travelhound wrote:

From what I am can work out VA is trying to transform itself back to something a tad more luxurious than the old VB.

Putting my Armchair CEO hat, getting more consistency at VA would be a start. Reducing their fleet types (which they have started to do), along with the decision of going to MoM (Hybrid Service) or Full Service and apply their chosen service model across all routes (and leaving their low-yielding tourist routes to their Tigerair LCC), rather than the current mess of "This route has no food, and this route has a snack, and that route has a full meal service", along with the old Pacific Blue routes to NZ the only routes not having baggage in their base fares.

The other alternative is VA going back to LCC (by folding their TT LCC back into mainline) and looking at joining the Value Alliance with the Asian LCCs such as Scoot (including the former Tigerair Singapore operations), Cebu Pacific, Vanilla Air Japan and Jeju Air. The 3 major alliances doesn't accept LCCs on their own.

If VA applies the Hybrid or Full Service model across all their routes, they should mostly work/form alliances with the airlines of the chosen alliance with the aim of eventually joining said Alliance to enable consistency across their Lounge access with partner carriers. A candidate should VA eventually join a Alliance would probably be Skyteam with DL considering VA has been drifting away from their Star Alliance partners (NZ and SQ) and have frosty relations with UA (and probably NZ considering their Tran-Tasman alliance has slowly been winding back since NZ's exit from the VA board).

Reports of SYD flights grounded due to an ATC outage.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/aviation/sydney-airport-flights-grounded-by-air-traffic-control-outage-20170924-gynwy6.html

BREAKING SEPTEMBER 25 2017 - 9:04AM
An outage at Sydney Airport air traffic control has grounded flights to and from the country's largest airport.
The systems were down from about 5.20am Monday, as thousands of passengers converged on the airport at the start of school holidays.
All flights out of Sydney have been delayed until further notice.

Dedicated SYD outage thread started earlier by hnl808:
https://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1374577

TT's second HBA route announced, direct OOL-HBA flights from December 7.

http://www.themercury.com.au/lifestyle/ ... 05ffe9503a


I'm all for new routes to be launched but do wonder about this one. Will be interesting to see what frequency this will have as JQ couldn't make 4 weekly work a few years back and switched to BNE instead.

Updated article: 4 weekly Tues, Thurs, Fri, Sun plus an additional 4 weekly HBA-MEL.

Boof wrote:

TT's second HBA route announced, direct OOL-HBA flights from December 7.

http://www.themercury.com.au/lifestyle/ ... 05ffe9503a


I'm all for new routes to be launched but do wonder about this one. Will be interesting to see what frequency this will have as JQ couldn't make 4 weekly work a few years back and switched to BNE instead.

Updated article: 4 weekly Tues, Thurs, Fri, Sun plus an additional 4 weekly HBA-MEL.

Good for new routes to be opened up. This is the potential strength of low cost carriers such as JQ and TT. I can't get too excited if all they do is wingtip fly against their full-service sibling.

I assume TT have stats showing connections on HBA-MEL-OOL on TT and VA that indicate there is a market. I hope it is successful for them.

Beijing Capital Airlines in latest schedule update revised planned frequency for Qingdao – Sydney route, effective from 29OCT17. Upon service launch, the airline will operate 4 weekly flights with Airbus A330, instead of previously scheduled 2 weekly.

JD479 TAO1550 – 0655+1SYD 330 x246
JD480 SYD0935 – 1905TAO 330 6
JD480 SYD1100 – 2005TAO 330 124

http://www.routesonline.com/news/38/air ... e-in-nw17/

ben175 wrote:

Stayed overnight in SYD at the Rydges and was shocked to see how many widebodies boarded from remote stands this morning! AC to YVR, LA to AKL/SCL, QF to PVG and SQ to SIN all had pax bussed and then up stairs. Is this a regular occurrence for SYD?

I arrived off MH123 at 10am over the weekend and had a 15 min wait on the tarmac whilst waiting for another gate to free from a departing a/c, so whilst frustrating it was only a small delay.

Given the space constraints at SYD and the morning crush hour at T1, is there any scope to build a "midfield"/satellite terminal at SYD? The only significant space which could foreseeably be used is where the current Blu Emu carpark is, but that would mean having to incorporate a lengthy "inter terminal train/transport" solution between it and T1 and SYD giving up significant car parking space. The only other space is probably the area (across the east-west runway from T1) where the morning BA and other international arrivals are parked for the day. But that would only be small facility with perhaps another 5 gates tops?

SYDSpotter wrote:

The only other space is probably the area (across the east-west runway from T1) where the morning BA and other international arrivals are parked for the day. But that would only be small facility with perhaps another 5 gates tops?

That area is the main remote bussing area (stands 71-77) and probably not big enough to build a fully fledged satellite/terminal building without moving the motorway.

There is a big block of empty land to the south of the control tower where you could probably fit a 6-8 gate satellite. It's a long way from T1 though so transport/systems integration would be challenging. Another option could be to relocate the private and domestic cargo aprons (as well as the hotels/McDonalds etc) and build something new at the eastern end of the cross runway. That's quite a substantial space but would require lots of taxiing back and forth to the two main runways.

The best option has always been to build something north of T3 where the jetbase currently is (QF wants to dramatically downsize these facilities in the next few years so the land will be freed up anyway). You could either do it as a separate T4 with its own road system directly off Qantas Drive or as a major expansion of T3 (which would be my preference).

What happens with the NZ flights - how much space might be available if they moved across to domestic as has been discussed at length? Could domestic then also cope?

qf2220 wrote:

What happens with the NZ flights - how much space might be available if they moved across to domestic as has been discussed at length? Could domestic then also cope?

I don't believe NZ flights can be moved to domestic terminals unless there's one of:
1) a change of domestic terminals that would allow international departures/arrivals;
2) a change of immigration system since Australia does have a departure immi check;
3) making Trans-Tasman domestic flight like the EU does.

I personally believe that, given the time it takes to plan and build any facilities in just about anywhere in Australia, the last option would really be the only option if you wanna a solution quick in short notice, but then you have to have the whole border systems redesigned for this.

Michael

It's only the schengen zone (which is smaller than the EU) which is effectively passport free for people. The customs zone is broader than the EU (and schengen).

Frankfurt and Zurich just have different levels of the same terminal for schengen and non-schengen flights. This way the planes can use the same physical gates - the passengers just get herded into different pens. Other airports tend to just have a section for the non schengen flights.

I think the real problem for Australia is the space required for customs and biosecurity screening and the need to segregate people for that (which doesn't need to be done so much in Europe).

New CEO for Sydney Airport has been announced. Geoff Culbert replacing Kerry Mather.

Culbert is ex GE Australia.

For those who would like to attend the invite only QF 789 arrival event here's your chance

https://www.ausbt.com.au/contest-attend ... ival-event

qf789 wrote:

For those who would like to attend the invite only QF 789 arrival event here's your chance

https://www.ausbt.com.au/contest-attend ... ival-event

s there a link that is not behind a paywall ?
AN767

An767 wrote:

qf789 wrote:

For those who would like to attend the invite only QF 789 arrival event here's your chance

https://www.ausbt.com.au/contest-attend ... ival-event

s there a link that is not behind a paywall ?
AN767

I haven't had a problem with paywall before on Ausbt, try the one on facebook, here's the link

https://apps.facebook.com/my-contests/q ... wall&v=394

qf789 wrote:

An767 wrote:

qf789 wrote:

For those who would like to attend the invite only QF 789 arrival event here's your chance

https://www.ausbt.com.au/contest-attend ... ival-event

s there a link that is not behind a paywall ?
AN767

I haven't had a problem with paywall before on Ausbt, try the one on facebook, here's the link

https://apps.facebook.com/my-contests/q ... wall&v=394

Thanks qf789

Still not sure about the new Qantas lettering. That Q looks too much like an O from a distance IMHO. Nice bird and the livery looks stunning.

sq256 wrote:

travelhound wrote:

From what I am can work out VA is trying to transform itself back to something a tad more luxurious than the old VB.

Putting my Armchair CEO hat, getting more consistency at VA would be a start. Reducing their fleet types (which they have started to do), along with the decision of going to MoM (Hybrid Service) or Full Service and apply their chosen service model across all routes (and leaving their low-yielding tourist routes to their Tigerair LCC), rather than the current mess of "This route has no food, and this route has a snack, and that route has a full meal service", along with the old Pacific Blue routes to NZ the only routes not having baggage in their base fares.

The other alternative is VA going back to LCC (by folding their TT LCC back into mainline) and looking at joining the Value Alliance with the Asian LCCs such as Scoot (including the former Tigerair Singapore operations), Cebu Pacific, Vanilla Air Japan and Jeju Air. The 3 major alliances doesn't accept LCCs on their own.

If VA applies the Hybrid or Full Service model across all their routes, they should mostly work/form alliances with the airlines of the chosen alliance with the aim of eventually joining said Alliance to enable consistency across their Lounge access with partner carriers. A candidate should VA eventually join a Alliance would probably be Skyteam with DL considering VA has been drifting away from their Star Alliance partners (NZ and SQ) and have frosty relations with UA (and probably NZ considering their Tran-Tasman alliance has slowly been winding back since NZ's exit from the VA board).

This ongoing confusion at VA offering is kind of perplexing itself. From my experience - which is fortnightly on either QF or VA - the following applies on VA...

0-2ish hours = company drink and packet of bubbles (the Snax with Attitude brand is absolutely delicious and seems to be the preferred offering)

2ish hours plus = more substantial offering like a pie or sandwich

East coast to Perth = full meal

Departures 5-7pm = cocktail hour!

So generally, the same as QF, where I've had everything from nada to stale egg sandwiches to pretty decent full meals depending on the route. Yes the Tasman is an oddball but that probably reflects the need to align with the NZ offering given their alliance. Besides it's all available to you at time of booking.

Apologies a few autocomplete errors in previous post.

"Company drink and packet of bubbles" should read "Complimentary drink and packet of nibbles".

This ongoing confusion at VA offering is kind of perplexing itself. From my experience - which is fortnightly on either QF or VA - the following applies on VA...

0-2ish hours = company drink and packet of bubbles (the Snax with Attitude brand is absolutely delicious and seems to be the preferred offering)

2ish hours plus = more substantial offering like a pie or sandwich

East coast to Perth = full meal

Departures 5-7pm = cocktail hour!

So generally, the same as QF, where I've had everything from nada to stale egg sandwiches to pretty decent full meals depending on the route. Yes the Tasman is an oddball but that probably reflects the need to align with the NZ offering given their alliance. Besides it's all available to you at time of booking.[/quote]

"So generally, the same as QF.." That's a fairly loose meaning of 'generally'. QF have hot/cold breakfast boxes on flights before 9AM, INCLUDING flights under 2hrs. Lunch (approx12-2pm) usually a hot/cold pastry based/sandwich item. Dinner (approx4-8pm) a hot/cold decent sized boxed main. In-between these times are the cold snack sweet/savory items. QF ADL/MEL/CBR/SYD/BNE - PER all have full meals all day (ADL is included in QF east coast-PER). QF 'cocktail hour' is 4PM-Last flight (12pm onwards on east coast-PER flights). AND don't forget SOFT DRINKS FREE ON QF EVERY FLIGHT
So in my opinion, QF offer more, more often, on more routes, than VA. QF 'generally' is not the same as VA 'generally'

aerokiwi wrote:

This ongoing confusion at VA offering is kind of perplexing itself. From my experience - which is fortnightly on either QF or VA - the following applies on VA...

0-2ish hours = company drink and packet of bubbles (the Snax with Attitude brand is absolutely delicious and seems to be the preferred offering)

2ish hours plus = more substantial offering like a pie or sandwich

East coast to Perth = full meal

Departures 5-7pm = cocktail hour!

So generally, the same as QF, where I've had everything from nada to stale egg sandwiches to pretty decent full meals depending on the route. Yes the Tasman is an oddball but that probably reflects the need to align with the NZ offering given their alliance. Besides it's all available to you at time of booking.

It's a far cry from what QF offers.

0-2ish hours = QF offers full breakfast/lunch/dinner even on 1h hop between SYD-CBR (so long as the flight is operated by 717 or 737). Not to mention the golden triangle routes SYD-MEL-BNE-SYD. If it's not meal time, admittedly I haven't been onto a shoulder period flight for quite a while but last time I flew them they offer a huge piece of cookie and muffin and all those tea, coffee, soft drinks etc. VA? Nothing, not even free soft drinks. (which QF does offer).

2+hr flights = QF still offers all those above.

East coast to Perth = Same as the above.

All of these are based on Y class experience. IMHO QF has a far better alignment on what you are going to expect onboard. If it's meal time, you know you're gonna get a meal, no matter how long is the flight. And if you're not full enough with one serve on QF, just ask for another one as long as the flight haven't started descending. Yes they do charge for alcohol, but I personally don't think I would need some alcohol for such short a flight (PER excluded) so I don't find this an issue.

Michael

Just a quick flick through with no comment, so I will ask a question if I may? I noticed last night Sichuan Airlines flight originating from AKL diverted and landed at YMML. Was this a medical divert or is there still ongoing issues with fuel in AKL making long haul flights from AKL having to seek a fuel stop to carry on the rest of the flight?

Cheers

VH-ECA

eamondzhang wrote:

aerokiwi wrote:

This ongoing confusion at VA offering is kind of perplexing itself. From my experience - which is fortnightly on either QF or VA - the following applies on VA...

0-2ish hours = company drink and packet of bubbles (the Snax with Attitude brand is absolutely delicious and seems to be the preferred offering)

2ish hours plus = more substantial offering like a pie or sandwich

East coast to Perth = full meal

Departures 5-7pm = cocktail hour!

So generally, the same as QF, where I've had everything from nada to stale egg sandwiches to pretty decent full meals depending on the route. Yes the Tasman is an oddball but that probably reflects the need to align with the NZ offering given their alliance. Besides it's all available to you at time of booking.

It's a far cry from what QF offers.

0-2ish hours = QF offers full breakfast/lunch/dinner even on 1h hop between SYD-CBR (so long as the flight is operated by 717 or 737). Not to mention the golden triangle routes SYD-MEL-BNE-SYD. If it's not meal time, admittedly I haven't been onto a shoulder period flight for quite a while but last time I flew them they offer a huge piece of cookie and muffin and all those tea, coffee, soft drinks etc. VA? Nothing, not even free soft drinks. (which QF does offer).

2+hr flights = QF still offers all those above.

East coast to Perth = Same as the above.

All of these are based on Y class experience. IMHO QF has a far better alignment on what you are going to expect onboard. If it's meal time, you know you're gonna get a meal, no matter how long is the flight. And if you're not full enough with one serve on QF, just ask for another one as long as the flight haven't started descending. Yes they do charge for alcohol, but I personally don't think I would need some alcohol for such short a flight (PER excluded) so I don't find this an issue.

Michael

Weird. My latest morning peak QF MEL-CBR was water, juice and a muffin. My evening peak CBR- SYD was cocktail but the "food" was an inedible egg sandwich that even the crew apologised for. The evening peak SYD-MEL was a widely discarded mini wrap thingy and yes, plentiful drinks. My last MEL-PER-MEL on QF was about 8 months ago but that was a similar food offering to subsequent Virgin ones - a "meal".

But this the complaints on here have been about consistency of service offering on VA, not what's actually offered. Ok I'm off with comparable cocktail hours but VA isn't a full service carrier, afterall. And in my experience, the offering on VA is pretty consistent and often on a par with QF. Have I just been unlucky with QF? Or lucky with VA?

I know what I'll get with VA, even if it's not a whole lot. I'm usually more surprised at what QF come up with, though their crew get through the service far faster than VA, I suspect because of buy-on-board, which itself is pretty... consistent.

Disclosure: I fly MEL-SYD twice a month, 2:1 VA: QF. I fly to Canberra every 2-3 months with additional work trips once or twice a year to Mildura, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth. All VA or QF. And I'm just not seeing what the fuss is about.

aerokiwi wrote:

So generally, the same as QF

No, nothing like QF.

Even Canberra-Sydney, which is only about 30 minutes in the air, gets a main course sized salad at dinner time. Melbourne-Canberra and Melbourne-Hobart which average 45-55 minutes in the air get a hot meal. What does VA give you on the same route? Bird seed.

The meal is something I can miss, but the "happy hour" really frustrates me. On Qantas booze is free on all flights after 4pm. All flights. When work send me to Sydney I am invariably on a 19:35 flight with VA home, that I have to pay for a beer pisses me off every time.

Data point from about 3 months ago:

QF864 dep 1815 SYD-OOL

Choice of either Chicken rendang with rice or a Pasta salad (I had the rendang and it was actually quite tasty)
Lindt chocolate ball
Full drink service

VA544 dep 1905 OOL-SYD

Packet of rice crackers
Water or Juice

VA808 dep 0700 SYD-MEL
Tiny muffin (not the end of the world as I had been in the lounge and I intended to eat breakfast at Hardware Societe) but if I had to get to a meeting, I'd be pretty disappointed.
Water or juice

VA is consistent. Consistently inadequate.

And I have a lot of Velocity points and have barely flown QF in the last 3 years.

aerokiwi wrote:

eamondzhang wrote:

aerokiwi wrote:

This ongoing confusion at VA offering is kind of perplexing itself. From my experience - which is fortnightly on either QF or VA - the following applies on VA...

0-2ish hours = company drink and packet of bubbles (the Snax with Attitude brand is absolutely delicious and seems to be the preferred offering)

2ish hours plus = more substantial offering like a pie or sandwich

East coast to Perth = full meal

Departures 5-7pm = cocktail hour!

So generally, the same as QF, where I've had everything from nada to stale egg sandwiches to pretty decent full meals depending on the route. Yes the Tasman is an oddball but that probably reflects the need to align with the NZ offering given their alliance. Besides it's all available to you at time of booking.

It's a far cry from what QF offers.

0-2ish hours = QF offers full breakfast/lunch/dinner even on 1h hop between SYD-CBR (so long as the flight is operated by 717 or 737). Not to mention the golden triangle routes SYD-MEL-BNE-SYD. If it's not meal time, admittedly I haven't been onto a shoulder period flight for quite a while but last time I flew them they offer a huge piece of cookie and muffin and all those tea, coffee, soft drinks etc. VA? Nothing, not even free soft drinks. (which QF does offer).

2+hr flights = QF still offers all those above.

East coast to Perth = Same as the above.

All of these are based on Y class experience. IMHO QF has a far better alignment on what you are going to expect onboard. If it's meal time, you know you're gonna get a meal, no matter how long is the flight. And if you're not full enough with one serve on QF, just ask for another one as long as the flight haven't started descending. Yes they do charge for alcohol, but I personally don't think I would need some alcohol for such short a flight (PER excluded) so I don't find this an issue.

Michael

Weird. My latest morning peak QF MEL-CBR was water, juice and a muffin. My evening peak CBR- SYD was cocktail but the "food" was an inedible egg sandwich that even the crew apologised for. The evening peak SYD-MEL was a widely discarded mini wrap thingy and yes, plentiful drinks. My last MEL-PER-MEL on QF was about 8 months ago but that was a similar food offering to subsequent Virgin ones - a "meal".

But this the complaints on here have been about consistency of service offering on VA, not what's actually offered. Ok I'm off with comparable cocktail hours but VA isn't a full service carrier, afterall. And in my experience, the offering on VA is pretty consistent and often on a par with QF. Have I just been unlucky with QF? Or lucky with VA?

I know what I'll get with VA, even if it's not a whole lot. I'm usually more surprised at what QF come up with, though their crew get through the service far faster than VA, I suspect because of buy-on-board, which itself is pretty... consistent.

Disclosure: I fly MEL-SYD twice a month, 2:1 VA: QF. I fly to Canberra every 2-3 months with additional work trips once or twice a year to Mildura, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth. All VA or QF. And I'm just not seeing what the fuss is about.

Judging from other's reply with what they've got, I guess you're being the unlucky one

Over the past year I've had:
- A hot chicken wrap (with two more ordered and delivered; quite delicious I have to say) on a MEL-ADL lunchtime flight
- A dinner time BNE-MEL flight that serves Spaghetti
- A yoghurt museli and another one is traditional English breakfast on two MEL-SYD morning flights
- A SYD-MEL evening flight serving salad (can't remember the other choices, but definitely a hot one)
- A SYD-CBR flight departed 1.30pm that offers a huge and tasty beef sandwich
Not to mention the Lindt chocolate and drinks, just like what others have said.

VA? All I've got is a tiny bar for a SYD-MEL dinner flight. And they even offered absolutely nothing to eat for a morning-ish (9am departure) MEL-BNE flight.

I can't say it better than this statement......

The Coachman wrote:

VA is consistent. Consistently inadequate.

That's why if QF's too expensive for my domestic needs these days, I would rather go JQ than VA. At least I know what I paid for instead of overcharging for the services that they don't provide.

Michael

WA government is on a charm offensive to get new flights into the West.

Talks next month with JAL and ANA to get direct services and talks with Garuda to try and get daily Perth-Jakarta flights.

https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/wa-gover ... b88608362z

Re QF's meals, 2 weeks ago on QF2 ex DXB in J class I ordered what I thought was an interesting meal.
It was as I recall a roasted egg dish ,it turned out to be totally inedible.
The flight attendant apologised by saying they were trying out a new menu!
After declining a substitute meal the Head Purser could not apologise enough.
To present a meal which other passengers declined is an embarrassment to not only Qantas but to Niel Perry.
I can only guess this meal slipped pass the food tasting brigade !
This issue can only be one of a kind or at least I hope so.

When ever I have flown VA/QF I've found the food pretty good but always feel VA is presented a bit better. Only time I find its poor is regional WA flights easier to take your own that starve or eat something your not sure what it is.

waoz1 wrote:

WA government is on a charm offensive to get new flights into the West.

Talks next month with JAL and ANA to get direct services and talks with Garuda to try and get daily Perth-Jakarta flights.

https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/wa-gover ... b88608362z

Perth has bene trying this Indonesia push since the 90s. trying to really get into the Jakarta market. I am puzzled that, fast forward 20 years, there are only 4 non-stop flights a week linking Perth to the nearest capital city with a large middle class population. There could easliy be demand for daily, even double daily, if marketed correctly. Same for Surabaya - Perth's own sister city. A 4 weekly Airbus 320 by Air Asia Indonesia at the minimum could work for sure.

I am so puzzled why most airlines still favour the outbound WA market with a never ending supply of Perth/Bali flights.
Surely cities like Jakarta, Surabaya, and even Medan should provide enough feed for direct flights to Perth. This cities have a sustainable middle-class population which should be tapped into.

Whatever happened to SQ operating SYD-CGK. Obviously it was pulled any idea if it will get reinstated again?

Milesdependent wrote:

Whatever happened to SQ operating SYD-CGK. Obviously it was pulled any idea if it will get reinstated again?

It was denied traffic right between CGK and SYD so never started. The flight went to become a non-stop SIN-SYD, SQ251/2, 3x weekly.

Michael

TT are making some changes to the 737s they operate:
new slimline seats with IFE, deal with Fox, will be pay per view
extra row added
seat pitch remains the same as the seats are slimmer

325i wrote:

Re QF's meals, 2 weeks ago on QF2 ex DXB in J class I ordered what I thought was an interesting meal.
It was as I recall a roasted egg dish ,it turned out to be totally inedible.
The flight attendant apologised by saying they were trying out a new menu!
After declining a substitute meal the Head Purser could not apologise enough.
To present a meal which other passengers declined is an embarrassment to not only Qantas but to Niel Perry.
I can only guess this meal slipped pass the food tasting brigade !
This issue can only be one of a kind or at least I hope so.

food taste is all subjective...NOTE the recent QF/VA food offering posts are related to differences in QF/VA DOMESTIC food offerings in ECONOMY, regardless of 'taste'

325i wrote:

Re QF's meals, 2 weeks ago on QF2 ex DXB in J class I ordered what I thought was an interesting meal.
It was as I recall a roasted egg dish ,it turned out to be totally inedible.
The flight attendant apologised by saying they were trying out a new menu!
After declining a substitute meal the Head Purser could not apologise enough.
To present a meal which other passengers declined is an embarrassment to not only Qantas but to Niel Perry.
I can only guess this meal slipped pass the food tasting brigade !
This issue can only be one of a kind or at least I hope so.

This doesn't surprise me. QF have had problems with food quality out of Dubai.

Dear under the radar, pardon me but I thought this thread was regarding Australian Aviation and not specifically QF/VA domestic issues.
Should I be incorrect in my assumptions then please accept my indescretion. Cheers ,325i

Re my above comment I left out,my apologies ,for my indescretion.

gardermoen wrote:

waoz1 wrote:

WA government is on a charm offensive to get new flights into the West.

Talks next month with JAL and ANA to get direct services and talks with Garuda to try and get daily Perth-Jakarta flights.

https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/wa-gover ... b88608362z

Perth has bene trying this Indonesia push since the 90s. trying to really get into the Jakarta market. I am puzzled that, fast forward 20 years, there are only 4 non-stop flights a week linking Perth to the nearest capital city with a large middle class population. There could easliy be demand for daily, even double daily, if marketed correctly. Same for Surabaya - Perth's own sister city. A 4 weekly Airbus 320 by Air Asia Indonesia at the minimum could work for sure.

I am so puzzled why most airlines still favour the outbound WA market with a never ending supply of Perth/Bali flights.
Surely cities like Jakarta, Surabaya, and even Medan should provide enough feed for direct flights to Perth. This cities have a sustainable middle-class population which should be tapped into.

Yes in terms of population- they just don't want to spend their disposable income on PER. JQ pulled out and GA pax numbers aren't too impressive- at one point over 50% of GA pax were connecting to AMS/LON.

Perth isn't a traditional inbound tourist destination. You really need to be into the beach, nature and food/wine to get the most of my home town.

The city does need to do more to attract tourists IMHO.

Not too many though

undertheradar wrote:

This ongoing confusion at VA offering is kind of perplexing itself. From my experience - which is fortnightly on either QF or VA - the following applies on VA...

0-2ish hours = company drink and packet of bubbles (the Snax with Attitude brand is absolutely delicious and seems to be the preferred offering)

2ish hours plus = more substantial offering like a pie or sandwich

East coast to Perth = full meal

Departures 5-7pm = cocktail hour!

So generally, the same as QF, where I've had everything from nada to stale egg sandwiches to pretty decent full meals depending on the route. Yes the Tasman is an oddball but that probably reflects the need to align with the NZ offering given their alliance. Besides it's all available to you at time of booking.

"So generally, the same as QF.." That's a fairly loose meaning of 'generally'. QF have hot/cold breakfast boxes on flights before 9AM, INCLUDING flights under 2hrs. Lunch (approx12-2pm) usually a hot/cold pastry based/sandwich item. Dinner (approx4-8pm) a hot/cold decent sized boxed main. In-between these times are the cold snack sweet/savory items. QF ADL/MEL/CBR/SYD/BNE - PER all have full meals all day (ADL is included in QF east coast-PER). QF 'cocktail hour' is 4PM-Last flight (12pm onwards on east coast-PER flights). AND don't forget SOFT DRINKS FREE ON QF EVERY FLIGHT
So in my opinion, QF offer more, more often, on more routes, than VA. QF 'generally' is not the same as VA 'generally' [/quote]

I'm on a morning flight to CHC next month with QF, sometimes we get upgraded to business if work is lucky. what sort of food and drink service will i get for either class on the flight?

Obzerva wrote:

TT are making some changes to the 737s they operate:
new slimline seats with IFE, deal with Fox, will be pay per view
extra row added
seat pitch remains the same as the seats are slimmer

Cool changes, interesting to see if JQ combat the entertainment offering (though wow it's expensive)

TT should go to 189 though, like most other high density 738 operators. Is there a reason they can't?

I guess it's unlucky on QF for me then - egg sandwiches and muffins. It most certainly isn't consistent (insert obligatory ANet whinge), which was the original criticism of VA. Hence why GENERALLY, yes it is all the same to me.

And it seems to be forgotten ("consistently inadequate" - very clever) that VA has a different business model - "value" carrier or whatever they call it these days. There's a BOB service if you want something more substantial. Our company air travel costs have declined 15 per cent since switching to majority VA. And that includes charging back for any airport or BOB meals.

Though I'm still confused as to the reaction here. Every time VA drifts into QF territory the armchairs here demand it "stick to it's knitting". Then turn around and moan when they don't get a QF style service with these plentiful and apparently super yummy meals on 30 minute Canberra hops. Que?

aerokiwi wrote:

I guess it's unlucky on QF for me then - egg sandwiches and muffins. It most certainly isn't consistent (insert obligatory ANet whinge), which was the original criticism of VA. Hence why GENERALLY, yes it is all the same to me.

And it seems to be forgotten ("consistently inadequate" - very clever) that VA has a different business model - "value" carrier or whatever they call it these days. There's a BOB service if you want something more substantial. Our company air travel costs have declined 15 per cent since switching to majority VA. And that includes charging back for any airport or BOB meals.

Though I'm still confused as to the reaction here. Every time VA drifts into QF territory the armchairs here demand it "stick to it's knitting". Then turn around and moan when they don't get a QF style service with these plentiful and apparently super yummy meals on 30 minute Canberra hops. Que?

Because in the majority of the cases (not from corporate travel point of view, just normal pax) they're charging similar fares as what QF does (or not a lot cheaper; the difference is like for 15-20 bucks max), yet the service offering is far from QF. I've even found in a couple occasions that QF fare is less than VA on the date that I wanted for flights to/from MEL (domestically).

On a sidenote, in many scenarios I've found out that even JQ's fare with a starter plus bundle works out cheaper than VA's. Guess which airline will I pick

That's just my personal observations though.

Michael

aerokiwi wrote:

I guess it's unlucky on QF for me then - egg sandwiches and muffins. It most certainly isn't consistent (insert obligatory ANet whinge), which was the original criticism of VA. Hence why GENERALLY, yes it is all the same to me.

And it seems to be forgotten ("consistently inadequate" - very clever) that VA has a different business model - "value" carrier or whatever they call it these days. There's a BOB service if you want something more substantial. Our company air travel costs have declined 15 per cent since switching to majority VA. And that includes charging back for any airport or BOB meals.

Though I'm still confused as to the reaction here. Every time VA drifts into QF territory the armchairs here demand it "stick to it's knitting". Then turn around and moan when they don't get a QF style service with these plentiful and apparently super yummy meals on 30 minute Canberra hops. Que?

The problem when VA tries to be QF, it does it to a certain point and then goes LCC in other areas. I think most people have had average food on QF, but I've had bird seed on a designated meal flight on VA. The check in service is another example of this where I honestly think JQ is more efficient.

If your scheduled 1600-1900 VA flight is delayed until after 1900 you do not get your complimentary alcoholic beverage. I know these are small things, but these are the little things VA needs to do well to be considered on the same level as QF. Don't get me wrong, QF needs to improve as well, but they excel in way more areas.

If you've experienced BOB on VA on a <70 minute flight, you would have honestly have to ask yourself, why would you bother.

But in your company's case, bottom line is more important, which it should be, just like other companies, who have deals with QF. But in my case, where I get a choice, I choose QF 90% of the time.

One of the issues VA still needs to sort out alongside a clearer strategy in onboard service offering is its airport check in/bag drop system which is about 10 years out of date.
All fine if you have carry on and a mobile boarding pass (which I expect covers most business travellers) however once you need to check a bag the experience is literally worse than Ryanair.

I flew Ryanair from Dublin a few weeks ago, and took some notes on the bag drop process.

You went to one of many kiosks and scanned your boarding pass.
A bag tag printed for your bag, you attach it and walk up to the counters, place bag on the conveyer system which then scanned it and sent it on its way.

I don't know how long it had been in place as it was poorly signed and no one really knew what they had to do, but once you worked it out it was a decent and quick system, not as good as QF sure, but this was FR!

Norwegian has played down SYD flights however it is rumoured that they may fly to SYD & MEL via SIN in the future

https://www.ausbt.com.au/norwegian-play ... ney-fights

The PM has called Alan Joyce regarding the price of flights for NRL grand final this weekend

http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/ne ... d7f885a6d5

Hello - Posting this question here as it's probably the most appropriate thread.

On departure back to SIN today (Sept 28th), around 5pm local time, saw a VA A320 land in CGK. Anyone know where it came from? First time seeing a VA A320 in CGK. I thought maybe a charter from either Cocos or Christmas Island?

Curious to know.

Coal wrote:

Hello - Posting this question here as it's probably the most appropriate thread.

On departure back to SIN today (Sept 28th), around 5pm local time, saw a VA A320 land in CGK. Anyone know where it came from? First time seeing a VA A320 in CGK. I thought maybe a charter from either Cocos or Christmas Island?

Curious to know.

The aircraft in question is VH-YUD was operating PER-XCH but ended diverting to CGK. Both XCH-CCK and CCK-PER legs have been cancelled. The flight operates at least 3 times a week with either routing PER-XCH-CCK-PER or PER-CCK-XCH-PER