MEX. Both services were routing SYD-NAN-PPT-ACA-MEX and return. The Fri departure was the service that continued on to LON. A little side note if I may: Apart from the 1 QF 580 routing through NAN on the Fiesta route QF 530 routed through NAN four days per week to LON as follows: SYD-NAN-HNL-SFO-NYC-LON and return. Flights dep SYD 1900 Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun with a 6 hr layover in SFO on the outbound services. I am unable to find proof of my assertion of the 14 hrs layover in MEX for the 580 service.

QF 580 is now a run-of-the-mill PER-SYD domestic flight; QF 530 is SYD-BNE.

TN486 wrote:

Apart from the 1 QF 580 routing through NAN on the Fiesta route QF 530 routed through NAN four days per week to LON as follows: SYD-NAN-HNL-SFO-NYC-LON and return. Flights dep SYD 1900 Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun with a 6 hr layover in SFO on the outbound services.

I flew that route, or most of it, but on BOAC, not Qantas. I flew AKL-NAN, where we were given dinner at the hotel before connecting to the flight coming in from SYD. At SFO we out put into a fairly fancy motel at the airport for the six hour layover and, again, given an excellent dinner in the motel restaurant.

mariner

Must have been an interesting route to operate for the crews.How were the flights operated by cabin/flight crew?Long stay in each stop?I cant imagine how long it would take for them to return to home base Sydney.

SingaporeBoy wrote:

Must have been an interesting route to operate for the crews.How were the flights operated by cabin/flight crew?Long stay in each stop?I cant imagine how long it would take for them to return to home base Sydney.

In those days duties were often several weeks long.

Two things spring to mind about this. Well, actually three.

1. This service launched 6 days after I was born
2. When my family emigrated to Australia in 1972 I believe the routing was LHR/ATH/DAM/THR/KUL/SIN/MEL/SYD but I could have left out a stop, or added one in. I think it was an Australian Government charter so I don't think it would have been a published routing. However, if anyone has a QF timetable for 1972 I'd be fascinated o see if it tallied with anything published.
3. I miss airline timetables! When I was a kid I'd write to all the airlines listed in the Flight International Annual Airline Review. It was amazing how many sent back timetables and other stuff. I'd be receiving packages for the rest of the year.

With the next generation wide body aircraft soon all these routes can be flown nonstop if the demand would be there


A388

Did anyone notice the different looking Eastern (DC-8 I'm guessing) tail in one of the pics? I have never seen an EA tail like that before.

Funny seeing QF serving IKA,BAH and DAM. Did they also serve BEY?

Dominion301 wrote:

Did anyone notice the different looking Eastern (DC-8 I'm guessing) tail in one of the pics? I have never seen an EA tail like that before.

Yes I noticed that too! That was one of the 3 747-121's Eastern leased from Pan Am between the fall of 1970 and spring of 1972 ... here is N737PA



https://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Ai ... /i-FCd8PdF

usflyer123 wrote:

Funny seeing QF serving IKA,BAH and DAM. Did they also serve BEY?

Certainly in the early 1950's they served BEY - the Constellation was a regular visitor.

http://www.routesonline.com/news/38/air ... s-network/

"EM531 Sydney – Darwin – Jakarta – Singapore – Bangkok – Calcutta – Karachi – Beirut – Rome – Frankfurt – London Day 1
EM532 London – Frankfurt – Rome – Beirut – Karachi – Calcutta – Bangkok – Singapore – Jakarta – Darwin – Sydney Day 5

EM535 Sydney – Darwin – Jakarta – Singapore – Colombo – Bombay – Karachi – Cairo – Rome – London Day 3
EM536 London – Rome – Cairo – Karachi – Bombay – Colombo – Singapore – Jakarta – Darwin – Sydney Day 7

3-Day arrival Westbound
4-Day arrival Eastbound

mariner

TN486 wrote:

Thanks David for your confirmation. The Mar/Apr 71 schedule shows QF 580 twice weekly Dep Sydney Tue and Fri with the Tue service terminating at MEX. Both services were routing SYD-NAN-PPT-ACA-MEX and return. The Fri departure was the service that continued on to LON. A little side note if I may: Apart from the 1 QF 580 routing through NAN on the Fiesta route QF 530 routed through NAN four days per week to LON as follows: SYD-NAN-HNL-SFO-NYC-LON and return. Flights dep SYD 1900 Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun with a 6 hr layover in SFO on the outbound services. I am unable to find proof of my assertion of the 14 hrs layover in MEX for the 580 service.

The December 1970 shows the same, I'd forgotten about the NAN stop. QF really had two ways to fly RTW, the Fiesta Route and the Southern Cross Route. With creative scheduling, one could fly SYD-SYD with 14 stops in either direction. I would have loved that.

deltacto wrote:

Dominion301 wrote:

Did anyone notice the different looking Eastern (DC-8 I'm guessing) tail in one of the pics? I have never seen an EA tail like that before.

Yes I noticed that too! That was one of the 3 747-121's Eastern leased from Pan Am between the fall of 1970 and spring of 1972 ... here is N737PA



https://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Ai ... /i-FCd8PdF

Thanks for that but the first pic is clearly a DC-8 and not a 747-100, note the rudder going completely to the top of the fin in the first pic. Perhaps EA leased a DC-8 from Pan Am as well. No US flag on the DC-8 either.

And look at that European network!

pa747sp wrote:

Two things spring to mind about this. Well, actually three.

1. This service launched 6 days after I was born
2. When my family emigrated to Australia in 1972 I believe the routing was LHR/ATH/DAM/THR/KUL/SIN/MEL/SYD but I could have left out a stop, or added one in. I think it was an Australian Government charter so I don't think it would have been a published routing. However, if anyone has a QF timetable for 1972 I'd be fascinated o see if it tallied with anything published.
3. I miss airline timetables! When I was a kid I'd write to all the airlines listed in the Flight International Annual Airline Review. It was amazing how many sent back timetables and other stuff. I'd be receiving packages for the rest of the year.

Haha, thats almost worthy of a new thread, did the same whilst plotting around Perth in between bus connections after highschool (timetables at travel agents) and the few rare times mum bought me ´Flight´, I´d spend my pocket money on stamps after the airline reviews came out! We should start a thread on such `geeks/us` in AVHobby on this sort of thing, I´m sure it would be an enjoyable thread

mariner wrote:

usflyer123 wrote:

Funny seeing QF serving IKA,BAH and DAM. Did they also serve BEY?

Certainly in the early 1950's they served BEY - the Constellation was a regular visitor.

Pretty sure they also served BEY at the start of the jet age. Another stop that served only for a short time (but in the jet age) was MLA. IKA wasn't served by QF, but THR was (for many years).

TN486 wrote:

Thanks David for your confirmation. The Mar/Apr 71 schedule shows QF 580 twice weekly Dep Sydney Tue and Fri with the Tue service terminating at MEX. Both services were routing SYD-NAN-PPT-ACA-MEX and return. The Fri departure was the service that continued on to LON.

Yes, after a period, the AKL stop on the second weekly service was replaced by NAN.

Mini1000 wrote:

And look at that European network!

My first long haul on QF (1972) was SYD/SIN/KUL/BAH/ATH/LHR on an early 747 flight. In LHR we waited for most of the day to connect to a QF 707 to do the hop across to AMS. On return, we routed AMS/IST/BAH/SIN/SYD on a 707, so IST is another one not on the above route map, nor do I know how long it was served for. I do know that continuing passengers were not allowed off, which was a real pain as I was sick as a dog, the best they would let me do was stand at the rear door at the top of the steps to get some "fresh" air.....ha !

Great memories though

It also brings home the memories of Acapulco as the playground for the rich and famous it was once; it has since become the playground of the Drug Lords and choosing it as your next vacation destination may well be akin to taking life into your own hands.

DavidByrne wrote:

Pretty sure they also served BEY at the start of the jet age.

They may have. My father was stationed in Amman with Arab Airways and we made frequent visits to Beirut, which I remember as a very glamorous city. Dad would sometimes take me out to BEY airport to see the Qantas Constellations and that's how I met Australians for the first time. After some trouble in Jordan in 1956, we Brits were expelled and Dad was sent to Ghana Airways and became one of the very few western engineers licensed for Ilyushins. I went to college in London and lost track of what was happening in Middle Eastern aviation.

mariner

mariner wrote:

DavidByrne wrote:

Pretty sure they also served BEY at the start of the jet age.

They may have. My father was stationed in Amman with Arab Airways and we made frequent visits to Beirut, which I remember as a very glamorous city. Dad would sometimes take me out to BEY airport to see the Qantas Constellations and that's how I met Australians for the first time. After some trouble in Jordan in 1956, we Brits were expelled and Dad was sent to Ghana Airways and became one of the very few western engineers licensed for Ilyushins. I went to college in London and lost track of what was happening in Middle Eastern aviation.

mariner

What an amazing upbringing, what great experiences!!

Whilst perhaps boring, or dull at the time- would have been an amazing time to be crew! Long layovers, lots of Time at home- so much exotic travel! Would love to have been there even for a year!

cougar15 wrote:

pa747sp wrote:

Two things spring to mind about this. Well, actually three.

1. This service launched 6 days after I was born
2. When my family emigrated to Australia in 1972 I believe the routing was LHR/ATH/DAM/THR/KUL/SIN/MEL/SYD but I could have left out a stop, or added one in. I think it was an Australian Government charter so I don't think it would have been a published routing. However, if anyone has a QF timetable for 1972 I'd be fascinated o see if it tallied with anything published.
3. I miss airline timetables! When I was a kid I'd write to all the airlines listed in the Flight International Annual Airline Review. It was amazing how many sent back timetables and other stuff. I'd be receiving packages for the rest of the year.

Haha, thats almost worthy of a new thread, did the same whilst plotting around Perth in between bus connections after highschool (timetables at travel agents) and the few rare times mum bought me ´Flight´, I´d spend my pocket money on stamps after the airline reviews came out! We should start a thread on such `geeks/us` in AVHobby on this sort of thing, I´m sure it would be an enjoyable thread

Sure. What sure it be called? The golden days of collecting airline memorabilia (before it became worth a fortune on Ebay?) it makes me cry when I think about all the amazing stuff I got rid of.

Wow! Seeing the OP's map of convoluted routes - especially around Europe makes me think of
Take a run 'round Vienna,
Granada, Ravenna, Sienna
And then a-'round Rome.
Have as high time, a low time,
And in no time
You'll be singing "Home, Sweet Home". I guess there's no cure like travel...

pa747sp wrote:

Two things spring to mind about this. Well, actually three.

1. This service launched 6 days after I was born
2. When my family emigrated to Australia in 1972 I believe the routing was LHR/ATH/DAM/THR/KUL/SIN/MEL/SYD but I could have left out a stop, or added one in. I think it was an Australian Government charter so I don't think it would have been a published routing. However, if anyone has a QF timetable for 1972 I'd be fascinated o see if it tallied with anything published.
3. I miss airline timetables! When I was a kid I'd write to all the airlines listed in the Flight International Annual Airline Review. It was amazing how many sent back timetables and other stuff. I'd be receiving packages for the rest of the year.

I have a number of QF 1972 timetables. It should be noted that this was the year QF were introducing the 747B on the kangaroo route. From your recollections I suspect you flew on a 707, as the 747B landed at no more than 3 overseas ports after leaving Australia for LON and the same upon returning..

The only routing that comes close to your recollections is early 1972 LON-AMS-ATH-THR-CMB-KUL-SIN-PER-SYD or late 1972 LON-ATH-THR-DEL-BKK-SYD-MEL but there again in that year there were monstrous fluctuations on the Kangaroo route, and the 707 schedules changed on a monthly basis, and I don't have all of the 1972 schedules.
You may be right, it could have been a Government charter, there was a lot of them in those days (quite lucrative for QF).

First: I want that Mexico poster!
Second: When I flew as a kid there was always (or often) a festive atmosphere (of sorts) celebrating the destination you were going to. How wonderful it would be for the flier if the majors did "something" again to excite the passengers. A flight to Sydney or Rio is the same as a flight to Tokyo or London nowadays (aside from dual language announcements). But, doing "something" might cost money...god forbid!!!
But if you're headed to Edinburgh or NYC or Tokyo or Rio or Beijing, etc, etc...be the first to do something special- in all cabins--serving a local cocktail (caipirinha or Pimm's Cup) a 5 minute video about where you're headed, boarding music or special scarf/tie for FA's. I realize that corp contracts or FF miles secure paying passengers and a lowest price seat is treated as punishment, but it all erodes brand preferences...but special brand behavior can command a premium or simply more customers. (I realize I'm dreaming in a bubble)

TN486 wrote:

pa747sp wrote:

Two things spring to mind about this. Well, actually three.

1. This service launched 6 days after I was born
2. When my family emigrated to Australia in 1972 I believe the routing was LHR/ATH/DAM/THR/KUL/SIN/MEL/SYD but I could have left out a stop, or added one in. I think it was an Australian Government charter so I don't think it would have been a published routing. However, if anyone has a QF timetable for 1972 I'd be fascinated o see if it tallied with anything published.
3. I miss airline timetables! When I was a kid I'd write to all the airlines listed in the Flight International Annual Airline Review. It was amazing how many sent back timetables and other stuff. I'd be receiving packages for the rest of the year.

I have a number of QF 1972 timetables. It should be noted that this was the year QF were introducing the 747B on the kangaroo route. From your recollections I suspect you flew on a 707, as the 747B landed at no more than 3 overseas ports after leaving Australia for LON and the same upon returning..

The only routing that comes close to your recollections is early 1972 LON-AMS-ATH-THR-CMB-KUL-SIN-PER-SYD or late 1972 LON-ATH-THR-DEL-BKK-SYD-MEL but there again in that year there were monstrous fluctuations on the Kangaroo route, and the 707 schedules changed on a monthly basis, and I don't have all of the 1972 schedules.
You may be right, it could have been a Government charter, there was a lot of them in those days (quite lucrative for QF).

It was definitely a 707. We were in Sydney when the first 747 arrived, and went to the airport to have a look around it, as our neighbour worked for QF.

ACCS300 wrote:

deltacto wrote:

Dominion301 wrote:

Did anyone notice the different looking Eastern (DC-8 I'm guessing) tail in one of the pics? I have never seen an EA tail like that before.

Thanks for that but the first pic is clearly a DC-8 and not a 747-100, note the rudder going completely to the top of the fin in the first pic. Perhaps EA leased a DC-8 from Pan Am as well. No US flag on the DC-8 either.

Before Eastern adopted the "Hockey Stick" scheme, they painted at least one DC-8 in an experimental scheme, with the stripes running along the fuselage and the "Falcon" on the tail.

WA707atMSP wrote:

ACCS300 wrote:

deltacto wrote:

Thanks for that but the first pic is clearly a DC-8 and not a 747-100, note the rudder going completely to the top of the fin in the first pic. Perhaps EA leased a DC-8 from Pan Am as well. No US flag on the DC-8 either.

Before Eastern adopted the "Hockey Stick" scheme, they painted at least one DC-8 in an experimental scheme, with the stripes running along the fuselage and the "Falcon" on the tail.

Hmm interesting. I guess this hockey stick livery on the tail was what replaced the falcon on this DC-8? I wonder if a pic of the the complete aircraft exists out there somewhere? I'd search the photo database, but the reg in the photo isn't visible.

VC10er wrote:

First: I want that Mexico poster!
Second: When I flew as a kid there was always (or often) a festive atmosphere (of sorts) celebrating the destination you were going to. How wonderful it would be for the flier if the majors did "something" again to excite the passengers. A flight to Sydney or Rio is the same as a flight to Tokyo or London nowadays (aside from dual language announcements). But, doing "something" might cost money...god forbid!!!
But if you're headed to Edinburgh or NYC or Tokyo or Rio or Beijing, etc, etc...be the first to do something special- in all cabins--serving a local cocktail (caipirinha or Pimm's Cup) a 5 minute video about where you're headed, boarding music or special scarf/tie for FA's. I realize that corp contracts or FF miles secure paying passengers and a lowest price seat is treated as punishment, but it all erodes brand preferences...but special brand behavior can command a premium or simply more customers. (I realize I'm dreaming in a bubble)

I

Well I guess I'm too pretty much engrossed in my own 1960s wet-dream in which I am boarding a 707 to Rio with background bossa nova being piped through the brightly lit cabin and cocktails are being served...

Or how about the BOAC floral paper dresses that were forced upon the poor stewardesses, or the Japanese ladies in Kimonos on the TYO route??

Wow...those were the times....!

It would be a great routing for back packers. Good way to see some of the more obscure parts of the world on a budget.

[/quote]

Well one thing I can assure you is that those QF flights certainly didn't see many back-packers in those days, unless they were perhaps sons of very well-to-do Commonwealth Citizens... flying those routes was a bitterly expensive affair!

[

quote="RWA380"]Longest pre-jumbo era flight I've ever taken is JFK-GIG-JNB & that was just under 24 hours on a 707-300, that was enough. Can't see being on the same plane longer than that. But the routing of the entire journey (with 2 plane changes) was LAX-DAL-ATL-JFK-GIG-JNB-BUQ. July 1970.

[/quote]

Wow. How things have changed! And people now complain when a 757 shows up for their transatlantic flight!

Dominion301 wrote:

WA707atMSP wrote:

ACCS300 wrote:

Before Eastern adopted the "Hockey Stick" scheme, they painted at least one DC-8 in an experimental scheme, with the stripes running along the fuselage and the "Falcon" on the tail.

Hmm interesting. I guess this hockey stick livery on the tail was what replaced the falcon on this DC-8? I wonder if a pic of the the complete aircraft exists out there somewhere? I'd search the photo database, but the reg in the photo isn't visible.

Robert Serling's history of Eastern Airlines, "From the Captain to the Colonel", has a black and white picture of a DC-8 in this scheme. The registration is N8781R.

George Cearley's book "Eastern Air Lines - an Illustrated History" has a black and white picture of an Electra in a slightly different variation of this scheme; the Electra's registration is N5524.

Serling's book was published in 1979. It's 400+ pages long, and has a lot of information about Eastern's first fifty years, but has just a few pictures. Cearley's book was published in 1984, and reprinted several times. It is more of a scrapbook, with 100+ pages of aircraft photos and route maps. Alibris shows several dozen copies of Serling's book available, and two copies of Cearley's book. The two books compliment one another, because Serling's book is a historical narrative and Cearley's book is mainly photographs. If you're interested in Eastern Air Lines, you should seriously consider adding both books to your library.

Note to moderators: this post is for informational purposes only - it is not an advertisement. I have only one copy of each book, and the books are most definitely NOT for sale on Alibris or any other web site.

WA707atMSP wrote:

Before Eastern adopted the "Hockey Stick" scheme, they painted at least one DC-8 in an experimental scheme, with the stripes running along the fuselage and the "Falcon" on the tail.

Robert Serling's history of Eastern Airlines, "From the Captain to the Colonel", has a black and white picture of a DC-8 in this scheme. The registration is N8781R.

Thank you WA707atMSP for the registration!
Facebook has a pic of this DC-8 in the livery



https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q= ... MjRlNDkifQ

Very nice!

TN486 wrote:

At one stage it was twice per week with the second service terminating in mexico city. I shall try to locate the timetables I have of this era and will give more precise detail. I think at one stage there was a 14 hour layover on the outbound route to London, (due to landing slots in London) at Mexico city I think however I shall confirm

That's interesting. If one of the two flights terminated at MEX it means there must have been some legitimate demand between Australia and Mexico at the time. Today it would simply get funneled via LAX on a code-share basis.

I found pics of the 707s flying the Fiesta Route resting at MEX. Can't find any of the Acapulco stop. We can see how the livery was evolving during that period.

Circa 1968



Circa 1968


Circa 1971


Circa 1973



Circa 1973

LatinPlane wrote:

I found this old news real of Qantas' inaugural Fiesta route. Thought I'd share along with other memorabilia I found of this route

Thanks for posting this. I especially liked being reminded of the gold and red route map on the inside fold of the printed 1970s timetable!

MalevTU134 wrote:

Acapulco is mentioned only in one direction, namely from LON to SYD. Was it, then, more of a refuelling stop, due to the hot and high location of MEX? Or is that a typo? If a technical stop, could you still stop over in ACA?

In the Qantas News article a bit higher up, Acapulco is mentioned both ways when describing the timetable (but still not, as the proving flight is mentioned to have flown "over empty oceans between Tahiti and Mexico City").

dcajet wrote:

It also brings home the memories of Acapulco as the playground for the rich and famous it was once; it has since become the playground of the Drug Lords and choosing it as your next vacation destination may well be akin to taking life into your own hands.

LatinPlane wrote:

If one of the two flights terminated at MEX it means there must have been some legitimate demand between Australia and Mexico at the time.

I guess a technical stop at ACA may have been needed in the MEX-PPT direction given the hot and high airport at MEX, but everything I can find suggests that ACA was a stop in both directions. dcajet points to a reason for there being some traffic from Australia to Acapulco. Wikipedia's entry on Acapulco says

From a population of only 4,000 or 5,000 in the 1940s, by the early 1960s, Acapulco had a population of about 50,000...
During the 1960s and 1970s, new hotel resorts were built, and accommodation and transport were made cheaper. It was no longer necessary to be a millionaire to spend a holiday in Acapulco; the foreign and Mexican middle class could now afford to travel here.

pa747sp wrote:

I miss airline timetables! When I was a kid I'd write to all the airlines listed in the Flight International Annual Airline Review. It was amazing how many sent back timetables and other stuff. I'd be receiving packages for the rest of the year.

cougar15 wrote:

Haha, thats almost worthy of a new thread, did the same whilst plotting around Perth in between bus connections after highschool (timetables at travel agents) and the few rare times mum bought me ´Flight´, I´d spend my pocket money on stamps after the airline reviews came out!

pa747sp wrote:

The golden days of collecting airline memorabilia (before it became worth a fortune on Ebay?) it makes me cry when I think about all the amazing stuff I got rid of.

Similarly, as a kid I used to spend my money on a weekly copy of Flight International which I had ordered in by the local newsagent. When the annual world airline guide came out I also wrote off to get copies of timetables, annual reports etc etc. Sigh... I wish I still had some of the collected aviation ephemera now - not sure I'd be able to part with it on Ebay though!

LatinPlane wrote:

TN486 wrote:

At one stage it was twice per week with the second service terminating in mexico city. I shall try to locate the timetables I have of this era and will give more precise detail. I think at one stage there was a 14 hour layover on the outbound route to London, (due to landing slots in London) at Mexico city I think however I shall confirm

That's interesting. If one of the two flights terminated at MEX it means there must have been some legitimate demand between Australia and Mexico at the time. Today it would simply get funneled via LAX on a code-share basis.

Or, the bilateral were so restrictive that they had to fly to MEX instead of LAX, possibly to get the 5th freedom rights.