Virgin flights under threat
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Bugsmasha , I have to agree that Next Generation is somewhat flawed in his facts and arguments.
I'm not touting any airline difference thing but the fact is this.
Airlines are in business.That means they must make a profit.
There is a very fine line with yield management and in the case of a lower cost carrier even more so.
To boast about giving away tickets and $1 fares rather than loose market share is not only reckless but must give these back-room yield-management types a major migraine!!!
To then threaten to pull out of Alice sounds like folly to me.
The truth is this - some routes make more money than others.
Some routes lose money.
If you are serious about providing a service to the travelling public (especially a holiday destination like Alice) then take the good with the bad.
What you lose on Alice you may make up on other routes.
To threaten to pull out just sounds plain desperate and to me sounds like they arent really interested in the low end of the market.
as I've said before, so much for keeping the "air fare"
I'm not touting any airline difference thing but the fact is this.
Airlines are in business.That means they must make a profit.
There is a very fine line with yield management and in the case of a lower cost carrier even more so.
To boast about giving away tickets and $1 fares rather than loose market share is not only reckless but must give these back-room yield-management types a major migraine!!!
To then threaten to pull out of Alice sounds like folly to me.
The truth is this - some routes make more money than others.
Some routes lose money.
If you are serious about providing a service to the travelling public (especially a holiday destination like Alice) then take the good with the bad.
What you lose on Alice you may make up on other routes.
To threaten to pull out just sounds plain desperate and to me sounds like they arent really interested in the low end of the market.
as I've said before, so much for keeping the "air fare"
Thread Starter
Now Ladies,
I didn't start this thread to promote an all-in DJ vs QF brawl.
I merely posted what was printed in the local paper here and was hoping for constructive replies. For what it is worth, I have flown both DJ and regional Qantas, ie a BAE with no inflight entertainment, and I couldn't find much to fault with either airline, Service or Price wise.
I didn't start this thread to promote an all-in DJ vs QF brawl.
I merely posted what was printed in the local paper here and was hoping for constructive replies. For what it is worth, I have flown both DJ and regional Qantas, ie a BAE with no inflight entertainment, and I couldn't find much to fault with either airline, Service or Price wise.
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Just to throw fuel on the fire,
The word is Jetstar will take over a lot of the Qantas flights to Alice Springs. Ground personal had to tender for their jobs a few months back, I believe they were offered a Virgin type hourly pay - less than you would get at Maca's.
Such is the way things are going, down the drain that is.......
The word is Jetstar will take over a lot of the Qantas flights to Alice Springs. Ground personal had to tender for their jobs a few months back, I believe they were offered a Virgin type hourly pay - less than you would get at Maca's.
Such is the way things are going, down the drain that is.......
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Thurs "Australian Financial Review"
Qantas in radical plan for Jetstar
"Jetstar is believed to be considering using the Richmond air force base in Sydney's outer west at a later date to avoid some of the charges at Sydney Airport."
Qantas will today intensify its assault on rival Virgin Blue with a radical plan to direct some flights of its new budget carrier, Jetstar, away from Melbourne's flagship Tullamarine airport, following the lead of low-cost carriers worldwide to shift away from major terminals to cut costs.
In a first for a major commercial airline in Australia, Jetstar plans to run some of its Victorian operations out of the Lindsay Fox -owned Avalon airport near Geelong, offering three return flights a day to Sydney and two to Brisbane with introductory fares of less than $50.
The launch of Jetstar comes as Qantas accelerates its cost-cutting strategy after chief executive Geoff Dixon vowed last week to find an extra $500 million of savings on top of the $1 billion that had previously been budgeted over two years.
Jetstar will operate under more flexible working arrangements than its parent and offer a no-frills service, as Mr Dixon draws what he calls a ``line in the sand'' against Virgin Blue and other regional carriers such as Regional Express to keep their share of the domestic aviation market below 35 per cent.
The listed Virgin Blue, jointly owned by Chris Corrigan's Patrick Corp and Richard Branson, has snared about 30 per cent of the domestic market in just three years.
Yesterday, it said its January passenger numbers were up nearly 45 per cent on last January.
Virgin Blue chief executive Brett Godfrey has said he will give away free seats to remain competitive with Jetstar, setting the scene for another round of severe discounting rivalling the bloodletting of early 2000 when four carriers Qantas, Virgin and the now defunct Ansett and Impulse battled for a share of the domestic market.
Mr Dixon will today outline key details of Jetstar's route structure and pricing, including taking over many of the regional routes operated by Qantas's Boeing 717 aircraft, including flights to Hobart, Launceston, Rockhampton, Gold Coast, Mackay, Cairns and Newcastle.
Jetstar will also serve the Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne routes along with Qantas's mainline carrier and is targeting a turn-around time between flight arrivals and departures of only 25 minutes compared with Virgin's 30 minutes and the industry average of 35 minutes.
The unveiling of Jetstar's plans come as a new report from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission released yesterday showed airports had increased aeronautical service charges by at least 40 per cent since the federal government removed price caps two years ago.
The decision to operate some flights out of Avalon is understood to have come after heated discussions between Qantas and Melbourne Airport Corporation , the owner of Tullamarine airport, over landing and terminal charges.
Mr Dixon told analysts last week he believed Melbourne Airport had been ``price gouging''.
It is understood Jetstar will still operate flights out of Melbourne's Tullamarine airport in addition to Avalon but will use Qantas's own terminal rather than the old Ansett terminal.
Jetstar is believed to be considering using the Richmond air force base in Sydney's outer west at a later date to avoid some of the charges at Sydney Airport.
But for the moment Jetstar will operate at Sydney's Kingsford Smith airport out of the old Ansett T2 terminal, which is also used by Virgin Blue.
The loss of some of Jetstar's operations from the old Ansett terminal at Tullamarine is a blow for its owner, Australia Pacific Airports Corp, which is 9 per cent owned by Hastings Funds Management . The company's owners are considering a public float over the next four years.
Mr Fox's Linfox is expected to work with Jetstar to redevelop terminal facilities at Avalon airport, which is used by Qantas as an engineering and heavy maintenance facility, with the capability to handle aircraft as large as Boeing 747s.
It is understood Geelong council has agreed to commit funds to the redevelopment, while Jetstar is not believed to be putting any significant funds into the project.
But the move to Avalon is expected to raise safety concerns about how well equipped Avalon is to handle a major influx of planes. The airport has only one runway, limiting usage, and its air-traffic control facilities need an upgrade.
===========================================
Qantas in radical plan for Jetstar
"Jetstar is believed to be considering using the Richmond air force base in Sydney's outer west at a later date to avoid some of the charges at Sydney Airport."
Qantas will today intensify its assault on rival Virgin Blue with a radical plan to direct some flights of its new budget carrier, Jetstar, away from Melbourne's flagship Tullamarine airport, following the lead of low-cost carriers worldwide to shift away from major terminals to cut costs.
In a first for a major commercial airline in Australia, Jetstar plans to run some of its Victorian operations out of the Lindsay Fox -owned Avalon airport near Geelong, offering three return flights a day to Sydney and two to Brisbane with introductory fares of less than $50.
The launch of Jetstar comes as Qantas accelerates its cost-cutting strategy after chief executive Geoff Dixon vowed last week to find an extra $500 million of savings on top of the $1 billion that had previously been budgeted over two years.
Jetstar will operate under more flexible working arrangements than its parent and offer a no-frills service, as Mr Dixon draws what he calls a ``line in the sand'' against Virgin Blue and other regional carriers such as Regional Express to keep their share of the domestic aviation market below 35 per cent.
The listed Virgin Blue, jointly owned by Chris Corrigan's Patrick Corp and Richard Branson, has snared about 30 per cent of the domestic market in just three years.
Yesterday, it said its January passenger numbers were up nearly 45 per cent on last January.
Virgin Blue chief executive Brett Godfrey has said he will give away free seats to remain competitive with Jetstar, setting the scene for another round of severe discounting rivalling the bloodletting of early 2000 when four carriers Qantas, Virgin and the now defunct Ansett and Impulse battled for a share of the domestic market.
Mr Dixon will today outline key details of Jetstar's route structure and pricing, including taking over many of the regional routes operated by Qantas's Boeing 717 aircraft, including flights to Hobart, Launceston, Rockhampton, Gold Coast, Mackay, Cairns and Newcastle.
Jetstar will also serve the Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne routes along with Qantas's mainline carrier and is targeting a turn-around time between flight arrivals and departures of only 25 minutes compared with Virgin's 30 minutes and the industry average of 35 minutes.
The unveiling of Jetstar's plans come as a new report from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission released yesterday showed airports had increased aeronautical service charges by at least 40 per cent since the federal government removed price caps two years ago.
The decision to operate some flights out of Avalon is understood to have come after heated discussions between Qantas and Melbourne Airport Corporation , the owner of Tullamarine airport, over landing and terminal charges.
Mr Dixon told analysts last week he believed Melbourne Airport had been ``price gouging''.
It is understood Jetstar will still operate flights out of Melbourne's Tullamarine airport in addition to Avalon but will use Qantas's own terminal rather than the old Ansett terminal.
Jetstar is believed to be considering using the Richmond air force base in Sydney's outer west at a later date to avoid some of the charges at Sydney Airport.
But for the moment Jetstar will operate at Sydney's Kingsford Smith airport out of the old Ansett T2 terminal, which is also used by Virgin Blue.
The loss of some of Jetstar's operations from the old Ansett terminal at Tullamarine is a blow for its owner, Australia Pacific Airports Corp, which is 9 per cent owned by Hastings Funds Management . The company's owners are considering a public float over the next four years.
Mr Fox's Linfox is expected to work with Jetstar to redevelop terminal facilities at Avalon airport, which is used by Qantas as an engineering and heavy maintenance facility, with the capability to handle aircraft as large as Boeing 747s.
It is understood Geelong council has agreed to commit funds to the redevelopment, while Jetstar is not believed to be putting any significant funds into the project.
But the move to Avalon is expected to raise safety concerns about how well equipped Avalon is to handle a major influx of planes. The airport has only one runway, limiting usage, and its air-traffic control facilities need an upgrade.
===========================================
Nunc est bibendum
Geez NG, you disappear for a while after being shown to be a goose only to put your head above the parapet and prove the point again. You'd reckon you'd learn- or at least make yourself a harder target!
Borg, laughed myself silly!
So much for 'competition'!
Borg, laughed myself silly!
So much for 'competition'!
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Perhaps Virgin will "cherry pick" this route by pulling out during the summer and making a triumphant return for the peak season each year.
How to put the "spin" on this will be the trick though. (Maybe they want to be fair to all the the punters that couldn't go for a holiday to NT if Virgin didn't support the top end during its busiest time.?)
How to put the "spin" on this will be the trick though. (Maybe they want to be fair to all the the punters that couldn't go for a holiday to NT if Virgin didn't support the top end during its busiest time.?)
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I don't think there is so much as a snowflake's chance in hell that Jetstar will be able to use Richmond. Too many political hurdles, and the Defence brass would probably lie down across the runway before letting Jetstar share an already busy military transport base.
NG, Richard Branson's management philosophy has always been 'if I'm not going to rake in the money, screw ya'. And while QF would dearly like to dump some of its less profitable country routes, there has always been a huge amount of political pressure not to (this is no big secret). DJ does not have this pressure. On the contrary, they will just say to the applicable government 'give us more free stuff or we're outta here'. They always have and always will scrape the cream off the top of the industry and couldn't care less about the rest.
NG, Richard Branson's management philosophy has always been 'if I'm not going to rake in the money, screw ya'. And while QF would dearly like to dump some of its less profitable country routes, there has always been a huge amount of political pressure not to (this is no big secret). DJ does not have this pressure. On the contrary, they will just say to the applicable government 'give us more free stuff or we're outta here'. They always have and always will scrape the cream off the top of the industry and couldn't care less about the rest.
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The word is Jetstar will take over a lot of the Qantas flights to Alice Springs. Ground personal had to tender for their jobs a few months back, I believe they were offered a Virgin type hourly pay - less than you would get at Maca's.
Not entirely correct. More than likely Jetstar will do what DJ have and only send one flight a day to the Alice. All others will remain QF services. Ground handling will probably be done by QF staff like other ports that are to commence 25May. The only ports so far to be staffed by new JQ staff are MEL, SYD and BNE. Finally Alice ground staff have definitely not at this stage tendered for their jobs.
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Maybe if VB flew direct Adelaide from Alice there loads would be a bit better.For a extra 30 dollars you can fly QF to adelaide from Alice direct.The people from VB should understand that most Alice locals are from South Oz.
Maybe as AN operated,melb-Adl-Asp-Dwn and then back down.
Hey just my flaggons worth.
Maybe as AN operated,melb-Adl-Asp-Dwn and then back down.
Hey just my flaggons worth.
