Qantas restores first class on three routes

[B-HKD]

SYD-SFO-SYD: From June 7. Already on three class 744s but F is not sold.
SYD-EZE-SYD: same as above.

MEL-HKG-LHR: From June 8.

Questions is:

Are sales in First on the rise again? Has the decision to reconfig the 744s to three class without First been made?

[packrat]

No matter which way QF flies to LHR there will always be demand for p/c
SFO is touting itself as the new gateway to the US.....better connections,newer airport,everything under one roof....perhaps the punters are taking notice or they are simply fed up with LAX
Any way its good to see..P/C is where the high yield is

[maccaj73]

why would QF not keep selling First and Business on all flights? If some people thought they would splurge on F class why not leave it as an option but not lid the J class seats?

If there were 40J seats 20F seats for example why not lid J at 60? and keep selling both classes. Once obviously J reached 60 sold close of sales in both.

[doubledub]

I'd say that most airlines, and most passengers who had splurged on a first class fare for that matter, wouldn't be too impressed with large numbers of passengers getting first class service at the business class fare (know it does happen with upgrades etc).

I know I'd feel slightly ripped off if I was the one person who paid a first class fare (not that it's going to happen anytime soon :=) and the 19 other people in the hypothetical who get to sit in first class had paid for a business fare! The airline may as well only offer business only, lose a couple of thousand in revenue from me buying business instead of first, but save a heap more by scaling back the service for those other 19 passengers.

[HEALY]

DD

That is a fair point about upgrades but I would be very interested to know, on a business orientated route, how many people sitting in First Class are "actually" paying for it themselves or if its part of the travel conditions of their employment. As has previously be mentioned before, the travel policies for this year were probably budgeted for prior to the new year, hence a certain reluctance or continued slow down in corporate bookings because of continued degree of uncertainty.

Many of the first class passengers I see on our airlines premium routes dont exactly look like they busted their a### to get the seat and probably couldnt give a rats about who upgraded from business and is sitting next to them. The fact of the matter remains for the airline that providing the product will attract a bum on seat regardless of wether it was from their own pocket or from the business kitty.

Airlines may break even with high economy loads and low yields, as was the case last year, but its the premium pax that make the profit. The airline can use the first class product in many ways as advertising, it even attracts the interest on economy class passengers and maybe further encourages business class paying passengers to fork out that extra grand or two for the first class experience.

At the end of the day you could have 300 pax down the back and every single one of them could have paid a different fare, yet you would never know it.

[doubledub]

Totally agree with you Healy! I think a premium cabin is essential for LH profitability for legacy carriers (there will probably always be a certain level of demand for it in particular markets due to the nature of travel on those routes). I just think that long-term, you either need people paying first class fares OR buying business and using points to upgrade (so people are still paying for it, but using a different type of currency) to justify a first class cabin across the entire fleet. A system where people regularly get first class service for a business fare (as proposed in the post above) couldn't be sustained in my opinion.

On a related topic, does anyone have intel on the average loads QF is carrying in First at the moment?