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It seems like AA isn't done with Oceania announcements. I assume we'll see potential LAX-MEL in the near future.

re unserved domestic & international routes

DOMESTIC

Surely BNE/ABX could support some direct larger jet flights.

Jetgo did BNE/ABX daily IIRC, but economies of scale can't have helped.

3 airlines fly SYD/ABX but a nonstop F100/B737/A320 could surely save a minimum of 90 minutes assuming no delays at SYD.

If timings/days didn't suit pax in both directions, then they could just fly on existing options via SYD. SYD/ABX seems to have a lot of turboprops, Saab 340s, ATR72s, Dash3s & 4s.

Seems to be a lot of public servants in Albury these days, ATO etc.

INTERNATIONAL

what about OZ/NPE ? Napier seems to have a bigger population base than say DUD.

^^ I do feel there is potential for more Albury flights, but just how that is best served I am not sure. The market is a decent size in that area, and some more options would further boost the appeal of the area for business, leisure and to live.

Such a pity it wasn’t selected as the capital though. Good spot for it.

Ishrion wrote:

It seems like AA isn't done with Oceania announcements. I assume we'll see potential LAX-MEL in the near future.

Interesting. Hadn’t heard anything more from those I know and AA had said 2 new routes a while ago, so maybe things changed.

lessredtape wrote:

Seems to be a lot of public servants in Albury these days, ATO etc.

Most people would be suprised at how big the Albury office is, quite a lot is actually done there. Not to mention some of the Exec is based there which drives travel demand.

There is the Army base at Wodonga also.

LATAM has started SYD-SCL non-stop 3x weekly on the days that QF doesn't fly resulting in a daily service from SYD.
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/la802

LATAM switching their alliance to SkyTeam/Delta will result in interesting on-ward connections to Asia from SYD.

x1234 wrote:

LATAM switching their alliance to SkyTeam/Delta will result in interesting on-ward connections to Asia from SYD.

LATAM have not switched to SkyTeam and their relationship with Delta is purely bilateral. Qantas is still, and will remain, LATAM's primary partner in this region, just as IAG (IB+BA) will remain their primary partner in Europe. This has been confirmed by both LATAM and Qantas.

BITRE for August out

Thai AirAsia X averaging around 50% on BNE-DMK
Virgin NZ loads improving, HKG is another story
EK NZ loads just scrapping in around 40%
Batik PER-DPS now averaging around 80%

https://www.bitre.gov.au/publications/o ... y_1908.pdf

Is it normal for VA to change connecting flights without warning or asking?

I just noticed when opening the VA app my December AKL-SYD-BNE flight which had an 9hour transit in SYD has just been changed to an 2hr transit. Without any contact from VA they just simply changed my flight from VA977 to VA935 not even an email explaining seems pretty bad service for an Business Class ticket.

I had planned to head into the city to do some Christmas Shopping and meet up for Lunch, I guess now I'll have to waste time on the phone to VA.

zkncj wrote:

Is it normal for VA to change connecting flights without warning or asking?

I just noticed when opening the VA app my December AKL-SYD-BNE flight which had an 9hour transit in SYD has just been changed to an 2hr transit. Without any contact from VA they just simply changed my flight from VA977 to VA935 not even an email explaining seems pretty bad service for an Business Class ticket.

I had planned to head into the city to do some Christmas Shopping and meet up for Lunch, I guess now I'll have to waste time on the phone to VA.

I had a similar situation even though it’s not VA.

I flew to LA from SYD via AKL on NZ last year and 2 days before departure I received a email saying my flight to LAX from AKL has been rescheduled due to 787 engine issue.

Funny thing is they didn’t do anything with my connecting flight from SYD and I wouldn’t be able to connect. I had no choice but to call them up asking them to reschedule my SYD flight as well but then they told me the only earlier flight that day that can connect my onward flight is full in Biz class. ( My entire trip is booked in Biz class)

And speechlessly they couldn’t come up with any solution but to move me to a flight day before or alternatively if I’m willing to downgrade myself to economy class.

On the day flying I got push back to Biz class again because there’s a empty seat but surely it’s not a pleasing experience.

a19901213 wrote:

zkncj wrote:

Is it normal for VA to change connecting flights without warning or asking?

I just noticed when opening the VA app my December AKL-SYD-BNE flight which had an 9hour transit in SYD has just been changed to an 2hr transit. Without any contact from VA they just simply changed my flight from VA977 to VA935 not even an email explaining seems pretty bad service for an Business Class ticket.

I had planned to head into the city to do some Christmas Shopping and meet up for Lunch, I guess now I'll have to waste time on the phone to VA.

I had a similar situation even though it’s not VA.

I flew to LA from SYD via AKL on NZ last year and 2 days before departure I received a email saying my flight to LAX from AKL has been rescheduled due to 787 engine issue.

Funny thing is they didn’t do anything with my connecting flight from SYD and I wouldn’t be able to connect. I had no choice but to call them up asking them to reschedule my SYD flight as well but then they told me the only earlier flight that day that can connect my onward flight is full in Biz class. ( My entire trip is booked in Biz class)

And speechlessly they couldn’t come up with any solution but to move me to a flight day before or alternatively if I’m willing to downgrade myself to economy class.

On the day flying I got push back to Biz class again because there’s a empty seat but surely it’s not a pleasing experience.

Not ideal! With my one there seems to apparent reason why they would need to change it! The flight is two months out, the only reason I can see they would have moved me is because they don’t want an cheap transit passenger on an peak hour SYD-BNE flight. AKL-SYD-BNE in Business is $512NZD or SYD-BNE is $450AUD seems very revenue control related to me!

The flight combination is still bootable via there website too, I tired reaching out via Twitter and there online team couldn’t help at all.

zkncj wrote:

Is it normal for VA to change connecting flights without warning or asking?

I just noticed when opening the VA app my December AKL-SYD-BNE flight which had an 9hour transit in SYD has just been changed to an 2hr transit. Without any contact from VA they just simply changed my flight from VA977 to VA935 not even an email explaining seems pretty bad service for an Business Class ticket.

I had planned to head into the city to do some Christmas Shopping and meet up for Lunch, I guess now I'll have to waste time on the phone to VA.

Did you book through a third party? E.g. if it was booked by a travel agent or website like Expedia then it would be up to them to contact you about the schedule change.

If it was booked via the VA website and your phone and email were linked to the booking, you should've been contacted by them.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-01/ ... s/11661320

3 grounded out of 33 inspected. I recall QF not having much spare capacity in their NG fleet. Will we see more domestic 747 flying in the near term?

qf789 wrote:

BITRE for August out

Thai AirAsia X averaging around 50% on BNE-DMK
Virgin NZ loads improving, HKG is another story
EK NZ loads just scrapping in around 40%
Batik PER-DPS now averaging around 80%

https://www.bitre.gov.au/publications/o ... y_1908.pdf

Those BNE-DMK numbers don't look promising - I wonder when the (presumed) QLD govt subsidies end?

Blue Swan Daily had some financial year figures listed this week too:
https://blueswandaily.com/bitre-australia-intl-pax-market-topped-by-new-zealand-in-fy2019-sin-syd-busiest-route/

for the 12 months ended 30-Jun-2019:

Passengers: 42.1 million, +3.7% year-on-year;
Top 10 countries:
New Zealand: 7.2 million, +1.5%;
Singapore: 5.7 million, +4.4%;
United Arab Emirates: 3.7 million, -3.1%;
China: 3.6 million, +6.0%;
US: 3.3 million, +3.5%;
Indonesia: 3.2 million, +10.7%;
Hong Kong: 2.9 million, +4.5%;
Malaysia: 2.3 million, -1.2%;
Japan: 1.5 million, +2.9%;
Thailand: 1.5 million,-10.6%;

Top 10 city pairs:
Singapore-Sydney: 72,405, +7.9%;
Singapore-Melbourne: 71,635, -1.0%;
Hong Kong-Sydney: 52,898, +6.7%;
Auckland-Sydney: 52,798, -3.6%;
Singapore-Brisbane: 38,811, -3.6%;
Los Angeles-Sydney: 36,189, -7.3%;
Singapore-Perth: 35,453, -2.1%;
Dubai-Sydney: 29,022, +10.2%;
Guangzhou-Sydney: 26,913, -5.7%;
Hong Kong-Melbourne: 26,443, -2.6%.

zkncj wrote:

Not ideal! With my one there seems to apparent reason why they would need to change it! The flight is two months out, the only reason I can see they would have moved me is because they don’t want an cheap transit passenger on an peak hour SYD-BNE flight. AKL-SYD-BNE in Business is $512NZD or SYD-BNE is $450AUD seems very revenue control related to me!

The flight combination is still bootable via there website too, I tired reaching out via Twitter and there online team couldn’t help at all.

I had similar situation when I booked my tickets to Fiji with VA. I had my flight re-schedule on 3 different occasions with one resulting an overnight in MEL. I rung up VA requesting to be put flight which didn’t require me to overnight in MEL and they were more than willing to assist. I suggest you call and ask the online team will be of no assistance.

downdata wrote:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-01/qantas-says-three-boeing-737-found-with-cracks/11661320

3 grounded out of 33 inspected. I recall QF not having much spare capacity in their NG fleet. Will we see more domestic 747 flying in the near term?

The 33 aircraft include all the VX and VYA through to VYL. Of those 33, 6 have not flown today, so they are flying with a fleet of 69

We already know that both VXC and VXM are in maintenance prior to the inspection of which one was found to have pickle fork crack. VXF and VYF haven't flown since last night. VXA last flew on the 30th and VXU on the 29th which leads me to believe that these may be the other 2 affected.

ATM QF does have some slack in the 787 fleet so the spare one can assume some flying for one of the grounded 737's. QF did say this morning that some slight schedule changes would be made,

melpax wrote:

lessredtape wrote:

Seems to be a lot of public servants in Albury these days, ATO etc.

Most people would be suprised at how big the Albury office is, quite a lot is actually done there. Not to mention some of the Exec is based there which drives travel demand.

There is the Army base at Wodonga also.

wonder what the biggest aircraft that could get in & out of ABX is ? A 737-700 maybe ?

qf789 wrote:

BITRE for August out

Thai AirAsia X averaging around 50% on BNE-DMK
Virgin NZ loads improving, HKG is another story
EK NZ loads just scrapping in around 40%
Batik PER-DPS now averaging around 80%

https://www.bitre.gov.au/publications/o ... y_1908.pdf

looking at these numbers .......

what's the story with Nauru airlines ? 33% load factor

& VA to HIR 32%/36% while IE has 61%/51%

Surely VA would be better off talking to IE about some sort of codeshare, if that's permitted ?

Jetstar have unveiled their interior of their A321neo LR, that will arrive from August 2020.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YCHQ10fjMw

VHZNE wrote:

Jetstar have unveiled their interior of their A321neo LR, that will arrive from August 2020.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YCHQ10fjMw

those recaro seats look like they have an ultra slim back, but guess that improves legroom without changing the seat pitch

lessredtape wrote:

qf789 wrote:

BITRE for August out

Thai AirAsia X averaging around 50% on BNE-DMK
Virgin NZ loads improving, HKG is another story
EK NZ loads just scrapping in around 40%
Batik PER-DPS now averaging around 80%

https://www.bitre.gov.au/publications/o ... y_1908.pdf

looking at these numbers .......

what's the story with Nauru airlines ? 33% load factor

& VA to HIR 32%/36% while IE has 61%/51%

Surely VA would be better off talking to IE about some sort of codeshare, if that's permitted ?

ON is the only carrier servicing INU and are very high yielding due to the contracts serving the immigration detention facilities. They always have a low load factor.

VA HIR is always terrible as well but people on this forum have previously mentioned they have good contracts that help keep this flight going? Not sure how true that is but its been terrible for years and keeps surviving so must be alright. Wouldn't be surprised to see it get cut soon though. If VA were to leave the route, I doubt they'd be allowed to codeshare with IE. QF already codeshare on IE anyway.

Thatcher wrote:

qf789 wrote:

BITRE for August out

Thai AirAsia X averaging around 50% on BNE-DMK
Virgin NZ loads improving, HKG is another story
EK NZ loads just scrapping in around 40%
Batik PER-DPS now averaging around 80%

https://www.bitre.gov.au/publications/o ... y_1908.pdf

Those BNE-DMK numbers don't look promising - I wonder when the (presumed) QLD govt subsidies end?

I know its confidential information but I hope the QLD Govt isn't subsiding the route too heavily as I presume its a mostly BNE pax market? Serving Australians going to Thailand? No issue with these sort of subsidies to attract airlines that will bring in lots of foreign tourists (i.e. Chinese carriers) but if they are just going to take Australian holiday makers overseas then probably shouldn't be getting heavy subsidies!

lessredtape wrote:

Surely VA would be better off talking to IE about some sort of codeshare, if that's permitted ?

IE codeshares with QF.

Michael

lessredtape wrote:

VHZNE wrote:

Jetstar have unveiled their interior of their A321neo LR, that will arrive from August 2020.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YCHQ10fjMw

those recaro seats look like they have an ultra slim back, but guess that improves legroom without changing the seat pitch

Functional and simple - but hey for an LCC can’t asK for too much more. Always curious why NEOs are delivered with the older style lockers. Not the new 350 style.

Apparently NH will double down on SYD.

qf789 wrote:

BITRE for August out

Thai AirAsia X averaging around 50% on BNE-DMK
Virgin NZ loads improving, HKG is another story
EK NZ loads just scrapping in around 40%
Batik PER-DPS now averaging around 80%

https://www.bitre.gov.au/publications/o ... y_1908.pdf

British airways only at 65% outbound. Why don't they just codeshare with QF? Would think both airlines would be greatly benefited.

And Donghai Airlines has been a disaster in Australia. Close to one year being here and the load factors indicate massive losses. How long till they pull out?

smi0006 wrote:

lessredtape wrote:

VHZNE wrote:

Jetstar have unveiled their interior of their A321neo LR, that will arrive from August 2020.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YCHQ10fjMw

those recaro seats look like they have an ultra slim back, but guess that improves legroom without changing the seat pitch

Functional and simple - but hey for an LCC can’t asK for too much more. Always curious why NEOs are delivered with the older style lockers. Not the new 350 style.

NZ has the new style ones on the 320/321NEO they infact slow down boarding. They have to remain closed during boarding, as they hang down to low making it hard to get into the seats.

zkncj wrote:

smi0006 wrote:

lessredtape wrote:

those recaro seats look like they have an ultra slim back, but guess that improves legroom without changing the seat pitch

Functional and simple - but hey for an LCC can’t asK for too much more. Always curious why NEOs are delivered with the older style lockers. Not the new 350 style.

NZ has the new style ones on the 320/321NEO they infact slow down boarding. They have to remain closed during boarding, as they hang down to low making it hard to get into the seats.

Not so much making it hard to get into seats, more that people don’t look where they are going and bang their heads into them which of course isn’t ideal. So yes they do have to be up which does slow it down as you say.

Morrofinch wrote:

And Donghai Airlines has been a disaster in Australia. Close to one year being here and the load factors indicate massive losses. How long till they pull out?

So it hasn't improved from this
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-06/ ... y/10587454

Was a strange route to begin with and a long flight in a 737.

moa999 wrote:

Morrofinch wrote:

And Donghai Airlines has been a disaster in Australia. Close to one year being here and the load factors indicate massive losses. How long till they pull out?

So it hasn't improved from this
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-06/ ... y/10587454

Was a strange route to begin with and a long flight in a 737.

I would wonder if they could make it a SYD-DRW-SZX and MEL-DRW-SZX on rotating turns. I reckon they would boost a few seats there.

Morrofinch wrote:

moa999 wrote:

Morrofinch wrote:

And Donghai Airlines has been a disaster in Australia. Close to one year being here and the load factors indicate massive losses. How long till they pull out?

So it hasn't improved from this
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-06/ ... y/10587454

Was a strange route to begin with and a long flight in a 737.

I would wonder if they could make it a SYD-DRW-SZX and MEL-DRW-SZX on rotating turns. I reckon they would boost a few seats there.

Considering that both MEL and SYD already have their own dedicated SZX services, I don't think it will help that much.

I'm assuming that this route is more cargo driven?

Morrofinch wrote:

And Donghai Airlines has been a disaster in Australia. Close to one year being here and the load factors indicate massive losses. How long till they pull out?

Most Chinese haven't even heard of the airline. I don't now what they were thinking.

kriskim wrote:

Morrofinch wrote:

moa999 wrote:

So it hasn't improved from this
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-06/ ... y/10587454

Was a strange route to begin with and a long flight in a 737.

I would wonder if they could make it a SYD-DRW-SZX and MEL-DRW-SZX on rotating turns. I reckon they would boost a few seats there.

Considering that both MEL and SYD already have their own dedicated SZX services, I don't think it will help that much.

I'm assuming that this route is more cargo driven?

xiaotung wrote:

Morrofinch wrote:

And Donghai Airlines has been a disaster in Australia. Close to one year being here and the load factors indicate massive losses. How long till they pull out?

Most Chinese haven't even heard of the airline. I don't now what they were thinking.

I suspect there is a factor which we dont know about at play here. Otherwise they would have dropped the route a while a go.

lessredtape wrote:

melpax wrote:

wonder what the biggest aircraft that could get in & out of ABX is ? A 737-700 maybe ?

Most likely.

Always thought that Jetstar or Tiger would do well with flights to OOL, etc. The fares would have to be priced sharply though or else the locals would continue to drive down the Hume to fly out of Tulla.

Unlike a lot of other regional areas, a good proportion of Albury/Wodonga residents would be on reasonably good incomes, both Albury & Wodonga have university campuses, and the area is a major logistics hub due to the border location & being on the main MEL-SYD highway. There is a fair bit of manufacturing as a result.

https://inv.blob.core.windows.net/docum ... rofile.pdf

According to sources a 3rd ex-JQ A320 VHJQL will be joining the QF Link fleet this month.

The aircraft is currently in TSV & will soon ferry TSVMEL to under go pre service checks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good evening all. My son and I travelled to Tassie (read Hobart and Cradle Mountain ) 22 thu 31 Oct. We travelled on the JQ starter plus (i think thats what it is called) fare. The basic fare was something like $42 each way for each of us, plus an extra $40 each way which gave us 20kg luggage each, a $10 Buy On Board voucher, and preferred seat allocation. We could have travelled Virgin as I have enough points to cover air fares for both of us, however I wanted to try JQ. Our total checked baggage out of Melbourne was 32kg and carry on was 4kg for me and 15 kg for my son ($10,000 worth of camera eqpt he was not going to put into the ac hold) which meant that we were in total 5 kg over the carry on limit but overall 3kg under the total limit. No problems out of Melbourne, all accepted. Different story on the return flight. No Way. 15kg is way too heavy (who cares I have 3 kg "credit" for carry on and checked baggage has a "credit" of 8 kg. Nope, $60 this is going to cost you Sirs and the Camera Eqpt must go into the hold. Following an interesting discussion we had with JQ staff at the boarding point, they agreed we could take the camera eqpt on board however it would still cost $60.Forget OHS reasons for the 7KG on board limit, it is just a terrible revenue raiser by the airline. Even women were told the weight of handbags etc counted towards the on board allowance. Apart from all of this, where is the consistency, outbound ok, inbound, No Way. We
were always within our total KG limit. My son and I will be having a "time-out" now every year, and if we travel by air, it won't be with JQ. No, this is not a rant, just a little dissappointing to say the least.

TN486T wrote:

Good evening all. My son and I travelled to Tassie (read Hobart and Cradle Mountain ) 22 thu 31 Oct. We travelled on the JQ starter plus (i think thats what it is called) fare. The basic fare was something like $42 each way for each of us, plus an extra $40 each way which gave us 20kg luggage each, a $10 Buy On Board voucher, and preferred seat allocation. We could have travelled Virgin as I have enough points to cover air fares for both of us, however I wanted to try JQ. Our total checked baggage out of Melbourne was 32kg and carry on was 4kg for me and 15 kg for my son ($10,000 worth of camera eqpt he was not going to put into the ac hold) which meant that we were in total 5 kg over the carry on limit but overall 3kg under the total limit. No problems out of Melbourne, all accepted. Different story on the return flight. No Way. 15kg is way too heavy (who cares I have 3 kg "credit" for carry on and checked baggage has a "credit" of 8 kg. Nope, $60 this is going to cost you Sirs and the Camera Eqpt must go into the hold. Following an interesting discussion we had with JQ staff at the boarding point, they agreed we could take the camera eqpt on board however it would still cost $60.Forget OHS reasons for the 7KG on board limit, it is just a terrible revenue raiser by the airline. Even women were told the weight of handbags etc counted towards the on board allowance. Apart from all of this, where is the consistency, outbound ok, inbound, No Way. We
were always within our total KG limit. My son and I will be having a "time-out" now every year, and if we travel by air, it won't be with JQ. No, this is not a rant, just a little dissappointing to say the least.

I’m just taking a wild guess here & could be way off the mark by a mile! JQ agents ex-MEL whilst the return is handled by a 3rd party agent (Swissport?)
Not making any excuses, there shouldn’t be any exceptions & should be consistent.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

According to another discussion thread NH will go double daily HND-SYD.

The 2nd flight will be an evening arrival and overnight with a midday departure which is subject to change.

If this has already been discussed please delete

Cheers


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

TN486T wrote:

which meant that we were in total 5 kg over the carry on limit but overall 3kg under the total limitt.

A bit OT for this forum, but

Not aware of any airline that lets you combine check-in and carry-on limits. Just that carry-on is not always enforced (on both LCCs and FSCs). Albeit travelling on an LCC it's always higher risk of being weighed - the model relies on ancillary charges (eg. RyanAirs £20 boarding pass fee)

Pro photographers I know always travel using a jacket, and the pockets are full of batteries.

EK413 wrote:

According to another discussion thread NH will go double daily HND-SYD.

The 2nd flight will be an evening arrival and overnight with a midday departure which is subject to change.

If this has already been discussed please delete

Cheers


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If true, it could probably open the opportunity for QF to open MEL-HND instead should NH "beat QF" to doing double daily SYD-HND

EK413 wrote:

According to another discussion thread NH will go double daily HND-SYD.

The 2nd flight will be an evening arrival and overnight with a midday departure which is subject to change.

If this has already been discussed please delete

Cheers


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Disappointing if true. There goes a VA/NH option direct from Melbourne then... which I thought would’ve made more sense for VA/NH to serve all three major east coast capitals to HND.

I get that NH probably don’t want to have a 787 sitting in SYD for a whole day, but is there really that much demand from SYD to justify a double daily service??

Knowing QF they’ll probably go double daily too from SYD as well in order to accelerate their 747 retirement, but we’ll see. If that also ends up being true, Melbourne really doesn’t get much HND love despite its rapidly growing business links with Japan. Sigh

VH-NXM of Qantaslink arrived into Perth earlier this afternoon from Seletar via Singapore. The aircraft had undergone a maintenance check and it got painted at the same time. The name of VH-NXM is Strzelech National Park.

TN486T wrote:

We could have travelled Virgin as I have enough points to cover air fares for both of us, however I wanted to try JQ. Our total checked baggage out of Melbourne was 32kg and carry on was 4kg for me and 15 kg for my son ($10,000 worth of camera eqpt he was not going to put into the ac hold)
were always within our total KG limit. My son and I will be having a "time-out" now every year, and if we travel by air, it won't be with JQ. No, this is not a rant, just a little dissappointing to say the least.

This is a rant, but I feel you. It's not an airline specific problem though.
I had a 12kg cinema camera in carry on and a $50000 lens that was another few kilograms. Virgin weighed my carry on on both outbound and return flights. On the outbound flight they were about to deny it, I told them I was a professional cinematographer (not actually true) and they seemed to have systems in place to waive the carry on limit for press. I was allowed on the flight with no issue.

On the return they were insisted I check it, which I begrudgingly did (I asked politely, I flirted, all my usual tricks to no avail). Of course, equipment was damaged (thankfully just a teleprompter). The airline consumer advocate was successful getting them to cover the cost of the teleprompter (which was also the only item that was not insured), so if they'd let me carry it on they would have saved themselves $2k.

Jetstar has always allowed me on with excess carry on and Qantas has never weighed my carry on bag. Air Mauritius recently slapped me with excess carry-on fees despite the fact I was on a paid business class ticket which I felt was a bit rich (I was less than 1kg over).

You'll find all airlines to be inconsistent depending on the human you interact with on this point, but I do think there should be a system to purchase extra carry-on weight, or to purchase a waiver for the weight limit for extremely high value items.

Morrofinch wrote:

I suspect there is a factor which we dont know about at play here. Otherwise they would have dropped the route a while a go.

Educated guess is Donghai is getting money from the NT Govt. and it'll be flown as long as those subsidies last. Remember the only other international flights DRW has now are to DPS and SIN. Maybe it's sold in DRW as an economical way to get to HKG- I don't look after that market any more so don't know.

TN486T wrote:

Good evening all. My son and I travelled to Tassie (read Hobart and Cradle Mountain ) 22 thu 31 Oct. We travelled on the JQ starter plus (i think thats what it is called) fare. The basic fare was something like $42 each way for each of us, plus an extra $40 each way which gave us 20kg luggage each, a $10 Buy On Board voucher, and preferred seat allocation. We could have travelled Virgin as I have enough points to cover air fares for both of us, however I wanted to try JQ. Our total checked baggage out of Melbourne was 32kg and carry on was 4kg for me and 15 kg for my son ($10,000 worth of camera eqpt he was not going to put into the ac hold) which meant that we were in total 5 kg over the carry on limit but overall 3kg under the total limit. No problems out of Melbourne, all accepted. Different story on the return flight. No Way. 15kg is way too heavy (who cares I have 3 kg "credit" for carry on and checked baggage has a "credit" of 8 kg. Nope, $60 this is going to cost you Sirs and the Camera Eqpt must go into the hold. Following an interesting discussion we had with JQ staff at the boarding point, they agreed we could take the camera eqpt on board however it would still cost $60.Forget OHS reasons for the 7KG on board limit, it is just a terrible revenue raiser by the airline. Even women were told the weight of handbags etc counted towards the on board allowance. Apart from all of this, where is the consistency, outbound ok, inbound, No Way. We
were always within our total KG limit. My son and I will be having a "time-out" now every year, and if we travel by air, it won't be with JQ. No, this is not a rant, just a little dissappointing to say the least.

As has been said, no airline will allow you to combine your checked baggage and carry on weights, it just doesn't happen.

As it was, you were probably lucky you didn't get charged on the first leg, every time I've travelled JQ out of MEL they've weighed carry on, checked bag sizes, etc. If I have my camera gear with me, non essential items in the camera bag go into checked luggage to keep the weight down, or if I'm travelling with my partner, they combine cabin weights and she always travels light so the extra kilo or two in the camera bag doesn't matter. Maybe your son needs to invest in a professional type camera bag to help protect his gear, if it's that valuable to him, it should be packed in a protective case and insured for theft and damage. If he's not prepared to do that, then expect to pay excess fees and it won't matter which airline you fly, if it's too heavy they'll charge you and frankly, according to the rules, so they should.

Very interesting to see Batik’s numbers change so rapidly in the time they’ve been flying to PER. They’re obviously building consumer confidence. Has anyone tried their J Class?

I’ve alwaus been curious why they use the ID brand to PER but the Malindo brand to the Eastern states.

chewybacca wrote:

EK413 wrote:

According to another discussion thread NH will go double daily HND-SYD.

The 2nd flight will be an evening arrival and overnight with a midday departure which is subject to change.

If this has already been discussed please delete

Cheers


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Disappointing if true. There goes a VA/NH option direct from Melbourne then... which I thought would’ve made more sense for VA/NH to serve all three major east coast capitals to HND.

I get that NH probably don’t want to have a 787 sitting in SYD for a whole day, but is there really that much demand from SYD to justify a double daily service??

Knowing QF they’ll probably go double daily too from SYD as well in order to accelerate their 747 retirement, but we’ll see. If that also ends up being true, Melbourne really doesn’t get much HND love despite its rapidly growing business links with Japan. Sigh

I based in Sydney but I do feel for people in Melbourne if this came fruition.

Melbourne has lots of business demand among mining corporates and Japanese firms who invested heavily in each other. You would assume it makes sense for NH to commence a flight to MEL using one of the slot granted. (I used to work in one of those big 3 Japanese trading firms and the demand between MEL and Japan is indeed huge)

And regardless of whether MEL deserves a slot in HND, can SYD really justify another daily flight from HND at the price of sacrificing not using it on another city pair?

chewybacca wrote:

EK413 wrote:

According to another discussion thread NH will go double daily HND-SYD.

Interesting, maybe this will push QF to deploy their new HND slot in MEL then? I'd assume that would give the best yield premium. But then again I have no clue about PDEW numbers in SYD vs MEL to Tokyo.

Depends on JL.
You certainly wouldn't want NH, JL and QF all adding to SYD.