Australian Aviation Thread - September 2018

AVB · Tue Sep 11, 2018 10:30 am

With NTL gearing up for AKL flights, is there any other news from this little regional success story? WA with its aviation/tourism fund, should the local councils and state government be investing in a similar stratergy?

eamondzhang · Tue Sep 11, 2018 10:51 am

qantas747 wrote:
Interesting article on BlueSwan talking about the SQ changes to ADL and BNE. Highlighting a possible interest for SQ to use 737 max8s to increase frequency.
http://blueswandaily.com/singapore-airlines-aircraft-changes-in-the-adelaide-and-brisbane-markets-the-good-and-the-bad/

I like the idea of double daily to ADL, but it would be a backwards step to remove flat beds.

As part of the rebrand of SilkAir to SQ, could we see flat beds like are on FZ instead of the Premium Economy type product?

Could it be that they could add the 738max on the evening service to better connect Europe but sell it as premium economy, while still operating the main service with flat beds especially for the overnight ex SIN?

Perhaps this could be operated like
SIN 0815 ADL 1630
ADL 1800 SIN 2300

I also think they wont completely remove W from BNE, especially for the overnight services ex BNE and SIN and the other service that connects well to Europe.

As an additional note, if they were to install flat beds, perhaps the max8 could be a better aircraft for CBR-SIN, depending of course how the recently changed route has performed in the premium cabins.

I could also see JQ jumping on ADL-SIN again woth their 321neos as well, and perhaps even QF if some of them end up in QF colours

SQ has publicly announced that they'll gonna install PTV and lie flat on MAX8s but it won't start for a while as they're deciding on the seat itself.

Michael

Qantas16 · Tue Sep 11, 2018 11:43 am

AVB wrote:
With NTL gearing up for AKL flights, is there any other news from this little regional success story? WA with its aviation/tourism fund, should the local councils and state government be investing in a similar stratergy?

"Regional success story" is a big stretch... it's a 3x weekly service for a period of less than 3 months that operates from Australia's 6th largest city. Even if this service is maintained, its not really that much of a success given a city like NTL should be able to sustain this sort of a service. Now if it were SIN/KUL/HKG flights, that would be more of a success story.

eamondzhang · Tue Sep 11, 2018 12:39 pm

Qantas16 wrote:
AVB wrote:
With NTL gearing up for AKL flights, is there any other news from this little regional success story? WA with its aviation/tourism fund, should the local councils and state government be investing in a similar stratergy?

"Regional success story" is a big stretch... it's a 3x weekly service for a period of less than 3 months that operates from Australia's 6th largest city. Even if this service is maintained, its not really that much of a success given a city like NTL should be able to sustain this sort of a service. Now if it were SIN/KUL/HKG flights, that would be more of a success story.

And we even don't know how the route performed yet and someone's trying to say it's successful already......
Michael

qf789 · Tue Sep 11, 2018 3:54 pm

EK407 has just diverted to PER

AVB · Tue Sep 11, 2018 4:01 pm

Thanks negative Nancy. What makes it successful is not its flights to NZ but the fact it’s achieved what it has thus far. Its an airport run by 2 regional councils that leases land from military, without the expertise that a multi-conglomerate has at running airports.

ZuluAlpha · Tue Sep 11, 2018 8:02 pm

qf789 wrote:
EK407 has just diverted to PER

It was for a medical offload

Obzerva · Tue Sep 11, 2018 8:24 pm

AVB wrote:
Thanks negative Nancy. What makes it successful is not its flights to NZ but the fact it’s achieved what it has thus far. Its an airport run by 2 regional councils that leases land from military, without the expertise that a multi-conglomerate has at running airports.

I don’t think they were being negative, I just think “success story” is too strong a term.

Under what other circumstances do you declare something a success before the event has even occurred?

RyanairGuru · Tue Sep 11, 2018 8:32 pm

Obzerva wrote:
AVB wrote:
Thanks negative Nancy. What makes it successful is not its flights to NZ but the fact it’s achieved what it has thus far. Its an airport run by 2 regional councils that leases land from military, without the expertise that a multi-conglomerate has at running airports.

I don’t think they were being negative, I just think “success story” is too strong a term.

Under what other circumstances do you declare something a success before the event has even occurred?

I agree, I’m not really sure what there is to celebrate. NTL supports a reasonable level of service to BNE and MEL, but that’s about it. The big news is a three weekly service to ADL and a seasonal two weekly flight to AKL. As someone else pointed out this is the sixth largest city in the country.

NTLDaz · Tue Sep 11, 2018 9:08 pm

RyanairGuru wrote:
Obzerva wrote:
AVB wrote:
Thanks negative Nancy. What makes it successful is not its flights to NZ but the fact it’s achieved what it has thus far. Its an airport run by 2 regional councils that leases land from military, without the expertise that a multi-conglomerate has at running airports.

I don’t think they were being negative, I just think “success story” is too strong a term.

Under what other circumstances do you declare something a success before the event has even occurred?

I agree, I’m not really sure what there is to celebrate. NTL supports a reasonable level of service to BNE and MEL, but that’s about it. The big news is a three weekly service to ADL and a seasonal two weekly flight to AKL. As someone else pointed out this is the sixth largest city in the country.

I think you'll find it's now the 7th largest city - Gold Coast overtook it a while back.

Despite my bias I think it's been a success story of an airport. Flights now go to SYD, BNE, MEL, CBR, OOL, ADL, DUB, Ballina and soon AKL. Nearly 1.3 million passengers last financial year as well. 20 years ago it was barren.

As far as international services are concerned it suffers from its relative proximity to SYD. These AKL services will be interesting to watch. If successful there'll be more destinations in the future I think. If it fails it could be a while until the next one.

The Hunter region is a great tourist destination long known to Sydney people - others are discovering it now.

AVB · Tue Sep 11, 2018 9:18 pm

NTLDaz wrote:
RyanairGuru wrote:
Obzerva wrote:

I don’t think they were being negative, I just think “success story” is too strong a term.

Under what other circumstances do you declare something a success before the event has even occurred?

I agree, I’m not really sure what there is to celebrate. NTL supports a reasonable level of service to BNE and MEL, but that’s about it. The big news is a three weekly service to ADL and a seasonal two weekly flight to AKL. As someone else pointed out this is the sixth largest city in the country.

I think you'll find it's now the 7th largest city - Gold Coast overtook it a while back.

Despite my bias I think it's been a success story of an airport. Flights now go to SYD, BNE, MEL, CBR, OOL, ADL, DUB, Ballina and soon AKL. Nearly 1.3 million passengers last financial year as well. 20 years ago it was barren.

As far as international services are concerned it suffers from its relative proximity to SYD. These AKL services will be interesting to watch. If successful there'll be more destinations in the future I think. If it fails it could be a while until the next one.

The Hunter region is a great tourist destination long known to Sydney people - others are discovering it now.

+1

And again, it’s successfuly operated by 2 separate regional councils. We’re so city-centric in this country. We really do overlook the regional areas and just how difficult it is to be successful with so little infrastructure support from state governments. Anything that has sustainable growth in regional Australia is a success story!

Obzerva · Tue Sep 11, 2018 10:08 pm

AVB wrote:
NTLDaz wrote:
RyanairGuru wrote:

I agree, I’m not really sure what there is to celebrate. NTL supports a reasonable level of service to BNE and MEL, but that’s about it. The big news is a three weekly service to ADL and a seasonal two weekly flight to AKL. As someone else pointed out this is the sixth largest city in the country.

I think you'll find it's now the 7th largest city - Gold Coast overtook it a while back.

Despite my bias I think it's been a success story of an airport. Flights now go to SYD, BNE, MEL, CBR, OOL, ADL, DUB, Ballina and soon AKL. Nearly 1.3 million passengers last financial year as well. 20 years ago it was barren.

As far as international services are concerned it suffers from its relative proximity to SYD. These AKL services will be interesting to watch. If successful there'll be more destinations in the future I think. If it fails it could be a while until the next one.

The Hunter region is a great tourist destination long known to Sydney people - others are discovering it now.

+1

And again, it’s successfuly operated by 2 separate regional councils. We’re so city-centric in this country. We really do overlook the regional areas and just how difficult it is to be successful with so little infrastructure support from state governments. Anything that has sustainable growth in regional Australia is a success story!

I think there’s two points being conflated here.

Is it a good news story that NTL is getting international flights to AKL. Absolutely, it’s great for NTL and the Hunter generally.

Is it a success story? Let’s wait a little bit of time for that. At the same time, you could consider TSV’s flight to DPS a success story, but then flights actually started operating and made no money and I don’t think anyone is calling that a success now.

I’m just saying wait till it actually happens, otherwise we could end up toasting every success, like every successful announcement that TK make re IST-SYD...

CraigAnderson · Tue Sep 11, 2018 10:14 pm

AVB wrote:
Thanks negative Nancy. What makes it successful is not its flights to NZ but the fact it’s achieved what it has thus far. Its an airport run by 2 regional councils that leases land from military, without the expertise that a multi-conglomerate has at running airports.

That doesn't make NTL-AKL a 'success' by any definition of the word. It might well make it 'innovative' but success in a commercial venture such as this is measured by a clear profit, and as of right now we have nothing to base that call upon.

NTLDaz · Tue Sep 11, 2018 11:50 pm

CraigAnderson wrote:
AVB wrote:
Thanks negative Nancy. What makes it successful is not its flights to NZ but the fact it’s achieved what it has thus far. Its an airport run by 2 regional councils that leases land from military, without the expertise that a multi-conglomerate has at running airports.

That doesn't make NTL-AKL a 'success' by any definition of the word. It might well make it 'innovative' but success in a commercial venture such as this is measured by a clear profit, and as of right now we have nothing to base that call upon.

I can't speak for AVB but my take is he / she is talking about the airport as being a success story overall - not just because of the AKL flight.

aryonoco · Wed Sep 12, 2018 1:53 am

AVB wrote:
And again, it’s successfuly operated by 2 separate regional councils.

If you think "multi-conglomerates" are better at running airports, perhaps they should let them run NTL as well?

AVB wrote:
We’re so city-centric in this country.

Are we?! From where I sit, Australia has an inexplicable fascination with everything "bush" and "the country". The love affair is almost borderline a fetish.

Obzerva · Wed Sep 12, 2018 3:28 am

aryonoco wrote:

AVB wrote:
We’re so city-centric in this country.

Are we?! From where I sit, Australia has an inexplicable fascination with everything "bush" and "the country". The love affair is almost borderline a fetish.

Agree, we have the outback and the rock as our main marketing and yet the % of people in this country who's actually seen them I imagine would be reasonably low.

AVB · Wed Sep 12, 2018 3:30 am

aryonoco wrote:
AVB wrote:
And again, it’s successfuly operated by 2 separate regional councils.

If you think "multi-conglomerates" are better at running airports, perhaps they should let them run NTL as well?

AVB wrote:
We’re so city-centric in this country.

Are we?! From where I sit, Australia has an inexplicable fascination with everything "bush" and "the country". The love affair is almost borderline a fetish.

Errrrrr that’s called nostalgia

oskarclare · Wed Sep 12, 2018 4:31 am

Might be more expansion for Malindo Air this year into Australia. They have applied for 7x weekly KUL-DPS-ADL. Might have all major ports covered by years end if everything works out.

VapourTrails · Wed Sep 12, 2018 4:47 am

TasFlyer wrote:

No, HBA is not using buses.

Yes, your memory is correct in that the apron can fit five single aisle sized jets.

Yes, room ran out some time ago. Last summer season it was not uncommon for jets to hold on a taxiway for 20-30 minutes waiting for a bay. Now, even in low season, one example from July this year (from memory it was a week after VA added the two weekly HBA-BNE services), on a Friday night, one VA service from SYD was late which resulted in another VA service having to hold for 20 or so minutes until a bay was free.

The tech jet would surely have been pushed "around the back" off the main apron, leaving six jets to fit into five bays, so one must have held on a taxiway.

There are significant earthworks presently being undertaken south of the main apron; perhaps these will be stand-off bays which would require passengers to be bused? As for the terminal expansion, apparently it will require 12 months consultation with the airlines, then probably another 12 months to build, so not sure how we'll cope in the meantime as arguably the country's fastest growing airport? But don't worry, we're getting some backless seating, new carpet, and a new food outlet in the $4.5M departures hall revamp so all is on track for the upcoming peak season according to the powers that be

From Monday to Friday, there are only three jets that depart first thing: a VA 737 to MEL, a QF 737 to MEL, and an NC 717 to SYD. On Saturday the apron is full first thing with five departing: VA 737's to MEL, SYD, and BNE; a QF 737 to MEL; and an NC 717 to SYD. On Sunday there are only two jets departing first thing: the VA and QF 737s to MEL. Perhaps the airlines could schedule more jets to overnight as a means to avoid holding on a taxiway later in the day when delays cascade? NC used to base two 717s at HBA; now it is only one since QF returned 737s on he HBA-MEL route earlier this year. A second 717 operating either HBA-CBR-OOL-TSV-OOL-CBR-HBA, or HBA-BNE-???-BNE-HBA to not only link two 717 bases but also match VA/TT's share in the HBA-QLD market would appear to be viable; but, I doubt there are any spare 717s, or if there were, crew, available.

Hi TasFlyer, firstly, I really value your Tassie contributions to the site. As an ex-pat myself, although from the north, I like the frequency and quality of your posting on all things happening around your way. Not sure if there are many or any other posters from HBA here. Also, I have some information on the inaugural Antarctica flight from HBA happening later in the year. The 747 is now departing from MEL rather than HBA as the runway at HBA requires further upgrade and maintenance for the aircraft to safely depart for its Antarctic journey on the day. Two QF 737 will be chartered to fly to MEL on the morning of the flight, and the 747 will arrive, now much lighter in weight 12+ hours later back at HBA. I guess an extra flight is not too bad for an av geek to deal with.

TN486 · Wed Sep 12, 2018 7:51 am

^^Is there a date to all this happening. I would love to be in HBA to see the arrival of the 747. And yes, tasflyer, I agree with the sentiments expressed.

Qantas16 · Wed Sep 12, 2018 7:57 am

Air China's suspended BNE-PEK will only return seasonally from 18 JAN 2019 to 29 MAR 2019 per source at CA.

Qantas16 · Wed Sep 12, 2018 9:27 am

Anyone know what is going on with DHL/Tasman Cargo's 757 and 767 service? I thought when VH-TCA left in July and was replaced by 767 that it was a permanent change but the 757 is back and the 767 has been stored in AKL for 3 weeks now...

VapourTrails · Wed Sep 12, 2018 9:39 am

TN486 wrote:
^^Is there a date to all this happening. I would love to be in HBA to see the arrival of the 747. And yes, tasflyer, I agree with the sentiments expressed.

https://www.antarcticaflights.com.au/Fl ... ember-2018

Hi TN486, Yes, 25 November. Assume there will be a bit of fanfare, it being the inaugural HBA one. :boxedin:

decry · Wed Sep 12, 2018 9:50 am

Qantas16 wrote:
Anyone know what is going on with DHL/Tasman Cargo's 757 and 767 service? I thought when VH-TCA left in July and was replaced by 767 that it was a permanent change but the 757 is back and the 767 has been stored in AKL for 3 weeks now...

http://airsoc.com/articles/view/id/5b8a ... ugust-2018

Qantas16 · Wed Sep 12, 2018 10:16 am

decry wrote:
Qantas16 wrote:
Anyone know what is going on with DHL/Tasman Cargo's 757 and 767 service? I thought when VH-TCA left in July and was replaced by 767 that it was a permanent change but the 757 is back and the 767 has been stored in AKL for 3 weeks now...

http://airsoc.com/articles/view/id/5b8a ... ugust-2018

Thank you!

qf789 · Wed Sep 12, 2018 11:52 am

Qantas has told the productivity commission enquiry that airports are slugging passengers at evert step of their journey. Airports charges come in the fourth highest cost for airlines are fuel, fleet and people.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/busine ... a3808e6635

qf789 · Wed Sep 12, 2018 12:09 pm

Parts have started to arrive at PAE for Qantas 789 VH-ZNG, parts for VH-ZNH should start arriving in the next week

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... dit#gid=19

TasFlyer · Wed Sep 12, 2018 12:30 pm

Obzerva wrote:
AVB wrote:
Thanks negative Nancy. What makes it successful is not its flights to NZ but the fact it’s achieved what it has thus far. Its an airport run by 2 regional councils that leases land from military, without the expertise that a multi-conglomerate has at running airports.

I don’t think they were being negative, I just think “success story” is too strong a term.

Under what other circumstances do you declare something a success before the event has even occurred?

How about VA adding additional PER-HBA flights before the route has even launched? Speaking of which, the launch is on Monday next week.

Sorry, just couldn't resist mentioning that - again!

qf789 · Wed Sep 12, 2018 12:37 pm

MH to use A333 on MH126/127 to PER from 14 Dec to 22 Dec 18

https://twitter.com/Airlineroute/status ... 6777283584

TasFlyer · Wed Sep 12, 2018 12:42 pm

VapourTrails wrote:

Hi TasFlyer, firstly, I really value your Tassie contributions to the site. As an ex-pat myself, although from the north, I like the frequency and quality of your posting on all things happening around your way. Not sure if there are many or any other posters from HBA here. Also, I have some information on the inaugural Antarctica flight from HBA happening later in the year. The 747 is now departing from MEL rather than HBA as the runway at HBA requires further upgrade and maintenance for the aircraft to safely depart for its Antarctic journey on the day. Two QF 737 will be chartered to fly to MEL on the morning of the flight, and the 747 will arrive, now much lighter in weight 12+ hours later back at HBA. I guess an extra flight is not too bad for an av geek to deal with.

TN486 wrote:
^^Is there a date to all this happening. I would love to be in HBA to see the arrival of the 747. And yes, tasflyer, I agree with the sentiments expressed.

Well thank you both.

Firstly, a northern update may pique your interest. JQ will operate a daily 321 on LST-MEL for the peak summer season from December 14. From the same date, HBA-MEL sees what was a 321 service downgauged to 320, so total capacity to Tasmania remains unchanged. I'm very surprised QF group is scheduling fewer seats to HBA for NW18-19 than for previous years. The apron capacity may be an issue.

Secondly, the two QF 737 charters you mention fill-in what I thought was a glitch in QF schedules. There is an additional MEL-HBA on Saturday 24 November which evidently overnights and operates one charter; then the usual 6AM Sunday service does not run and appears to have been made into the second charter.

kriskim · Wed Sep 12, 2018 3:32 pm

Qantas16 wrote:
Air China's suspended BNE-PEK will only return seasonally from 18 JAN 2019 to 29 MAR 2019 per source at CA.

Looks like BNE-PEK flights aren't even loaded past that date, though MEL and SYD is.

Out of the Big 3 Mainland Chinese cities, PEK is the weakest performer, even CA had a little trouble out of MEL when MEL-PEK first started up, operating it seasonally, then skipping a year then fully committing to the route year round, and MEL is a much larger market to Mainland China than BNE.

getluv · Thu Sep 13, 2018 2:35 am

NTL isn't a regional success story. It's not even regional. What NTL has is lazy management who were unwilling to spend the money to attract flights and build the city's profile with airlines. I mean why would you, if you can just sit back and watch the money role in without spending a dime.

TasFlyer wrote:

How about VA adding additional PER-HBA flights before the route has even launched? Speaking of which, the launch is on Monday next week.

Sorry, just couldn't resist mentioning that - again!

Hopefully it is sustainable when the subsidies run out. I don't see many families paying a minimum of $600 per person for return flights when there are stronger value propositions elsewhere.

Airbusvoyager · Thu Sep 13, 2018 4:37 am

qf789 wrote:
MH to use A333 on MH126/127 to PER from 14 Dec to 22 Dec 18

https://twitter.com/Airlineroute/status ... 6777283584

Summer increase for KUL-PER-KUL. They are already competing with D7 which uses an A330 on their daily D7236 flight from KUL to PER and will increase it to 11 weekly during the summer period. OD on the other hand operates this route on a B737 daily and on some days, twice daily between KUL and PER. hopefully MH will revert to using the A333 year round.

eta unknown · Thu Sep 13, 2018 4:46 am

MAVCOM had just granted Malindo an extra 2000 something seats per week to PER. Something's gotta give soon with all this extra capacity...

Qantas16 · Thu Sep 13, 2018 5:36 am

Airbusvoyager wrote:
qf789 wrote:
MH to use A333 on MH126/127 to PER from 14 Dec to 22 Dec 18

https://twitter.com/Airlineroute/status ... 6777283584

Summer increase for KUL-PER-KUL. They are already competing with D7 which uses an A330 on their daily D7236 flight from KUL to PER and will increase it to 11 weekly during the summer period. OD on the other hand operates this route on a B737 daily and on some days, twice daily between KUL and PER. hopefully MH will revert to using the A333 year round.

eta unknown wrote:
MAVCOM had just granted Malindo an extra 2000 something seats per week to PER. Something's gotta give soon with all this extra capacity...

It's a crazy amount of capacity and I'm surprised PER can sustain it. OD is already 2x daily so how many more frequencies do they need? It's not like they have a massive network to connect to, its only SE Asia.

ben175 · Thu Sep 13, 2018 6:07 am

Qantas16 wrote:
Airbusvoyager wrote:
qf789 wrote:
MH to use A333 on MH126/127 to PER from 14 Dec to 22 Dec 18

https://twitter.com/Airlineroute/status ... 6777283584

Summer increase for KUL-PER-KUL. They are already competing with D7 which uses an A330 on their daily D7236 flight from KUL to PER and will increase it to 11 weekly during the summer period. OD on the other hand operates this route on a B737 daily and on some days, twice daily between KUL and PER. hopefully MH will revert to using the A333 year round.
eta unknown wrote:
MAVCOM had just granted Malindo an extra 2000 something seats per week to PER. Something's gotta give soon with all this extra capacity...

It's a crazy amount of capacity and I'm surprised PER can sustain it. OD is already 2x daily so how many more frequencies do they need? It's not like they have a massive network to connect to, its only SE Asia.

Maybe they're looking at PER-BKI, or even PER-DPS-KUL? Malindo have a bigger name in WA than Batik Air, and I've heard ID's numbers have been pretty poor.

qf2220 · Thu Sep 13, 2018 6:33 am

AVB wrote:
aryonoco wrote:
AVB wrote:
And again, it’s successfuly operated by 2 separate regional councils.

If you think "multi-conglomerates" are better at running airports, perhaps they should let them run NTL as well?

AVB wrote:
We’re so city-centric in this country.

Are we?! From where I sit, Australia has an inexplicable fascination with everything "bush" and "the country". The love affair is almost borderline a fetish.

Errrrrr that’s called nostalgia

Australia is one of the most urbanised countries across the world. Im from the country and it does fascinate me how revered it is, when it is actually in many ways a very difficult place to live, with water issues, isolation issues and plenty of climatological challenges (hot summers, cold winters etc). Like all romantic ideas, the concept has greater utility than the reality.

eta unknown · Thu Sep 13, 2018 7:41 am

Malindo's network is concentrated on SE Asia and India where there is also some expansion happening. Not all the PER flights connect well with the network so if these extra frequencies are added (which equates to another 2 daily 737's) then yes, everywhere would presumably connect. Their BNE & MEL-DPS-KUL flights are designed to sell only to DPS ex Australia- recent pricing beyond KUL has been very uncompetitive and this explains why BNE appears to be dropping to 4x/week next year outside of peak school break periods. If SYD & ADL start these routes will probably follow the same pricing structure.

Qantas16 · Thu Sep 13, 2018 8:10 am

eta unknown wrote:
Malindo's network is concentrated on SE Asia and India where there is also some expansion happening. Not all the PER flights connect well with the network so if these extra frequencies are added (which equates to another 2 daily 737's) then yes, everywhere would presumably connect. Their BNE & MEL-DPS-KUL flights are designed to sell only to DPS ex Australia- recent pricing beyond KUL has been very uncompetitive and this explains why BNE appears to be dropping to 4x/week next year outside of peak school break periods. If SYD & ADL start these routes will probably follow the same pricing structure.

Which begs the question as to why they aren't focusing on more ex-KUL connections for periods outside of school holidays... no reason they can't run full to DPS during school holidays and then during off peak have a more 50/50 split between DPS and KUL passengers.

eta unknown · Thu Sep 13, 2018 8:18 am

I believe the issue is Malindo has decided they make more money/get a better yield selling the flight as BNE/MEL-DPS and BOM-KUL-DPS for example as opposed to BNE-DPS-KUL-BOM.

TRIGGER ALERT (for some posters): As for Air China- I heard CA staff admitted BNE wasn't coming back after March at a recent industry event, but I wasn't there so can't confirm.

oskarclare · Thu Sep 13, 2018 8:23 am

eta unknown wrote:
I believe the issue is Malindo has decided they make more money/get a better yield selling the flight as BNE/MEL-DPS and BOM-KUL-DPS for example as opposed to BNE-DPS-KUL-BOM.

TRIGGER ALERT (for some posters): As for Air China- I heard CA staff admitted BNE wasn't coming back after March at a recent industry event, but I wasn't there so can't confirm.

Annoying about CA but all reservation closed after march. Passenger loads weren't that bad so must be other reasons. Beijing Capital actually applied first for PEK-BNE (day before CA) so maybe they could see the opportunity to jump onto the route.

qf789 · Thu Sep 13, 2018 8:45 am

Airbusvoyager wrote:
qf789 wrote:
MH to use A333 on MH126/127 to PER from 14 Dec to 22 Dec 18

https://twitter.com/Airlineroute/status ... 6777283584

Summer increase for KUL-PER-KUL. They are already competing with D7 which uses an A330 on their daily D7236 flight from KUL to PER and will increase it to 11 weekly during the summer period. OD on the other hand operates this route on a B737 daily and on some days, twice daily between KUL and PER. hopefully MH will revert to using the A333 year round.

MH would be better offering daily double services on the 738 before adding the A333 back on the route

Qantas16 · Thu Sep 13, 2018 8:46 am

oskarclare wrote:
eta unknown wrote:
I believe the issue is Malindo has decided they make more money/get a better yield selling the flight as BNE/MEL-DPS and BOM-KUL-DPS for example as opposed to BNE-DPS-KUL-BOM.

TRIGGER ALERT (for some posters): As for Air China- I heard CA staff admitted BNE wasn't coming back after March at a recent industry event, but I wasn't there so can't confirm.

Annoying about CA but all reservation closed after march. Passenger loads weren't that bad so must be other reasons. Beijing Capital actually applied first for PEK-BNE (day before CA) so maybe they could see the opportunity to jump onto the route.

Passenger loads might have been ok but yields were pretty terrible... however, I agree that BNE-PEK should be a route that is sustainable long term, just maybe not with CA.

qf789 · Thu Sep 13, 2018 8:56 am

Qantas16 wrote:
It's a crazy amount of capacity and I'm surprised PER can sustain it. OD is already 2x daily so how many more frequencies do they need? It's not like they have a massive network to connect to, its only SE Asia.

OD is only at 12 weekly. Lately they have been using 739's on some services. With D7 only operating a daily service for most of the year, there is room left to fill that MH or OD can occupy

ben175 wrote:
Maybe they're looking at PER-BKI, or even PER-DPS-KUL? Malindo have a bigger name in WA than Batik Air, and I've heard ID's numbers have been pretty poor.

BKI would be a waste of time and DPS is already got 4 carriers on it. ID's numbers actually are similar to QZ some days and ID numbers seem more seasonal compared to the other carriers on the route from what I have noticed. Also ID's numbers are improvong so I wouldnt write them off yet, btw ID LF's are not too bad compared to some of the other carriers into PER atm

qf789 · Thu Sep 13, 2018 9:07 am

With talk of SQ using BNE as second destination for regional A350's, premium economy is now only available for booking on selected flights

https://www.ausbt.com.au/singapore-airl ... ource=hero

qf789 · Thu Sep 13, 2018 12:53 pm

Video of AN-124 arriving at Rockhampton ahead of a major military exercise

https://twitter.com/7NewsSydney/status/ ... 6438153217

qf789 · Fri Sep 14, 2018 12:36 am

SQ231 SIN-SYD diverted to PER this morning presumably medical

https://twitter.com/speedbird020/status ... 39553?s=21

Video of departure

https://twitter.com/jonoperth/status/10 ... 98016?s=21

Also marks first time SQ A388 has visited PER

allrite · Fri Sep 14, 2018 12:49 am

qf789 wrote:
Video of AN-124 arriving at Rockhampton ahead of a major military exercise

https://twitter.com/7NewsSydney/status/ ... 6438153217

Ah Rockhampton, a city that seems to struggle to maintain services "punching above it's weight". The only international visitors it gets are those there to blow it (well, Shoalwater) up. Kind of how I felt when I lived there.

Still, it really is an impressive show when the Singaporeans are in town. Pity they get upset when you take photos on the tarmac on arrival.

Boof · Fri Sep 14, 2018 2:15 am

Sorry for dragging up something from a few weeks back:The convo re why D was used on delayed international services I was told by an ATC it is only used when the aircraft are operating in the same ATC zones at the same time. It's not done domestically as the flights are either cancelled or an additional number is added to the call sign in the case of TT or JQ. Never seen QF add a number but not saying they don't, and VA often use random numbers much like ferry call signs. Most recent example I spotted on FR24 was TT500 and TT8500 when VH-VUD went Tech in HBA on the 12th of Aug and the TT8500 service operated on the 13th.

TasFlyer wrote:
How about VA adding additional PER-HBA flights before the route has even launched? Speaking of which, the launch is on Monday next week. Sorry, just couldn't resist mentioning that - again!

These additional direct flights aren't so much to do with success of the direct routes and more to do with removing connecting pax off the MEL and SYD-HBA services. Certainly not suggesting that the direct flights aren't successful, it's more that the direct routes are loaded so adding flights to ease connection pressure is a lot easier. This summer will be break records for visitors to Tassie so every seat on the main routes to HBA that can be freed up will be especially in light of the previously mentioned ramp constraints.

TasFlyer wrote:
Firstly, a northern update may pique your interest. JQ will operate a daily 321 on LST-MEL for the peak summer season from December 14. From the same date, HBA-MEL sees what was a 321 service downgauged to 320, so total capacity to Tasmania remains unchanged. I'm very surprised QF group is scheduling fewer seats to HBA for NW18-19 than for previous years. The apron capacity may be an issue.

Is this new? The JQ731/730 rotation in and out of LST from MEL has been 321 for months. There was little fanfare when they up gauged the LST flights. Which HBA service is losing the 321 with this change?

Also a couple of other HBA related things mentioned in the thread:

The construction works on the southern side have been two fold - first was the widebody facility that is now complete, the new works are the prep for the freight facility announced a few months back.

Something isn't adding up with the antarctic charter either - the 747 will now arrive around 9pm into HBA on return and I assume will deplane and then ferry empty to MEL. Surely HBA wouldn't have built a runway that cannot service the take off of a three quarters loaded 747....

VHZNE · Fri Sep 14, 2018 2:43 am

Boof wrote:

Something isn't adding up with the antarctic charter either - the 747 will now arrive around 9pm into HBA on return and I assume will deplane and then ferry empty to MEL. Surely HBA wouldn't have built a runway that cannot service the take off of a three quarters loaded 747....

The 747 will probably position back to Sydney, as no flights are operating with QF 747s out of MEL.

The runway also isn’t a waste of money as aircraft are getting smaller these days such as the A350 and 787 compared to 747s and A380s. Weather of that day of the Antartica flight may also be an issue for the 747.

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