Wake up VA

[1977]

Having moved from the left seat to the corporate world, I commute each week from the Sunny Coast to Sydney. The advent of the QF Link service direct to SYD at around 0630 in the morning negates the need to drive what is now a 2 hour journey to BNE in the morning, but means I can't use my VA gold status.

Almost everyone I talk to on the QF flight tell me they are VA customers, but like me, can't handle the 3 am get up (in summer) to get to BNE early enough to park off-airport, shuttle to the terminal and commute on a service early enough for office hours in Sydney.

I am convinced that if VA had a similar offering out of the sunny coast it would be full. The QF 717 is full each Monday morning and again on the return Friday afternoon. But here is the rub, around 80% of the time the QF departure each Monday is late. Its all got to with crew rest, but for a 'business service' you can't confidently book meetings etc.

From memory, VA have a 'South East Qld" base, so the issue of overnighting crews is almost a non-issue. Is there someone out there who has the ear of VA 'commercial' to consider such a service?

Off to get my 1.5 hour delayed QF service, so won't be back on Pprune till the weekend.

Cheers

[Falling Leaf]

I am convinced that if VA had a similar offering out of the sunny coast it would be full.

And that's why VA won't do it...it makes too much commercial sense and may make money...Tiger on the other hand....

[grrowler]

Perfect Embraer run...oh wait.

PS FWIW Virgin doesn't have a SE Qld base.

[Tommy Bahama]

I've been banging on about this for years. Give up and travel Qantas like everyone else does.

[Goat Whisperer]

There is no SEQ base. If a BNE crew sign on at MCY or OOL that's an overnight.

MCY was approved as an overnight port around the same time as NTL, hotel and transport operator promulgated but nothing happened. It makes sense, but VA's appetite for trying anything new is zero.

[drunk_pilot]

Meanwhile VA had a 737 operating SYD - CFS recently with 80 something passengers on board. Can't be viable operating a B738 (on a Sunday no less) on that route with competition from QLK DHC8D and tigerair.

[VH-FTS]

... but VA's appetite for trying anything new is zero.

How true. Like putting an ATR on a BNE-HVB or BNE-CFS run etc. Meanwhile QLink Dash 8s fly there many times a day with good load factors.

[Deano969]

Hows about VA keep it simpler than Qantas and ditch the overnight 717 at MCY and crew issues
VA could run VA1408 Cairns to Sydney (via MCY down) and VA1429 Sydney to Cairns (back via MCY)
It would only add about 40 minutes to the trip and have the advantage of Sunny Coasters being able to go north without the need to go south to do so
Locals are crying out for flights to the north, but no one is willing to give it a go :ugh:

[havick]

Surely everyone has to admit the irony of this thread, where only a few years ago it was Qantas threads that resembled exactly the same type of talk.

[neville_nobody]

1977 you are complaining about about two flights a week. I wonder what the load factor is for the other 18 sectors over the week?

[Vorsicht]

JB would have lost interest as soon as someone told him he couldn't operate the 330 on that sector.

[donpizmeov]

Chuck on some bigger brakes and you should make it fit Vorsicht. :)

[Open Descent]

It is surprising that given the growth of the area there are no overnights in MCY.

Having said that, accommodation for crews has proven troublesome for VA, even in more populated places. Transport and catering would have to be contracted, engineering organised, and to be honest, there aren't even enough crews to cover current flying.

I must say though, if the Sunny Coast was serious about attracting more frequency for its residence, they should be doing more to upgrade the airport to accomodate it.
It is sadly lacking in a lot of areas!

[Kranky]

Gosh I remember when VA, or DJ as they were back then, first started flights into MCY. I was there when the first flight arrived. Loads were good and it wasn't long before flights to MEL came along.
Given the population of the area and the fact that it was a popular tourist destination it did seem logical that an overnighter would be on the cards but alas it never happened.
Then again a lot of things that were logical never happened with VA/DJ.

[TwoFiftyBelowTen]

It's primarily a tourist destination, and check-in is 2pm and check-out is 10am.
They won't break even on even an E-Jet at 0630

[Deano969]

So why wouldn't VA consider a Cairns Maroochydore Sydney ?
They have an AM and PM flight they could use with the added benefit of sector passengers between Maroochy and Cairns
Then no need for a crew base...

[wheels_down]

If anything Virgin's days are probably numbered in MCY as above, leisure destination.

Id hedge my bets on seeing more striped tails into MCY soon than anything else...

[Open Descent]

If anything Virgin's days are probably numbered in MCY as above, leisure destination.

Well every flight I have done in there from MEL has been chock-o-block.

[Goat Whisperer]

TwoFifty... OOL was considered just a tourist destination. But there is a substantial local population there too, and they don't want to all drive to BNE.

[The Bullwinkle]

If anything Virgin's days are probably numbered
Just leave it at that!

[maggot]

Did I read about a coming rwy upgrade for MCY?
330 then maybe

Whats the population base? I thought the sunny coast was pretty light on, compared to say the GC

[neville_nobody]

Sunshine Coast Airport expansion gets green light with $181m loan from Federal Government - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-17/sunshine-coast-airport-expansion-gets-$181m-loan/8035020)

Work on the Sunshine Coast's new $347 million international airport will begin early next year after the Federal Government approved a $181 million concessional loan for a new runway and terminal.

The upgrade which is expected to take four years will allow more direct international flights, currently there are only seasonal flights to New Zealand.

Domestically the airport has limited flights south and none north.

With the upgrade, 787 Dreamliners will be able to fly in from Asia.

"A world class tourism destination and a highly desirable place to live like the Sunshine Coast needs a world class airport," Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister Darren Chester said.

"It does need an international airport and this is the next step along that journey."

Independent assessment value the economic benefit of the upgrade at $4.1 billion in the 20 years after it opens.

"It will also be the impetus for a range of investment on the Sunshine Coast potentially unlike we've ever seen before in terms of international hotel opportunities and tourism attractions," Sunshine Coast Mayor Mark Jamieson said.

"Up until this stage our ability to participate in international tourism has been severely limited by access and this new airport will solve that problem."

Visit Sunshine Coast CEO Simon Latchford said it would also open up export opportunities for local seafood and produce into Asian markets.

"It is another extraordinary result created by Sunshine Coast Council and it is a complete game changer for this region," he said.
Not enough demand for international airport: residents

Council said the new runway alignment meant less people would be affected by aircraft noise, but that was no consolation for the beachside suburb of Mudjimba.

Mudjimba Residents Association's Martin Peelgrane said ratepayers fear they could be left with a $347 million bill if the project fails.

He said it was too close to the Brisbane Airport and there was not enough demand on the coast.

"For Mudjimba it's a bit of a disaster because this flight path is basically going to be directly overhead so it's tragic for Mudjimba which is a nice sleepy hollow and previously it was safely in the quadrant between the two runways," Mr Peelgrane said.

In the next few weeks council will announce the successful bidder who will invest the remaining $166 million required for the project.