Flying to Australia

[tcr2]

Any info. or opinion on the best choice of airline for a flight from LHR to PER (Perth, Western Australia). I have flown this route with both British Airways and Singapore Airlines, and in my opinion the latter came out on top.
However, I have been hearing good reports about Emirates (although 10 abreast in their 777's?) and Malaysian (extra 6 in. of leg room in economy??).

Your views appreciated!!

[AIRWAY]

Emirates,

Great service, great aircraft... :ok:

[OzPax1]

You chould always go with South African. They fly to Perth! :D

[Spearing Britney]

I fly this route a lot, assuming you are talking economy, generally I prefer BA's to Emirates but timing wise Emirates to Perth is better and no Qantas leg so Emirates it is for me. For Exec flat beds every time so BA (though I prefer exec service on Emirates) - never tried First :(

Perth is great though...

[tcr2]

Another question: My sister will be travelling with a young (1 yr old baby). When we travelled with a young baby (Singapore Airlines) we pre-booked a bassinet, which our 4 month old son only just squeezed into!! Is there a max. weight restriction on these bassinets? What happens if they book one, and the baby doesn't fit - will they have to spend the entire flight with baby on lap??

[Sultan Ismail]

Can vouch for the leg room in Malaysian, I have done several trips KUL - JNB in the last month, and another this Friday, its ok in economy. The food is also tasty, addressing East and West taste buds.

Don't fly South African Airways, 233 South African EAA'ers on their way to Oshkosh can't be wrong, to a man they reported SAA sucks! No leg room.

At 1 year you are pushing it with a bassinet, I have flown LHR - JNB with 3 little Sultans, no problem under one year, after that, 'fraid its the lap. Tough one on a 13 hour flight, try for an adjacent empty seat in the centre block.


Mind you if the child cries on cue, she may have several rows to herself.


Sultan Ismail

[Pom Pax]

There are probably a hundred and one different ways to get to Perth, all depends on what your criteria are.
No aircraft change? BA
Service? An asian carrier
Journey time? Check there is not a bad connection in return trip.
Arrival time in Perth? As Perth has no curfew its a useful place to send your aircraft when it cant go anywhere else! A lot of arrivals at very unsociable hours.
Think a different route, Hong Kong. Might find a bargain fare there, my daughter did.

After thoughts........... Brunei (take your grog)
Have a stop over in S.E. Asia to get rid of the jet lag, no or minimal time differnce with respect to Per.

[tcr2]

Pom Pax, it is my understanding (correct me if I am wrong) that BA no longer flies to Perth. I last flew 'all the way' with BA in 2000, with no change of aircraft. I think that the SIN-PER leg is now operated by Qantas on behalf of BA. I have also heard that this QF leg offers essentially a 'domestic' quality of service ie.crap (no PTV's etc)...

[christep]

Have a look at Cathay - they have good deals out of Europe to Australasia. Good service & food, PTVs, etc.

[PAXboy]

Correct: BA no longer goes direct to PER. Change at SIN onto QF.

[Globaliser]

Emirates (although 10 abreast in their 777's?)Correct. Pitch is deeper than standard for scheduled economy but doesn't quite make up for it for me - I need width more than length, myself.

[DX Wombat]

Have a look at QANTIM the QF schedule, I think you will find that the QF flight from Paris CGD is the same aircraft all the way to Perth, ie a 747-400. Also check the Perth Airport timetable which gives you the schedule of all international flights and their type. Also try flying MAN - FRA - SIN - PER. MAN - FRA is BA Embraer 145, QF 747-400 to SIN then 767 to Perth. I particularly like this route. Talk direct to QF, they will be able to give you plenty of information and advice.
You could also try looking at Royal Brunei if they are still flying into Perth.
BA haven't flown into Perth for about two years now.
I think the weight limit for the bassinets is 11kgs but I could be wrong. QF use fixed bassinets, BA use grotty carry cots strapped onto a shelf - unless things have changed in the past couple of years. Don't bank on a screaming child getting you extra space, there are very few empty seats around these days.

[AIRWAY]

BA only flies to Sydney and Melbourne with it´s own aircraft.

[DX Wombat]

Have a look at the Westralia Airports Site: http://www1.perthairport.net.au/content.aspx?Menuld=5&SubMenuld=48 This will bring up a page from which you can download the weekly schedule of arrivals. The document gives details of the aircraft being used.
One thing to remember when choosing which is the best airline, is that although comfort is essential, so is the care of the passenger should anything untoward happen such as the connecting aircraft being stranded in say Sydney or Melbourne thus entailing a delay. In nearly fourteen years of travelling to and from Australia this has only happened to me twice. On the first occasion it was a three hours delay and we were all taken to the lounge and given food and drink. That was also my first return flight from Oz. The second occasion was approximately a year ago when I was returning from my mum's funeral. The flight I should have caught hadn't even managed to leave Melbourne as it had serious technical problems. The passengers were being accommodated overnight in hotels. I was transferred to another QF flight as I would have missed the last flight for 24 hours to Manchester from Frankfurt. There were other, little touches of kindness too which were very much appreciated. Some of the frills, such as seatback screens may be missing from older aircraft which have yet to be updated, but the care of the passenger remains excellent. You pay your money and you take your choice, cheapness of ticket isn't everything. Before anyone asks, I'm not a QF employee, nor was I travelling in Business or First, I am an ordinary Economy Class passenger.

[AIRWAY]

Even better will be when Emirates starts flying direct to Australia from Dubai with their new A340-500 . I will definately try this one

[tcr2]

Don't emirates already fly directly from Dubai to Perth with their 777-200/777-300 aircraft??

[Xeque]

Unless its a direct flight, I try never to fly sectors of more than 7 hours.

Going to Oz why not try three legs - UK to Bahrain/Dubai then on to Singapore/Bangkok/Bali or KL and then on to Oz.

All these places offer excellent hotel and leisure facilities and all offer Visitors Visas on arrival.

I've been in Bahrain Airport when a flight from Oz or NZ has passed through. The poor blighters are like zombies and they've still got another 7 hours to go!.

Do yourself and your health a favour. OK it takes 3 days instead of 22+ hours but you'll feel a great deal better for it.

Cheers,

Xeque

edited to correct the inevitable typos