The math aint that hard.
QF29 arrives LHR 13.30
QF30 departs LHR 22.30
So 9hrs sitting on the tarmac doing sfa in the middle of the European day, plus pilots and crew out of port on big layovers.
Competing against BA who can turn their 747/ 777s on a short Eurohop or maintenance in that time, or CX who can fly the schedules ex HKG to make quicker turns and all without layover and multiple crew costs.
Planes on the ground = cost disadvantage...
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On RedQ/oneasia etc I actually see this potentially being positive for QF-metal to SIN.
Due to the LHR curfew, all QFs SIN services arrive late at night - too late for any connections. Thus if going to a whole bunch of secondary Asian cities you fly SQ/MH or someone else to make a same-day connection.
If RedQ actually works it might support some early morning Asian flights out of Aussie ports in addition to the LHR connections.
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QueenBuzz,
Looking forward to the A380 to HKG....
However long term (and if China ever becomes more visa-friendly to Aussies) competing price-wise against CZ into CAN (only about 1-1.5hr by train) from HKG is going to be tough.