Originally Posted by
Dee Vee
I'm pretty sure there was no emergency, Just Qantas deciding to divert there due to bad weather and no planning on their part.
this is the crux of the matter.
Howvever there may not have been any requirement to have planned an Alternate in the first instance. Won't be the first time that the weather has changed enroute.
Essentially what YSCB are claiming is that you have to run down to your reserves before landing there. The problem with that argument is that you can't divert enroute and land with reserve +30 minutes. But you can divert and hold at the IAF for 30 mins then land as that would constitute an emergency.
The fly in the ointment for YSCB's policy is that VH aircraft have no requirement to plan an alternate normally so if the weather changes mid-flight it is irrelevant what YSCB policy is people are going to divert there as they have no other option which is going to create the situation that their policy is trying to prevent.
.