Originally Posted by
dr dre
As far as the profitability of long thin routes go PER-LHR is one of the most profitable for QF. It’s definitely more popular than the 380 to LHR as has been seen with this announcement.
This. ULH routes like PER-LHR and Sunrise give us multiple advantages that allow us to boost revenue. They allow for faster travel and better sleep, which many pax will pay up for. For Sunrise in particular, they allow pax to travel direct to their destination, which is worth more. They remove competition at the superconnecting hubs in SIN and the ME etc, allowing Qantas to charge more. Qantas can fill more of the plane with less price sensitive F, J and W classes, since the routes are already targeted at people who value their time and sleep more than money. They boost attachment for major corporate accounts, if they can fly Qantas direct. There's just a plain halo/marketing effect which, to be honest, Qantas has been absolutely first rate at (even if it's a bit much for some of us who see it every day). Etc.
I'm also excited for it as a pilot (as long as I can hold up for the next 30-odd years...). Flying more planes to more places means more opportunity for us, and more of us. Qantas will need to hire a stack more pilots if it wants to take full advantage and open more ULH routes.
Maybe that doesn't come to pass, but if the business model works (which it has with PER-LHR), Qantas has every incentive to fly more.