ETOPS 330

[f1yhigh]

Did CASA finally approve ETOPS 330 on the 787? Very interesting what the future of QF International will look like once international travel bounces back. Any ideas on what routes QF would be looking at as soon as international travel resumes?

[Capt Fathom]

ETOPS 330.

Will they need that for the Antarctic charters?

[C441]

Will they need that for the Antarctic charters?
Doubt it.
It's about 4 hours from Melbourne to the ice and they usually spend 4 hours over the ice and 4 hour's back.
Obviously using Hobart, or perhaps even Dunedin if they go well east, would be even closer too meaning 240 would probably suffice.

[engine out]

Yes it has 330 ETOPS.

[Fujiroll76]

Did CASA finally approve ETOPS 330 on the 787? Very interesting what the future of QF International will look like once international travel bounces back. Any ideas on what routes QF would be looking at as soon as international travel resumes?


Anything that turns a profit.

Originally the 330 ETOPS was required to take over Johannesburg and Santiago on the 787.

[Capt Fathom]

Wow! 330mins from an airport. That is a long way to safety!
It’s a young person’s game these days!

[oldchina]

Wow! 330mins from an airport.

Where the polar bears are waiting, and hungry.

[PW1830]

Lucky there aren't many down there - I've been looking in a 747 in the old days pre Erebus and didn't see any

[Dave Gittins]

Don't think you'll find any Polar Bears in Antarctica unless they are very lost, Ursus Maritimus is a northern hemisphere mammal The North Pole ar Bear.

My old geography teacher said there are no polar bears at the south pole otherwise they'd have eaten all the penguins. That's why they live mainly on seals. :ugh:

[Rt Hon Jim Hacker MP]

Lucky they bought the GE engine.....

[f1yhigh]

Doubt it.
It's about 4 hours from Melbourne to the ice and they usually spend 4 hours over the ice and 4 hour's back.
Obviously using Hobart, or perhaps even Dunedin if they go well east, would be even closer to meaning 240 would probably suffice.

Which begs the question, would Qantas consider flying over Antarctica since ETOPS 330 has been approved? Perth to Buenos Aires for example is a possible route.

[oldm8ey]

Lucky they bought the GE engine.....
LOL. My thoughts exactly.

[PW1830]

If we'd known that at the time we wouldn't have wasted so much time at low level looking for them:)

[Ex747]

The issue with flying over Antarctica is communications. There is no satellite coverage below about 80S and HF has similar issues - since the land based antennas in NZ and SA all point north /east/west not south. McMurdo isn't set up to handle routine airline communications.

[Red Jet]

The issue with flying over Antarctica is communications. There is no satellite coverage below about 80S and HF has similar issues - since the land based antennas in NZ and SA all point north /east/west not south. McMurdo isn't set up to handle routine airline communications.
Antarctica has an "issue" with communications for sure, but to say that there is "no satellite coverage below 80S" is incorrect. For voice and data communication, the "Irridium" network covers 100% of the worlds surface - land, ocean AND polar icecaps (and there are numerous aviation certified devices available - you just gotta get the money people at your airline to spring for some extra gadgets). For navigation, you will find that GPS, Glonass (Russian), BeiDou (Chinese) as well as Galileo (EU) also gives 100% global coverage.

[compressor stall]

The issue with flying over Antarctica is communications. There is no satellite coverage below about 80S
Exactly as Red Jet said. Iridium works just fine down there.
HF has similar issues - since the land based antennas in NZ and SA all point north /east/west not south.
And HF to BN at 75S is no more or less reliable than the middle of the Indian Ocean (ie hit and miss, "readability 1" then some adjustment and suddenly "readability 4").
McMurdo isn't set up to handle routine airline communications.
And McMurdo can talk quite happily to ML CTR.

[Ex747]

Except that Qantas a/c are not equipped with Iridium (as you say, would they care to spend the $$ ?). Inmarsat coverage does not extend below about 80S. McMurdo is not (as I understand it) a designated ATC facility. Could be done but would they bother for limited operations ?

[compressor stall]

Class A Airspace is controlled by Mac Centre under LOA with AWC NZ below 60S. It operates just as you'd expect.

[Roj approved]

Could be done but would they bother for limited operations ?

Surely the equipment cost will be balanced against fuel burn/aircraft operation cost over the more northern route. But, we all know the QF group will save $1 by spending $10 ;-)

[Capt Fathom]

Inmarsat coverage does not extend below about 80S.

I doubt the Qantas flights need to go that far south.

[C441]

I doubt the Qantas flights need to go that far south.(80S)
Jo'berg flights rarely got much further than 62-63. As Going Boeing mentions below, SCL flights go down as far as 71.5 Sth. The charters occasionally approach 75 South but that's about the limit as there's plenty to see (weather permitting) between Cape Hallett and Terra Nova Bay without having to go any further South. The alternative is a westbound run across to Casey station, in which case you won't get much more than 67 South.

[Going Boeing]

The return flights from SCL to SYD frequently go as far as S71 30.0 The area further South hasn’t been charted to the required standards and there is some terrain which could affect the depressurisation requirements.

[poporange]

Lucky enough, the first time that ETOPS-330 approval was given to a four-engined aircraft.