Maybe those Jap speakers were positioning to Perth to then go on to Japan from there? Had that thought ever crossed your mind?
Getting back to AO Le 3rd Homme you raise some very interesting and valid points. However you forget that AO is a strategic subsidary of the Qantas group. Brand recognition will slowly occur, but as long as the Japanese wholesalers sell seats on AO as part of packages AO will continue to do well in the Japanese market.
If you are referring to the $11 million loss posted last year if you researched you would find that this would be attributed mainly to Denpasar flying. If AO were a stand alone company why would it take on such loss making routes? The Qantas Group has to service the Bali holiday market and the unit with the lowest cost base will do it. If the group is going to service low yield, loss making routes it should try to make the smallest loss possible. I wouldn't be surprised if this flying eventually goes to Jetstar which is even cheaper than AO.
Why would AO want to attract 'high end' users? Our target market are Japanese tourists that will only fly us once, or a couple of times at most, and the outbound Australian tourist. I totally agree with you; high end travellers will be reluctant to us LCC's and AO.
There are alot of things that AO need to do. The ad hoc approach to everything it does is one!
Like Raver Flaver I have been to Fukuoka and other ports AO service plenty of times and the only marketing I ever have seen has been a poster in a travel agent and AO info in package tour brochures. But I feel you need to receive recognition and awareness from the people that sell the seats in order to get bums on seats!
When I lived in Japan I preferred to come home with CX as they were cheaper, had better IFE, newer aircraft and I perceived their customer service to be superior etc., but I was not a Japanese customer that has only 4 days break and only cares about getting to OZ quickly for a few days of relaxation, sightseeing and shopping. I had very different needs and requirements...
Last edited by YONLY; 4th Dec 2005 at 01:17.