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I am not sure if anyone else had seen this, but one of the NSW fire fighting 737s was damaged by a hangar in a taxiing incident

https://simpleflying.com/australian-737 ... collision/

Failure to apply braking and/or chocks? To cop the nacelle as well it appears to have rolled uncontrolled.

Also, I thought NSW owned the Marie Bashir (N138CG) and Coulsen operated?

Does anyone know exactly how many seats on each flight the government is subsidising for this half off sale? I was looking at MEL-HTI last night in June... 12 hours later it’s all back to full price.

ben175 wrote:

Does anyone know exactly how many seats on each flight the government is subsidising for this half off sale? I was looking at MEL-HTI last night in June... 12 hours later it’s all back to full price.

There's 800,000 in total and flights are for travel for a few months, so there's not going to be many per flight.

I am surprised there were seats available in the school holidays. I looked at all QLD destinations from Sydney from the 20th JUN to 13th July and there was not 1 half priced seat available to most destinations up North and I had checked as soon as they were released - very crafty Qantas !!

Cathay Pacific A350-1000 B-LXA operated CX2101 HKG-ASP today assuming to pick up crew? Wasn’t aware CX are still sending aircraft into long term storage.


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EK413 wrote:

Cathay Pacific A350-1000 B-LXA operated CX2101 HKG-ASP today assuming to pick up crew? Wasn’t aware CX are still sending aircraft into long term storage.


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Saw that, I was wondering if it's the opposite, positioning people to get some aircraft ready to fly out ?

LTEN11 wrote:

EK413 wrote:

Cathay Pacific A350-1000 B-LXA operated CX2101 HKG-ASP today assuming to pick up crew? Wasn’t aware CX are still sending aircraft into long term storage.


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Saw that, I was wondering if it's the opposite, positioning people to get some aircraft ready to fly out ?

Good point. Probably positioning an aircraft from ASP to HKG.


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I've been told by numerous sources (varying in reputability, but two are really on the money all the time) that Qantas A380 VH-OQC will be heading out of storage at VCV. OQC will go to 'Europe' (I assume Dresden/DRS) for maintenance (12 year check). VH-OQC's transponder has also been on a lot more at VCV and yesterday it was pulled out of it's parking spot into the 'alleyway' at VCV in preparation to be moved to the southern part of the airport (see FR24 link below. If not available, it's just the space in front of where the A380s are currently parked). VH-OQC should fly out to LAX sometime in April.
https://www.flightradar24.com/VHOQC/27430a16

Going through Flightradar24 data, it looks like all Australian Airports except Brisbane had their busiest post covid day yesterday, lead by Melbourne where movements were up almost 30% vs last Thursday.

Perth had its busiest day since BC (before Covid)

BNEFlyer wrote:

ben175 wrote:

Does anyone know exactly how many seats on each flight the government is subsidising for this half off sale? I was looking at MEL-HTI last night in June... 12 hours later it’s all back to full price.

There's 800,000 in total and flights are for travel for a few months, so there's not going to be many per flight.

I had a look around at some of the destinations and half-price seats appeared here and there, mostly during the less convenient time-slots and it seems impossible to find a return flight with discounts. I don't see myself jumping at it to be honest. With $1.2 billion going to airlines, not sure how much it will trickle down to the actual tourism operators...

Yesterday Air Vanuatu’s 737-800 YJ-AV8 flew non-stop PER-VLI. Must’ve been almost empty to have stretched its legs for 7 hours without refuelling. Does anyone know what it flew to the west coast for?

Touching on the buy on board posts from the previous thread about VA. It really surprised me that they haven't taken a AirAsia esque style of pre-ordering meals when booking the ticket.

That way they can offer a more comprehensive range while minimizing wastage. The tech is there to support it on the booking engines, it would only be a question of whether their ground handlers can manage food on demand.

QF (and to a lesser extent ZL) still has a slight upper hand here as if all other things are somewhat equal then pax will choose the premium carrier.
An example is recent flights I booked for family. CBR-OOL VA was $92 QF was $95 all due to the half price seats. We chose QF because of the added inclusion. I wonder how many others will do the same...

qantas747 wrote:

Touching on the buy on board posts from the previous thread about VA. It really surprised me that they haven't taken a AirAsia esque style of pre-ordering meals when booking the ticket.

That way they can offer a more comprehensive range while minimizing wastage. The tech is there to support it on the booking engines, it would only be a question of whether their ground handlers can manage food on demand.

QF (and to a lesser extent ZL) still has a slight upper hand here as if all other things are somewhat equal then pax will choose the premium carrier.
An example is recent flights I booked for family. CBR-OOL VA was $92 QF was $95 all due to the half price seats. We chose QF because of the added inclusion. I wonder how many others will do the same...

When you say “the tech is there” are you speaking from a position of experience or knowledge? I don’t want to sound accusational when I say that, but the version of Sabre that VA use is very rudimentary so I’d be surprised if they had the ability to mange individual customer orders.

(before someone attacks me, I am well aware that they facilitated special meal requests on their long haul flights, but that is just an SSR whereas a special order and accompanied payment is a more involved process).

Does anyone know why up to 4 UA aircraft were in SYD earlier this week? 2 x 77W and 2 x 789. Tracking these a bit, one each was scheduled SFO-SYD and LAX-SYD which I am aware had resumed long ago, but the other two seemed like cargo, and one of them was headed to AKL.

ContinentalEWR wrote:

Does anyone know why up to 4 UA aircraft were in SYD earlier this week? 2 x 77W and 2 x 789. Tracking these a bit, one each was scheduled SFO-SYD and LAX-SYD which I am aware had resumed long ago, but the other two seemed like cargo, and one of them was headed to AKL.

It’s pretty common for UA to fly an SYD-AKL-SYD or SYD-AKL-LAX cargo service at the moment.AC is also doing the same most days for he week.

ContinentalEWR wrote:

Does anyone know why up to 4 UA aircraft were in SYD earlier this week? 2 x 77W and 2 x 789. Tracking these a bit, one each was scheduled SFO-SYD and LAX-SYD which I am aware had resumed long ago, but the other two seemed like cargo, and one of them was headed to AKL.

Cargo.

United have been flying cargo only flights to SYD from both SFO and LAX, some with tags to AKL or MEL, all pandemic. Having three or four United aircraft on the ground at SYD is fairly common at the moment.

qantas747 wrote:

QF (and to a lesser extent ZL) still has a slight upper hand here as if all other things are somewhat equal then pax will choose the premium carrier.
An example is recent flights I booked for family. CBR-OOL VA was $92 QF was $95 all due to the half price seats. We chose QF because of the added inclusion. I wonder how many others will do the same...

I was pretty disappointed on my recent MEL-SYD flight in economy on Qantas that they don't even serve hot drinks as the flight is "too short". So it was water/juice and a muffin.

anstar wrote:

I was pretty disappointed on my recent MEL-SYD flight in economy on Qantas that they don't even serve hot drinks as the flight is "too short". So it was water/juice and a muffin.

What I don’t get, I’m afraid, is why anyone would get exercised about having to go a whole hour without a hot drink. Given the poor quality of airline coffee on almost every carrier I’d vote for coffee in the terminal any time at all.

DavidByrne wrote:

anstar wrote:

I was pretty disappointed on my recent MEL-SYD flight in economy on Qantas that they don't even serve hot drinks as the flight is "too short". So it was water/juice and a muffin.

What I don’t get, I’m afraid, is why anyone would get exercised about having to go a whole hour without a hot drink. Given the poor quality of airline coffee on almost every carrier I’d vote for coffee in the terminal any time at all.

When you pay a premium fare, supposedly, you'd expect an offering at the least. What confounds me is why you expect people to stay quiet and take it when they've (or their employer) forked out double the competition for a work trip, usually a day-return when you're in a mighty rush from 6am to 9pm. Little things start to add up.

And actually sometimes a hot coffee on a flight, basic though it is, gives you enough pep to get your taxi home after a very long day. It's not like you're getting amazing points or status credits when you actually fly Qantas. They're pretty miserly. So the "premium" offering is pretty thin.

Likewise, pre Xmas I did about a half dozen domestic QF flights for work and gave up as we were paying through the nose, the IFE was switched off (because: COVID) and all that was offered was water. I let work know and said I'd rather use Virgin for about two thirds the price for the same if not more on offer (at least it was then). Done. If Virgin introduce a better BOB menu - the current one is pathetic - I'll probably just stick with them.

aerokiwi wrote:

DavidByrne wrote:

anstar wrote:

I was pretty disappointed on my recent MEL-SYD flight in economy on Qantas that they don't even serve hot drinks as the flight is "too short". So it was water/juice and a muffin.

What I don’t get, I’m afraid, is why anyone would get exercised about having to go a whole hour without a hot drink. Given the poor quality of airline coffee on almost every carrier I’d vote for coffee in the terminal any time at all.

When you pay a premium fare, supposedly, you'd expect an offering at the least. What confounds me is why you expect people to stay quiet and take it when they've (or their employer) forked out double the competition for a work trip, usually a day-return when you're in a mighty rush from 6am to 9pm. Little things start to add up.

And actually sometimes a hot coffee on a flight, basic though it is, gives you enough pep to get your taxi home after a very long day. It's not like you're getting amazing points or status credits when you actually fly Qantas. They're pretty miserly. So the "premium" offering is pretty thin.

Likewise, pre Xmas I did about a half dozen domestic QF flights for work and gave up as we were paying through the nose, the IFE was switched off (because: COVID) and all that was offered was water. I let work know and said I'd rather use Virgin for about two thirds the price for the same if not more on offer (at least it was then). Done. If Virgin introduce a better BOB menu - the current one is pathetic - I'll probably just stick with them.

The OP was not travelling on a premium fare, but Economy. But seriously - airline coffee? Worth making a fuss about? Spare me!

soyuz wrote:

Yesterday Air Vanuatu’s 737-800 YJ-AV8 flew non-stop PER-VLI. Must’ve been almost empty to have stretched its legs for 7 hours without refuelling. Does anyone know what it flew to the west coast for?

VLI-BNE-PER was a full flight dropping off foreign agricultural workers, no pax outbound back to VLI. They did the same in reverse about a month ago picking workers back up.

anstar wrote:

qantas747 wrote:

QF (and to a lesser extent ZL) still has a slight upper hand here as if all other things are somewhat equal then pax will choose the premium carrier.
An example is recent flights I booked for family. CBR-OOL VA was $92 QF was $95 all due to the half price seats. We chose QF because of the added inclusion. I wonder how many others will do the same...

I was pretty disappointed on my recent MEL-SYD flight in economy on Qantas that they don't even serve hot drinks as the flight is "too short". So it was water/juice and a muffin.

I can't see why Qantas should serve anything on MEL-SYD economy, except for 'full service airline' of course. 90 minutes gate to gate, and people can't sit there without stuffing something down their gullet? Seriously, much better food and drink on offer at the airport cafes or Qantas lounges if you have frequent flyer status or Qantas Club membership.

CraigAnderson wrote:

anstar wrote:

qantas747 wrote:

QF (and to a lesser extent ZL) still has a slight upper hand here as if all other things are somewhat equal then pax will choose the premium carrier.
An example is recent flights I booked for family. CBR-OOL VA was $92 QF was $95 all due to the half price seats. We chose QF because of the added inclusion. I wonder how many others will do the same...

I was pretty disappointed on my recent MEL-SYD flight in economy on Qantas that they don't even serve hot drinks as the flight is "too short". So it was water/juice and a muffin.

I can't see why Qantas should serve anything on MEL-SYD economy, except for 'full service airline' of course. 90 minutes gate to gate, and people can't sit there without stuffing something down their gullet? Seriously, much better food and drink on offer at the airport cafes or Qantas lounges if you have frequent flyer status or Qantas Club membership.

Maybe its not just the fact that he was not served a coffee. Maybe it was more to the point that if you fly and pay for a full service airline like QF ( at least i'm led to believe they still are) It may be more to the point , that he may have paid more for his ticket than opting for one of the other 3 carriers on the route, and you expect in principal at least a cup of tea or coffee. After all I would imagine Virgin and Jetsar would have had a BOB option available, not sure about Rex.

I cant believe people are creaming over the fact that he was not happy about no service offered except for juice

An767

DavidByrne wrote:

anstar wrote:

I was pretty disappointed on my recent MEL-SYD flight in economy on Qantas that they don't even serve hot drinks as the flight is "too short". So it was water/juice and a muffin.

What I don’t get, I’m afraid, is why anyone would get exercised about having to go a whole hour without a hot drink. Given the poor quality of airline coffee on almost every carrier I’d vote for coffee in the terminal any time at all.

When the airline markets itself as a full service premium carrier I would expect to be able to get a hot drink especially when Rex and Virgin both offer it.

And its not about going an hour without a hot drink - it's the airline marketing itself as something it clearly is not. You mention I'm not traveling on a premium fare.. well actually yes.... Qantas do charge a premium for their service and I would expect the onboard offering to match that.

anstar wrote:

When the airline markets itself as a full service premium carrier I would expect to be able to get a hot drink especially when Rex and Virgin both offer it.

And its not about going an hour without a hot drink - it's the airline marketing itself as something it clearly is not. You mention I'm not traveling on a premium fare.. well actually yes.... Qantas do charge a premium for their service and I would expect the onboard offering to match that.

I think Qantas charges more than other carriers just because it can get away with it. If they weren’t filling their planes, they’d charge less than other carriers. That’s the how the free market works. I can’t quite get my head around the idea that an economy flight on QF is somehow “premium” and that customers are automatically entitled to more than a basic offering. But whatever.

But really, my comment is more to do with the execrable quality of coffee that almost all carriers offer. My original point was that if one wants a decent coffee, you’re better to buy one in the terminal.

anstar wrote:

I was pretty disappointed on my recent MEL-SYD flight in economy on Qantas that they don't even serve hot drinks as the flight is "too short". So it was water/juice and a muffin.

You probably just had lazy crew. Tea and coffee is a service standard on QF flights regardless of flight time. Hell, it's even done on SYD-CBR on a B737.

anstar wrote:

When the airline markets itself as a full service premium carrier I would expect to be able to get a hot drink especially when Rex and Virgin both offer it.

And its not about going an hour without a hot drink - it's the airline marketing itself as something it clearly is not. You mention I'm not traveling on a premium fare.. well actually yes.... Qantas do charge a premium for their service and I would expect the onboard offering to match that.

It depends on weather, pax loads, flight time and how long the flight crew keep the cabin crew seated for. I totally understand why on some flights it can be difficult to do a service with 170+ pax, hot drinks and food with a 1h5m flight time. The crew can’t have carts out still serving hot drinks at top of descent, and they don’t want anybody to miss out on being served also.

They can’t have everyone needing to place their tray tables up in preparation for the landing and still be holding hot drinks, it becomes a safety issue. It doesn’t happen every SYD-MEL but those flights are hectic and I completely understand why they do juice or water only sometimes on these busy short flights.

openskies88 wrote:

anstar wrote:

I was pretty disappointed on my recent MEL-SYD flight in economy on Qantas that they don't even serve hot drinks as the flight is "too short". So it was water/juice and a muffin.

You probably just had lazy crew. Tea and coffee is a service standard on QF flights regardless of flight time. Hell, it's even done on SYD-CBR on a B737.

I believe that there was some sort of agreement with airlines flying to CBR that tea and coffee had to be served. VA used to get a 5th crew member from MEL-CBR so they could do this. I assume QF would have it too. Lazy crew? I’m sure there were other factors.

DavidByrne wrote:

anstar wrote:

When the airline markets itself as a full service premium carrier I would expect to be able to get a hot drink especially when Rex and Virgin both offer it.

And its not about going an hour without a hot drink - it's the airline marketing itself as something it clearly is not. You mention I'm not traveling on a premium fare.. well actually yes.... Qantas do charge a premium for their service and I would expect the onboard offering to match that.

I think Qantas charges more than other carriers just because it can get away with it. If they weren’t filling their planes, they’d charge less than other carriers. That’s the how the free market works. I can’t quite get my head around the idea that an economy flight on QF is somehow “premium” and that customers are automatically entitled to more than a basic offering. But whatever.

But really, my comment is more to do with the execrable quality of coffee that almost all carriers offer. My original point was that if one wants a decent coffee, you’re better to buy one in the terminal.

The coffee exception would be Alitalia (the only thing they're good at) and Garuda (the Sumatran brew in business class is divine).

Another issue at stake with the current QF service offering is that it's diminished from what it was. Tea, coffee and a selection of soft drinks - plus food suited to the time of day, including hot dinners, used to be the standard on golden triangle flights. Grog on some flights too. My last dozen or so flights over the past 12 months have mostly just offered water and a snack. QLink flights have been more generous than mainline interestingly. As already mentioned, these little niceties can and do make a difference to frequent flyers and are one of the reasons I've been loyal to QF for over a decade of work travel. There's been a steady decline over the past decade, and a sudden jolt lately to where tea and coffee only seems to have made an appearance when the moon is full in Aquarius in the seventh house or something. Don't get me started on call centre wait times or the removal of service desk staff. It's a shame that frontline services (whether mostly symbolic in terms of a cup of tea at 30k feet, or more pertinent waiting 3 hours - as a Gold ff - to speak to someone this week to redeem a credit that couldn't be done online) seem to be the preferred places for the beancounters to wield their power.

VHOGU wrote:

anstar wrote:

When the airline markets itself as a full service premium carrier I would expect to be able to get a hot drink especially when Rex and Virgin both offer it.

And its not about going an hour without a hot drink - it's the airline marketing itself as something it clearly is not. You mention I'm not traveling on a premium fare.. well actually yes.... Qantas do charge a premium for their service and I would expect the onboard offering to match that.

It depends on weather, pax loads, flight time and how long the flight crew keep the cabin crew seated for. I totally understand why on some flights it can be difficult to do a service with 170+ pax, hot drinks and food with a 1h5m flight time. The crew can’t have carts out still serving hot drinks at top of descent, and they don’t want anybody to miss out on being served also.

They can’t have everyone needing to place their tray tables up in preparation for the landing and still be holding hot drinks, it becomes a safety issue. It doesn’t happen every SYD-MEL but those flights are hectic and I completely understand why they do juice or water only sometimes on these busy short flights.

This is all very true, but the other element is that Qantas used to have 5 crew on SYD-MEL but post-COVID it is only four. I think CBR is the only market left with 5 crew. The cost savings are obvious, but so is the reduction in service. Whether it is cost cutting or overworked crew (probably a combination of both) these are things that people notice.

DavidByrne wrote:

anstar wrote:

When the airline markets itself as a full service premium carrier I would expect to be able to get a hot drink especially when Rex and Virgin both offer it.

And its not about going an hour without a hot drink - it's the airline marketing itself as something it clearly is not. You mention I'm not traveling on a premium fare.. well actually yes.... Qantas do charge a premium for their service and I would expect the onboard offering to match that.

I think Qantas charges more than other carriers just because it can get away with it. If they weren’t filling their planes, they’d charge less than other carriers. That’s the how the free market works. I can’t quite get my head around the idea that an economy flight on QF is somehow “premium” and that customers are automatically entitled to more than a basic offering. But whatever.

But really, my comment is more to do with the execrable quality of coffee that almost all carriers offer. My original point was that if one wants a decent coffee, you’re better to buy one in the terminal.

Eh, not sure I agree. People are only expecting what Qantas market themselves as offering, this is very different to flying Jetstar and then complaining about not getting free water. If Qantas want to market themselves as an all inclusive airline then they need to deliver.

It’s interesting that others have noticed that QantasLink have not cut their service as much as Qantas mainline. Last time I flew Qantas was in November 2020, PER-BNE-CBR in Business Class. We were offered the exact same service as as I had come to expect pre-pandemic on the 717 from BNE-CBR, but on the PER-BNE flight the ‘meal’ was what I would have expected in Economy pre-pandemic and there was no alcohol offered at all. Not being served alcohol in Business is the very definition of a first world problem, but Qantas promise a standard of service that they are currently falling well short of.

I’ve only flown twice since November, both on Virgin, and my upcoming flights are on Virgin and Jetstar. There is no need pay a premium for Qantas when they offer the same service as the competition. I probably won’t retain it anyway once they stop rolling status over, but I’m honestly not particularly concerned if I loose my Qantas Gold status. They are no longer an airline I feel the need to be loyal to.

RyanairGuru wrote:

This is all very true, but the other element is that Qantas used to have 5 crew on SYD-MEL but post-COVID it is only four. I think CBR is the only market left with 5 crew. The cost savings are obvious, but so is the reduction in service. Whether it is cost cutting or overworked crew (probably a combination of both) these are things that people notice.

They used to have 5 crew before having to park their international fleet and stand down a ton of their staff, bleeding money due to a global pandemic. It’s also that the flights are fuller due to less frequency meaning less time per pax for the crew to complete the service.

I think in most cases here people are glad to be flying and understand that the situation has changed the industry and generally are understanding if they don’t get a cup of instant coffee. Adding a 5th crew member on a 737 because every so often a flight misses out on instant coffee in favour for another complementary drink is unfortunately unrealistic cost wise for any struggling airline.

DavidByrne wrote:

I can’t quite get my head around the idea that an economy flight on QF is somehow “premium” and that customers are automatically entitled to more than a basic offering. But whatever.

.

I'm not sure what you don't get? They market themselves as a full service premium carrier which includes food, drinks, baggage and lounge access for those with status.

openskies88 wrote:

You probably just had lazy crew. Tea and coffee is a service standard on QF flights regardless of flight time. Hell, it's even done on SYD-CBR on a B737.

I was told this is the new service standard. On shorter flights like MEL-HBA its just a bottle of water.

anstar wrote:

DavidByrne wrote:

I can’t quite get my head around the idea that an economy flight on QF is somehow “premium” and that customers are automatically entitled to more than a basic offering. But whatever.

.

I'm not sure what you don't get? They market themselves as a full service premium carrier which includes food, drinks, baggage and lounge access for those with status.

openskies88 wrote:

You probably just had lazy crew. Tea and coffee is a service standard on QF flights regardless of flight time. Hell, it's even done on SYD-CBR on a B737.

I was told this is the new service standard. On shorter flights like MEL-HBA its just a bottle of water.

I agree with anstar and others. The issue is not “does anyone need a coffee/tea/hot breakfast etc. on a 90 min flight” (for the record: I do not, I usually have a glass of water or OJ if anything, that’s it), but “does the airline deliver what it promises and charges for”. And on that, QF is definitely falling short atm and I do not see any logical argument why someone should simply put up with that.

It’s a slippery slope once airlines start figuring out what’s acceptable to customers, and once competitive pressures no longer exist or matter. Look at Europe and the sad state of BA or LH and their on-board product, service levels, legroom, charges for luggage etc. I do not think anyone wants QF to go down that route.

RyanairGuru wrote:

getluv wrote:

I might be generalising here but part of the reason people pay a premium to fly QF is frequency and also the perceived quality of other passengers onboard and in the lounges.

Anyone disappointed about not getting a hot beverage on a flight should get their head checked. Disgusting.

It seems a bit rich to call people who want a cup of coffee “disgusting” when you talk about the “perceived quality” of other passengers. Your classism is more repulsive than someone expecting the level of service promised.

Quite Agree.

RyanairGuru wrote:

getluv wrote:

I might be generalising here but part of the reason people pay a premium to fly QF is frequency and also the perceived quality of other passengers onboard and in the lounges.

Anyone disappointed about not getting a hot beverage on a flight should get their head checked. Disgusting.

It seems a bit rich to call people who want a cup of coffee “disgusting” when you talk about the “perceived quality” of other passengers. Your classism is more repulsive than someone expecting the level of service promised.

Your touch on reality concerns me.

The coffee and tea onboard all Australian airlines is disgusting.

Possible announcement of the AU-NZ quarantine relaxation this afternoon...

https://www.smh.com.au/world/oceania/ai ... 57gqw.html

DavidByrne wrote:

aerokiwi wrote:

DavidByrne wrote:

What I don’t get, I’m afraid, is why anyone would get exercised about having to go a whole hour without a hot drink. Given the poor quality of airline coffee on almost every carrier I’d vote for coffee in the terminal any time at all.

When you pay a premium fare, supposedly, you'd expect an offering at the least. What confounds me is why you expect people to stay quiet and take it when they've (or their employer) forked out double the competition for a work trip, usually a day-return when you're in a mighty rush from 6am to 9pm. Little things start to add up.

And actually sometimes a hot coffee on a flight, basic though it is, gives you enough pep to get your taxi home after a very long day. It's not like you're getting amazing points or status credits when you actually fly Qantas. They're pretty miserly. So the "premium" offering is pretty thin.

Likewise, pre Xmas I did about a half dozen domestic QF flights for work and gave up as we were paying through the nose, the IFE was switched off (because: COVID) and all that was offered was water. I let work know and said I'd rather use Virgin for about two thirds the price for the same if not more on offer (at least it was then). Done. If Virgin introduce a better BOB menu - the current one is pathetic - I'll probably just stick with them.

The OP was not travelling on a premium fare, but Economy. But seriously - airline coffee? Worth making a fuss about? Spare me!

Sigh, will gladly spare you, David. Unlike in New Zealand where there is a near monopoly and NZ offers almost no differentiation, Australia is a different market with a more robust competitive landscape and a lot more choice.

A premium fare is different from a premium class. If you're paying top dollar for an economy ticket (a premium fare) you better believe I'll notice when the service is effectively the same as Jetstar. If this outrages you so, suggest you give up this forum, where the minutiae of air travel consumes enthusiasts.

In saying that, Virgin's BOB menu is pretty underwhelming. I hope it's just the first iteration and some decent offerings are on their way.

And all these people blobbing in lounges.... On the odd occasion you have the time - cancelled meetings, old age, holidays - if you're travelling for work more often than not you're cutting it fine at the start AND end of the day to make your flight. Who has the time? What is this louche worklife that I'm missing out on? So what happens onboard matters, even if it's just a small touch of a hot drink.

qf2220 wrote:

Possible announcement of the AU-NZ quarantine relaxation this afternoon...

https://www.smh.com.au/world/oceania/ai ... 57gqw.html

Thank you for the first non-coffee post since the previous 20

myki wrote:

qf2220 wrote:

Possible announcement of the AU-NZ quarantine relaxation this afternoon...

https://www.smh.com.au/world/oceania/ai ... 57gqw.html

Thank you for the first non-coffee post since the previous 20

Confirmed, Australia and NZ bubble to start from 19 April 2021

https://twitter.com/avweekscho/status/1 ... 82052?s=21

Just in: AU-NZ travel bubble to open Monday April 19!

https://www.executivetraveller.com/news ... e-april-19

CraigAnderson wrote:

Just in: AU-NZ travel bubble to open Monday April 19!

https://www.executivetraveller.com/news ... e-april-19

Looks like Qantas has already dropped their flights. 2-3 daily from Melbourne now showing.

Will be interesting to see if / how quickly VA return to trans tasman flying

jrfspa320 wrote:

Will be interesting to see if / how quickly VA return to trans tasman flying

September / October according to the NZ PM who just said that at her press conference.

jrfspa320 wrote:

Will be interesting to see if / how quickly VA return to trans tasman flying

No time soon apparently:

However, Virgin Australia doesn't plan to put New Zealand back on its schedule until September, and then only with a handful of flights to Queenstown.

A spokesman for the airline said that "evolving border requirements ... add complexity to our business as we push ahead with plans to grow our core domestic Australia operations."

"For this reason, we have suspended the sale of most New Zealand services until 31 October 2021. A limited schedule for flights to and from Queenstown will remain available for booking from 18 September 2021."

https://www.executivetraveller.com/news ... e-april-19

It might surprise some here but VA is actually operating their full remaining 737 fleet now.

18 Sept seems a strange time, after the peak ski season but before summer peak kicks in. We shall see...