I’m confused by the word “trial”. Has this simply been lost in translation and they mean seasonal? If not then this doesn’t sound like a vote of confidence in the market.

USAOZ wrote:

Am sure if a few flights a week, WTB to AKL or CHC they could work

On a purely commercial basis, NZ should seek to serve the following, larger markets, first:

- CBR
- DRW
- HBA
- NTL
- TSV

For customers in these cities, it is harder to access an NZ flight, than it is for a WTB customer.

In 10 - 15 years, I can see NZ then considering secondary airports at the big cities, such as:

- AVV
- Western Sydney Airport
- WOL
- WTB

Cheers,

C.

RyanairGuru wrote:

I’m confused by the word “trial”. Has this simply been lost in translation and they mean seasonal? If not then this doesn’t sound like a vote of confidence in the market.

I think its the government being cautious prior to an announcement.
Don't want to say its going to happen and it doesn't.

They are off to Japan today to chat with ANA and JAL might have more luck there.

Qantas will reward small businesses for recycling coffee cups with Qantas points

https://www.qantasnewsroom.com.au/media ... ffee-cups/

waoz1 wrote:

They are off to Japan today to chat with ANA and JAL might have more luck there.

It strikes me that nobody has talked about the prospect of JQ opening PER - NRT. JQ is the dominant player in the Japan - Australia corridor (carrying over 50% of Japanese visitors to Australia, while JL and NH, together, only carry about ~20%). I know that JQ does not have a long-haul base at PER, but could it position an aircraft in an OOL - NRT - PER - NRT - OOL routing? That being said, perhaps PER is not big enough to support a flight solely on Japanese visitors alone, and North American connections for customers based in PER (which only JL and NH can offer) would be needed to support the service too.

Cheers,

C.

planemanofnz wrote:

waoz1 wrote:

They are off to Japan today to chat with ANA and JAL might have more luck there.

It strikes me that nobody has talked about the prospect of JQ opening PER - NRT. JQ is the dominant player in the Japan - Australia corridor (carrying over 50% of Japanese visitors to Australia, while JL and NH, together, only carry about ~20%). I know that JQ does not have a long-haul base at PER, but could it position an aircraft in an OOL - NRT - PER - NRT - OOL routing? That being said, perhaps PER is not big enough to support a flight solely on Japanese visitors alone, and North American connections for customers based in PER (which only JL and NH can offer) would be needed to support the service too.

Cheers,

C.

Going by last years figures there was an increase of passengers from Japan, I can see this as a few flights per week and increasing overtime when and if needed.
JQ has never really done much out of Perth unless you count the usual Bali and Singapore.

planemanofnz wrote:

waoz1 wrote:

They are off to Japan today to chat with ANA and JAL might have more luck there.

It strikes me that nobody has talked about the prospect of JQ opening PER - NRT. JQ is the dominant player in the Japan - Australia corridor (carrying over 50% of Japanese visitors to Australia, while JL and NH, together, only carry about ~20%). I know that JQ does not have a long-haul base at PER, but could it position an aircraft in an OOL - NRT - PER - NRT - OOL routing? That being said, perhaps PER is not big enough to support a flight solely on Japanese visitors alone, and North American connections for customers based in PER (which only JL and NH can offer) would be needed to support the service too.

Cheers,

C.

I do wish PER luck with Japan, its a growing market. Heck look at MEL, it wasn't a strong market with no flights five years ago, but now theres 2 daily flights with both QF and JL.

Though I think the Japanese airlines might be cautious, JL's 788 are very premium heavy with only 161 seats, that configuration works out of MEL and SYD because theres a considerable amount of premium high yielding traffic. It's either high premium traffic or a leisure destination that is very popular with the Japanese such as Hawaii. I think that JQ would be able to stimulate demand for the market, maybe market Japan as an alternative to Bali perhaps, however they are stretching their fleet quite thin, with the fleet being fully committed to existing routes and new routes such as MEL-CGO being launched in December.


Japan - Australia flights breakdown by city:

Sydney:
QF: SYD - HND x1 Daily 744; SYD - KIX x3 Weekly A330
NH: SYD - HND x1 Daily 789
JL: SYD - NRT x1 Daily 789

Melbourne:
QF: MEL - NRT, x1 Daily A333
JL: MEL - NRT, x1 Daily 788

Cairns:
JQ: CNS - NRT x1 Daily 788; CNS - KIX x5 weekly 788

Brisbane:
QF: BNE - NRT x1 Daily A333

Gold Coast:
JQ: OOL - NRT x5 Weekly 788

kriskim wrote:

Japan - Australia flights breakdown by city:

Sydney:
QF: SYD - HND x1 Daily 744; SYD - KIX x3 Weekly A330
NH: SYD - HND x1 Daily 789
JL: SYD - NRT x1 Daily 789

Melbourne:
QF: MEL - NRT, x1 Daily A333
JL: MEL - NRT, x1 Daily 788

Cairns:
JQ: CNS - NRT x1 Daily 788; CNS - KIX x5 weekly 788

Brisbane:
QF: BNE - NRT x1 Daily A333

Gold Coast:
JQ: OOL - NRT x5 Weekly 788

It is interesting that there are no flights to Australia from FUK or NGO - JQ could follow in the footsteps of fellow low-cost long-haul carrier RV, which runs YVR - NGO (seasonally).

Cheers,

C.

A passenger on board a QF flight CBR-MEL refused to set their personal device to flight mode causing the aircraft to return to the gate. The alleged passenger is said to be a company chief executive who should know better.

http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-up ... 6dff6f0f66

planemanofnz wrote:

USAOZ wrote:

Am sure if a few flights a week, WTB to AKL or CHC they could work

On a purely commercial basis, NZ should seek to serve the following, larger markets, first:

- CBR
- DRW
- HBA
- NTL
- TSV

For customers in these cities, it is harder to access an NZ flight, than it is for a WTB customer.

In 10 - 15 years, I can see NZ then considering secondary airports at the big cities, such as:

- AVV
- Western Sydney Airport
- WOL
- WTB

Cheers,

C.

you forget that the owners of WTB will be trying to get international flights going ASAP & they don't stuff around. Look how fast they built the airport.

The only other options to get to NZL are via SYD or MEL, both hopeless airports for changing terminals. It would be quicker & much cheaper to simply drive to BNE

C.[/quote]you forget that the owners of WTB will be trying to get international flights going ASAP & they don't stuff around. Look how fast they built the airport.

The only other options to get to NZL are via SYD or MEL, both hopeless airports for changing terminals. It would be quicker & much cheaper to simply drive to BNE[/quote]

Gee I always thought MEL was the best option to change flights- all one terminal. As for WTB... I've had the unfortunate pleasure of meeting Mr. Wagner. They don't stuff around, but they don't have concrete (yes, that's a pun) plans for it- the whole notion was "build it and they will come". Pax didn't come. Heck- they don't even provide public transport to the place.

qf789 wrote:

A passenger on board a QF flight CBR-MEL refused to set their personal device to flight mode causing the aircraft to return to the gate. The alleged passenger is said to be a company chief executive who should know better.

http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-up ... 6dff6f0f66

Wouldn't happen to be JB causing mischief would it

planemanofnz wrote:

It is interesting that there are no flights to Australia from FUK or NGO - JQ could follow in the footsteps of fellow low-cost long-haul carrier RV, which runs YVR - NGO (seasonally).

JQ would need more aircraft or drop an existing route(s). The obvious options for me, without knowing the performance of the route, would be MEL-SIN and MEL-BKK and replace them with QF mainline. That would free up ~1 aircraft to launch Oz-FUK/NGO or PER-NRT. Beyond that, I don't see any other routes they could give to QF. HNL seems to work well with the dual strategy and not sure QF could successfully operate MEL-HNL.

Looks like JQ might need some for 787s! Perhaps some -9s.

SYDSpotter wrote:

qf789 wrote:

A passenger on board a QF flight CBR-MEL refused to set their personal device to flight mode causing the aircraft to return to the gate. The alleged passenger is said to be a company chief executive who should know better.

http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-up ... 6dff6f0f66

Wouldn't happen to be JB causing mischief would it

That's funny, thank you

qf789 wrote:

A passenger on board a QF flight CBR-MEL refused to set their personal device to flight mode causing the aircraft to return to the gate. The alleged passenger is said to be a company chief executive who should know better.

http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-up ... 6dff6f0f66

I wish this would happen more often to be honest. It drives me insane the number of people I see weekly that do this, to the point that recently I sat next to a person who was sending text messages everytime the signal picked up as we flew between MEL and BNE. Must have been strong enough over the towns for it to work... Wasn't an internet Wi-Fi equiped aircraft so they had to be doing the wrong thing!

On another note, in last months thread it was suggested that a song with the word Quokka in it might help QF launch the PER-LHR route. So I came up with one (to the tune of Waltzing Matilda):

Once a little Quokka, bought a Qantas airplane ride
Off to Perth Airport for a Dreamliner flight
And he sat at the gate as he waited for his flight to board
Who’ll come a non-stop to London with me?

Cheers,
Boof

Fiji Airways its now codesharing on some QF flights ex BNE and SYD

https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/ai ... -nov-2017/

eta unknown wrote:

Gee I always thought MEL was the best option to change flights- all one terminal. As for WTB... I've had the unfortunate pleasure of meeting Mr. Wagner. They don't stuff around, but they don't have concrete (yes, that's a pun) plans for it- the whole notion was "build it and they will come". Pax didn't come. Heck- they don't even provide public transport to the place.

Never used MEL myself, but I have heard it described as "the LAX of the South".

qf789 wrote:

Fiji Airways its now codesharing on some QF flights ex BNE and SYD

https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/ai ... -nov-2017/

Domestic flights ex-BNE and SYD.

Interesting - Might tie in with rumour on the Pacific Islands thread of a new one-stop trans-pacific route, carrier unspecified. They have their own flights in the region too - SIN I know, I'd assume Japan and others. Building their own niche network perhaps - nice.

MooLor wrote:

qf789 wrote:

Fiji Airways its now codesharing on some QF flights ex BNE and SYD

https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/ai ... -nov-2017/

Domestic flights ex-BNE and SYD.

Interesting - Might tie in with rumour on the Pacific Islands thread of a new one-stop trans-pacific route, carrier unspecified. They have their own flights in the region too - SIN I know, I'd assume Japan and others. Building their own niche network perhaps - nice.

I wouldn't get too carried away, FJ has been around for a while in the trans-pacific market and has not expanded significantly recently, nor do they have the aircraft on order for expansion. If they launch a new route to the USA/Canada then, from what I can see, the aircraft would have to come from another route (whether dropping it or reducing frequency).

Qantas16 wrote:

MooLor wrote:

qf789 wrote:

Fiji Airways its now codesharing on some QF flights ex BNE and SYD

https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/ai ... -nov-2017/

Domestic flights ex-BNE and SYD.

Interesting - Might tie in with rumour on the Pacific Islands thread of a new one-stop trans-pacific route, carrier unspecified. They have their own flights in the region too - SIN I know, I'd assume Japan and others. Building their own niche network perhaps - nice.

I wouldn't get too carried away, FJ has been around for a while in the trans-pacific market and has not expanded significantly recently, nor do they have the aircraft on order for expansion. If they launch a new route to the USA/Canada then, from what I can see, the aircraft would have to come from another route (whether dropping it or reducing frequency).

FJ have put on an extra NAN/SFO/NAN in peak season with existing fleet, when they found some time an A330 was just "sitting around".

The flight departs NAN at 0700 on a Tue, arrives SFO at 2030 on a Mon & fast turn sees it heading back to NAN at 2200 Mon to arrive NAN at 0610 Wed.

The 0700 departure connects with FJ flight MEL/NAN, but no NAN/MEL FJ flight connects at NAN to MEL on way home, so pax on an FJ only ticket from MEL, either have to fly FJ NAN/BNE or NAN/SYD & connect to MEL or spend day or nights in NAN.

When fares MEL/LAX & MEL/SFO return have been advertised as low as AUD$799 guess day or nights in NAN "bearable".

eta unknown wrote:

C.

you forget that the owners of WTB will be trying to get international flights going ASAP & they don't stuff around. Look how fast they built the airport.

The only other options to get to NZL are via SYD or MEL, both hopeless airports for changing terminals. It would be quicker & much cheaper to simply drive to BNE[/quote]

Gee I always thought MEL was the best option to change flights- all one terminal. As for WTB... I've had the unfortunate pleasure of meeting Mr. Wagner. They don't stuff around, but they don't have concrete (yes, that's a pun) plans for it- the whole notion was "build it and they will come". Pax didn't come. Heck- they don't even provide public transport to the place.[/quote]have to disagree with you on this one. For the number of domestic flights out of TWB & international freighters I think WTB have taken a big chunk of the pax who would have otherwise driven to BNE. Obviously many still do drive to BNE.

It's a pity that there aren't many combi 747's left. Surely that would otherwise be next thing,ie. WTB/HKG with 1 stop connections to almost everywhere.

Instead of say a weekly freighter, they could have a bi-weekly combi.

From memory combis have a variable seat configuration. 2 nonstops a week WTB/HKG with connections from there to almost anywhere in the world.

USAOZ wrote:

FJ have put on an extra NAN/SFO/NAN in peak season with existing fleet, when they found some time an A330 was just "sitting around".

The flight departs NAN at 0700 on a Tue, arrives SFO at 2030 on a Mon & fast turn sees it heading back to NAN at 2200 Mon to arrive NAN at 0610 Wed.

The 0700 departure connects with FJ flight MEL/NAN, but no NAN/MEL FJ flight connects at NAN to MEL on way home, so pax on an FJ only ticket from MEL, either have to fly FJ NAN/BNE or NAN/SYD & connect to MEL or spend day or nights in NAN.

When fares MEL/LAX & MEL/SFO return have been advertised as low as AUD$799 guess day or nights in NAN "bearable".

Sure, but if they are going to launch a new destination as once-twice weekly, that's worthless to most people. Also at $799 return from MEL-SFO, FJ is not making any money.

Qantas16 wrote:

USAOZ wrote:

FJ have put on an extra NAN/SFO/NAN in peak season with existing fleet, when they found some time an A330 was just "sitting around".

The flight departs NAN at 0700 on a Tue, arrives SFO at 2030 on a Mon & fast turn sees it heading back to NAN at 2200 Mon to arrive NAN at 0610 Wed.

The 0700 departure connects with FJ flight MEL/NAN, but no NAN/MEL FJ flight connects at NAN to MEL on way home, so pax on an FJ only ticket from MEL, either have to fly FJ NAN/BNE or NAN/SYD & connect to MEL or spend day or nights in NAN.

When fares MEL/LAX & MEL/SFO return have been advertised as low as AUD$799 guess day or nights in NAN "bearable".

Sure, but if they are going to launch a new destination as once-twice weekly, that's worthless to most people. Also at $799 return from MEL-SFO, FJ is not making any money.

FJ are mostly a leisure airline. They only fly to SFO twice weekly most of year but 3 times in peak season now.

Think about it if you want to go BNE/SFO or MEL/SFO the options are:-

1) via SYD - no thanks
2) via LAX - just as bad as SYD for changing terminals
3) via AKL
4) via NAN
5) via Asia

Obviously not a lot of FJ seats @ $799, but if I had to go to SFO on business & could get a $799 return fare from BNE, SYD or MEL, I'd probably ditch other airlines, take the wife & have few days in Fiji.

The news for CBR keeps getting better - D7 is considering CBR - KUL.

According to media reports: "AirAsia X is looking at Adelaide, Canberra and Cairns as potential new destinations in Australia. However, the Malaysian long haul low cost carrier in the short term is focused at improving its performance on its existing Australia routes." Also of interest is that "AirAsia X’s Australia traffic increased by 6% year over year to 122,000 passengers, driven partially by a 3pts improvement in load factor from 69% to 72%."

See: https://blueswandaily.com/airasia-x-con ... nd-cairns/.

IMHO, CBR will not work for D7 - its budget offering does not align well with the more premium nature of Canberra's government-focused economy. I also think that SQ takes care of the Asian market quite nicely from CBR - as such, CBR should be looking to NZ next (who can facilitate connections to the Americas through AKL), instead of D7. If D7 were to launch CBR, it would probably need a tag to somewhere, such as AKL, CHC or NAN.

Cheers,

C.

Boof wrote:

qf789 wrote:

A passenger on board a QF flight CBR-MEL refused to set their personal device to flight mode causing the aircraft to return to the gate. The alleged passenger is said to be a company chief executive who should know better.

http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-up ... 6dff6f0f66

I wish this would happen more often to be honest. It drives me insane the number of people I see weekly that do this, to the point that recently I sat next to a person who was sending text messages everytime the signal picked up as we flew between MEL and BNE. Must have been strong enough over the towns for it to work... Wasn't an internet Wi-Fi equiped aircraft so they had to be doing the wrong thing!

On another note, in last months thread it was suggested that a song with the word Quokka in it might help QF launch the PER-LHR route. So I came up with one (to the tune of Waltzing Matilda):

Once a little Quokka, bought a Qantas airplane ride
Off to Perth Airport for a Dreamliner flight
And he sat at the gate as he waited for his flight to board
Who’ll come a non-stop to London with me?

Cheers,
Boof

I love it, but couldn't resist a tweak

Once a little quokka, watched the boomers flying
"I can do it just as well as you!" cried he
As he puffed out his chest, an Aussie dream was realised
Who'll fly non-stop to old London with me?

planemanofnz wrote:

The news for CBR keeps getting better - D7 is considering CBR - KUL.

According to media reports: "AirAsia X is looking at Adelaide, Canberra and Cairns as potential new destinations in Australia. However, the Malaysian long haul low cost carrier in the short term is focused at improving its performance on its existing Australia routes." Also of interest is that "AirAsia X’s Australia traffic increased by 6% year over year to 122,000 passengers, driven partially by a 3pts improvement in load factor from 69% to 72%."

See: https://blueswandaily.com/airasia-x-con ... nd-cairns/.

IMHO, CBR will not work for D7 - its budget offering does not align well with the more premium nature of Canberra's government-focused economy. I also think that SQ takes care of the Asian market quite nicely from CBR - as such, CBR should be looking to NZ next (who can facilitate connections to the Americas through AKL), instead of D7. If D7 were to launch CBR, it would probably need a tag to somewhere, such as AKL, CHC or NAN.

Cheers,

C.

I actually think CBR is crying out for LCCs. Yes there is loads of government traffic and people willing to pay a premium, but there are loads of regular people with disposable income who love to travel. These people are willing to drive/bus to SYD to get the better deals. SQ and soon QR will have Europe and premium Asia sorted, but there is still growth around Asia. Think of the student market and their links to Asia.

But having said that, 335 pax is perhaps too many to fill. Maybe 2-3pw could work. Perhaps the PM sydney departure goes via CBR on the outbound. Takes advantage of the lack of curfew, and would have a more palatable morning arrival for SYD folk (theyll likely be waiting around KUL anyway, what difference would a stop in CBR make...)

USAOZ wrote:

FJ are mostly a leisure airline. They only fly to SFO twice weekly most of year but 3 times in peak season now.

Think about it if you want to go BNE/SFO or MEL/SFO the options are:-

1) via SYD - no thanks
2) via LAX - just as bad as SYD for changing terminals
3) via AKL
4) via NAN
5) via Asia

Obviously not a lot of FJ seats @ $799, but if I had to go to SFO on business & could get a $799 return fare from BNE, SYD or MEL, I'd probably ditch other airlines, take the wife & have few days in Fiji.

Which has absolutely no appeal to 98% of business people who are on tight schedules and cannot (time wise) afford to "take the wife & have a few days in Fiji" everytime they go over to the US. Not withstanding that the current flights ex-BNE and MEL align terribly with the NAN-SFO schedule... Also, transferring via SYD on Qantas is very easy and have significantly more reliable operations than FJ does (as does NZ via AKL and really, LAX too).

10 years ago when UA and QF had a cosy duopoly on the Oz-USA traffic, I understand how FJ was able to (maybe) make money by offering cheaper flights for Australians wanting to go to the US (and vice versa). Now days with VA, DL and AA (not to mention NZ, AC, HA growing), FJ should focus on Fiji/Pacific Islands O&D traffic rather than Australia/NZ - USA - something I believe they are doing.

Before it gets brought up, NZ's operations are very different to FJ. Whilst NZ does rely on significant connecting traffic from Oz to North America (and South America)... they have the product and scale to make it work. FJ do not. If FJ was going to purchase a fleet of 8 more A330s and run daily banks ex MEL/BNE to NAN with daily connecting flights to SFO, YVR and additional North American destinations then sure, that might work, but as it stands they will continue to take the lowest yielding pax ex-Australia and NZ and that is not a sustainable long term business strategy.

qantas747 wrote:

I actually think CBR is crying out for LCCs. Yes there is loads of government traffic and people willing to pay a premium, but there are loads of regular people with disposable income who love to travel. These people are willing to drive/bus to SYD to get the better deals. SQ and soon QR will have Europe and premium Asia sorted, but there is still growth around Asia. Think of the student market and their links to Asia.

I think that's probably true and, not for the first time, I think its a pity that there isn't a genuine, independent - and opportunistic - Aussie ULCC. I think CBR would then have service to AKL and perhaps, a couple of times a week, to ZQN in winter - CHC in summer, maybe.

mariner

[quote][/quote]You forget thst fj doesn't need to carry extra fuel so they can carry extra fuel. Thise extra 3 hours from roughly fiji yo oz are a killer financially. Many of the nonstops usa/oz sre weight restricted

& changing trrminals at syd is an absolute nightmare cf. at AKL where no terminal change is necessary
Same at nan. The new extra nan sfo is the quickest way mel to sfo by far.

USAOZ wrote:

You forget thst fj doesn't need to carry extra fuel so they can carry extra fuel. Thise extra 3 hours from roughly fiji yo oz are a killer financially. Many of the nonstops usa/oz sre weight restricted

& changing trrminals at syd is an absolute nightmare cf. at AKL where no terminal change is necessary
Same at nan. The new extra nan sfo is the quickest way mel to sfo by far.

NZ have a 2hr connection daily about 3 on the return, pretty seamless and it’s daily. FJ might pick up a bit of low yield traffic with their 2-3 weekly.

Love the songwriters. Keep it coming, love the humour

VA has taken delivery of another 737-800, VH-YWD named Tinamirakuna

Expected to arrive in BNE Sunday afternoon

QF 787 family day at PER today !!! Looking forward to getting onboard my first 789 and my first QF 789.

UPS has commenced 744F operations to Sydney this week. On Friday they sent N580UP which was the 744F prototype. Today N578UP is due, one of only two BCF's in their fleet.

qf789 wrote:

VA has taken delivery of another 737-800, VH-YWD named Tinamirakuna

Expected to arrive in BNE Sunday afternoon

I was just checking Virgin on Airfleets and they're up to 80 737s! Impressive. E190s are just about gone meaning mainline is 737, 330 and 77W, while VARA is F100 and AT72s, with the two oddball 320s.

Fleet consolidation is going well then. Noticing the 72s in Melbourne a lot more too. Hope this bodes well for financial performance which appears to be on the up. Typical that they're talking about going private just as things (hopefully) are turning a corner.

Actually on fleets, does anyone have any insight on Qantas's experience with the A300? From an operational perspective and customers satisfaction etc. Always thought it was an interesting footnote in Qantas history. And did it contribute to QF going for the A330?

aerokiwi wrote:

Actually on fleets, does anyone have any insight on Qantas's experience with the A300? From an operational perspective and customers satisfaction etc. Always thought it was an interesting footnote in Qantas history. And did it contribute to QF going for the A330?

Inherited from TAA, no idea operationally but an odd ball fleet of 4 similar size to a large 767 fleet doesn’t make much sense.

The 380 contributed big time to QF getting A330’s, the A300 was gone well before the A330’s were ordered.

ZK-NBT wrote:

Inherited from TAA, no idea operationally but an odd ball fleet of 4 similar size to a large 767 fleet doesn’t make much sense.

The 380 contributed big time to QF getting A330’s, the A300 was gone well before the A330’s were ordered.

Yeah realised it was an Australian Airlines carry over but they kept them on for a while when they had the 767 option. Was just wondering if the A300 experience opened QF's eyes to the Airbus offering.

aerokiwi wrote:

ZK-NBT wrote:

Inherited from TAA, no idea operationally but an odd ball fleet of 4 similar size to a large 767 fleet doesn’t make much sense.

The 380 contributed big time to QF getting A330’s, the A300 was gone well before the A330’s were ordered.

Yeah realised it was an Australian Airlines carry over but they kept them on for a while when they had the 767 option. Was just wondering if the A300 experience opened QF's eyes to the Airbus offering.

QF were an early and natural carrier for the A380 at the time of the order in 2000 for trunk routes to LAX/LHR, they ordered 12 and Airbus I believe effectively gave them 13 A330’s for a bargain.

How long were the A300’s kept? Maybe they were kept to cover a capacity shortfall?

ZK-NBT wrote:

aerokiwi wrote:

ZK-NBT wrote:

Inherited from TAA, no idea operationally but an odd ball fleet of 4 similar size to a large 767 fleet doesn’t make much sense.

The 380 contributed big time to QF getting A330’s, the A300 was gone well before the A330’s were ordered.

Yeah realised it was an Australian Airlines carry over but they kept them on for a while when they had the 767 option. Was just wondering if the A300 experience opened QF's eyes to the Airbus offering.

QF were an early and natural carrier for the A380 at the time of the order in 2000 for trunk routes to LAX/LHR, they ordered 12 and Airbus I believe effectively gave them 13 A330’s for a bargain.

How long were the A300’s kept? Maybe they were kept to cover a capacity shortfall?

You can get a complete history of the QF operated A300's on the aussie airliners website. QF retained all but VH TAB (this ac was disposed of by TAA/Australian prior to the "merger" in 1993). It is my belief QF retained the A300 for the following reasons. 1. The ac were still young. 2. TAA had paid deposts on an order for A320's, these orders were not taken up, QF used the deposit monies to have heavy maint checks of all A300's in Britain (on agreement with airbus). 3. I suspect this agreement assisted the ongoing negotiations QF and Airbus were having re QF purchase of A380's and also assisted in QF disposing of the A300's to Pinnacle Aviation for conversion to freighters. A spiders web of negotiations that assisted a number of parties, Airbus, QF, Pinnacle etc etc. A check of QF timetables 1993 to 1998 show QF used the A300 solely on domestic routes. I have heard of a very limited amount of international charters, but they were solely Asian. cheers

HU has announced its intention to launch HAK - SYD flights, from January 2018:

"China’s Hainan Airlines will start direct flights from its base in Haikou, on Hainan island, to Sydney, Australia, from Jan. 30, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday. The airline will fly an Airbus A330 on the new route twice a week, Xinhua said, adding the service was designed to meet increasing demand from tourists and business people."

See: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-chin ... SKBN1DJ06V.

This is an interesting route, insofar as the potential for Australian tourism to China - Hainan is unique, in that it offers visas on arrival for independent tourists.

See: http://www.tropicalhainan.com/visas-for-hainan/.

This announcement comes on the back of Tourism Australia's data release today, which showed that Chinese visitor arrivals to Australia are growing by ~18%.

See: https://blueswandaily.com/visitor-arriv ... -sep-2017/.

Cheers,

C.

Seems seasonal at this stage - Very interesting route Haikou as you say is a tourism city for China not a big city for outbound travel

Hainan Airlines last week opened reservation for additional new route to Australia, where the airline schedules Haikou – Sydney nonstop flight. From 30JAN18 to 24MAR18, Airbus A330-300 aircraft will operate this route twice a week.

HU447 HAK1850 – 0715+1SYD 333 27
HU448 SYD0915 – 1555HAK 333 13

https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/ai ... h-in-1q18/

JAL upgrading some MEL-NRT flights over summer so Things must be going well, adds 6 Bussiness and 28 economy seats per flight

JAL between December 2017 and February 2018 plans to operational aircraft changes on Tokyo Narita – Melbourne route, currently served by Boeing 787-8 aircraft on daily basis. During following periods listed below (dates/days based on Tokyo departure), service will be operated by Boeing 787-9 instead.

11DEC17 – 18DEC17 Day x234
19DEC17 – 26DEC17 Daily
08JAN18 – 31JAN18 Day x457
05FEB18 – 19FEB18 Day 1

JL773 NRT1100 – 2305MEL 787 D
JL774 MEL0045 – 0835NRT 787 D

https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/275812/jal-plans-787-9-melbourne-service-in-nw17/

log0008 wrote:

Seems seasonal at this stage - Very interesting route Haikou as you say is a tourism city for China not a big city for outbound travel

Hainan Airlines last week opened reservation for additional new route to Australia, where the airline schedules Haikou – Sydney nonstop flight. From 30JAN18 to 24MAR18, Airbus A330-300 aircraft will operate this route twice a week.

HU447 HAK1850 – 0715+1SYD 333 27
HU448 SYD0915 – 1555HAK 333 13

https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/ai ... h-in-1q18/

JAL upgrading some MEL-NRT flights over summer so Things must be going well, adds 6 Bussiness and 28 economy seats per flight

JAL between December 2017 and February 2018 plans to operational aircraft changes on Tokyo Narita – Melbourne route, currently served by Boeing 787-8 aircraft on daily basis. During following periods listed below (dates/days based on Tokyo departure), service will be operated by Boeing 787-9 instead.

11DEC17 – 18DEC17 Day x234
19DEC17 – 26DEC17 Daily
08JAN18 – 31JAN18 Day x457
05FEB18 – 19FEB18 Day 1

JL773 NRT1100 – 2305MEL 787 D
JL774 MEL0045 – 0835NRT 787 D

https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/275812/jal-plans-787-9-melbourne-service-in-nw17/

I'm on one of those jal flights and noticed the upguage to the 789 when checking my seat a couple of weeks ago.

It is interesting to see that KL is expanding its code-share presence here, on CI's TPE - SYD and MK's MRU - PER flights.

See: https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/ai ... n-in-nw17/.

I wonder how many Europe - Perth corridor passengers MK receives, as well as other African airlines like SA for that matter.

Cheers,

C.

log0008 wrote:

Seems seasonal at this stage - Very interesting route Haikou as you say is a tourism city for China not a big city for outbound travel

Hainan Airlines last week opened reservation for additional new route to Australia, where the airline schedules Haikou – Sydney nonstop flight. From 30JAN18 to 24MAR18, Airbus A330-300 aircraft will operate this route twice a week.

HU447 HAK1850 – 0715+1SYD 333 27
HU448 SYD0915 – 1555HAK 333 13

https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/ai ... h-in-1q18/

It's just amazing how HU can ever make money out of this route. Hainan Island is a populous destination for Chinese tourists who make up of over 95% of all tourists going there. Are they going to start attracting Aussies for having a holiday there, or targeting Chinese who live in Australia, or doing transit business? Unlikely for all three. It's too clear they are flying this route to lose money. I am still struggling to see what VA can get out of this partnership.

xiaotung wrote:

log0008 wrote:

Seems seasonal at this stage - Very interesting route Haikou as you say is a tourism city for China not a big city for outbound travel

Hainan Airlines last week opened reservation for additional new route to Australia, where the airline schedules Haikou – Sydney nonstop flight. From 30JAN18 to 24MAR18, Airbus A330-300 aircraft will operate this route twice a week.

HU447 HAK1850 – 0715+1SYD 333 27
HU448 SYD0915 – 1555HAK 333 13

https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/ai ... h-in-1q18/

It's just amazing how HU can ever make money out of this route. Hainan Island is a populous destination for Chinese tourists who make up of over 95% of all tourists going there. Are they going to start attracting Aussies for having a holiday there, or targeting Chinese who live in Australia, or doing transit business? Unlikely for all three. It's too clear they are flying this route to lose money. I am still struggling to see what VA can get out of this partnership.

Yeah its really odd, I assume the local government is funding the flight - wanting to make Hainan Island a global destination - doubt they will succeed. The fact is though - if it is seasonal as that time frame is over the Chinese New Year the flights will go out full anyway - even if traffic isn't from Haikou.

I don’t think that Hainan Island is as left field as some seem to think.

It has the potential to be a bigger player in the Australian travel market, broadening the options in Asia from the rather blinkered view currently.

It will take time, but there’s certainly greater 2 way travel opportunities in the China-Australia market which are only starting to be tapped into.

As for JL’s MEL flights, good to see them upgrading capacity in peak times.

It is amazing that only a year ago there were 4 x weekly flights on JQ (6 x weekly in peak). Now it is 2 x daily (QF and JL), with seasonal upgauges occurring.

The JL services certainly are being advertised around the city, focusing on snow sports in a couple of tram stop ads that I saw.

IndianicWorld wrote:

I don’t think that Hainan Island is as left field as some seem to think.

It has the potential to be a bigger player in the Australian travel market, broadening the options in Asia from the rather blinkered view currently.

It will take time, but there’s certainly greater 2 way travel opportunities in the China-Australia market which are only starting to be tapped into.

I agree, particularly given how competitive Chinese carriers are on pricing - at least ex-AKL, Chinese carriers can be cheaper than the likes of D7.

Cheers,

C.

VH-ZNB ungoing pre flight checks



https://twitter.com/AeroimagesChris/sta ... 2149482496

VH-ZNC has now entered final assembly

Silk Air has filed preliminary 737MAX8 schedule for DRW and CNS starting 28 Oct 18

https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/ai ... -schedule/