NevilleN et al,
If you take the trouble to look at the comparison tables in the ATSB report on the subject, it makes it quite clear that the rule in the nominated countries are not greatly different to Australia's rules on the subject.
Put another way, the belief that "the rest of the world always requires an alternate" is just a tad inaccurate.
Bloggs,
My original remarks were directed at the genesis of this thread, not the recorded history of aviation.
In summary, the Qantas approach to flight planning and fuel reserves, and in-flight operational control, as well as always meeting statutory requirements nationally and internationally, is an operationally and commercially intelligent system, that has been proven by time.
A major part of reason the system works so well is that Operational Control travels with aircraft, and responds to the address: "Captain".
Tootle pip!!
Last edited by LeadSled; 7th Jun 2013 at 08:58.