Al E Vator,not at all,but would you expect one?;)

mention1,

They haven't even announced JNB, let alone what time they'll get there!

They'll also be flying through PER if they want to do it... So will your wife be happy to put a SYD - JNB customer on a flight that takes 3 hours longer and has a stop? The QF flight leaves at 10:30 so even if the Voz flight took off at morning curfew, it would still only make it to JNB a max of 1 hour before, if not arrive later!

My point here is not to say Qantas are great and I think it is good V is in the market. It is that Virgin are masters of hype and marketing, and its best not to believe everything they say, because when it comes down to it, airlines are airlines and there are limits on what they can actually achieve.

A little bit of competition is always healthy, but I'd hate to see people thinking that they are the saviour when they end up flying the same routes for the same fares as Qantas, but 10 minutes apart.

It will be tough to start operations now, but I do hope it is successful. There is nothing worse than seeing more pilots loose their jobs because of this recession.

PE on it is very good, leather seats much better than QF, also in E you have more leg room than QF. IFE system fantastic. oh and for B the Sit Up BAR is really great.

inandout - Leather seats look good and have better durability (which is why Jetstar have them) but they are not as comfortable to sleep on - people tend to sweat more.

mention 1 - When V Oz start flights to JNB, the timing of the flight will be dictated by availability of the aircraft and thus may be not much different to QF. If the aircraft arrives in SYD from LAX just after 6am then it would probably depart for PER & JNB at about 9am. They have to maximise aircraft utilisation to keep costs down so even if travel agents and some pax prefer a later departure time, it may not be economically feasible.

i thought they were -300's?:confused:

What callsign are they using? The obvious one would be "Aussie" but as that is used by the RAAF for international flights, they would have to use a different one.

Vee Oz I believe... Dunno what happened to Kanga, but thank god!

Good luck, your going to need it. Had a mate look up QF travel loads for SYD-LAX and MEL-LAX, there is plenty of seats available on these flights, some in the next 10 days have atleast 250 seats available, same trend for the next few months. And AA have not even started operating the route yet.

Great time to start expanding whilst everyone else is contracting. I hope they know what their doing! I would be dusting off my CV if I worked at VB/VA or will the AOC be up for sale within side 6 months. Time will tell!:ooh:

Just saw one of the VA aircraft on finals to Adelaide. Would've made a nice photo with the low sun and all.

maui...

My assertion is based on the fact that the aircraft will not be able to use the southern routes that Qantas use to fly close to great circle track (and to get out of the winds) as it is a twin engine aircraft, and the routes take you 4, sometimes 5 hours from an airport.

By flying further north, and having available airports (for ETOPS purposes), it will mean greatly increasing the distance flown.

Can the 777 make it non-stop SYD - JNB whilst complying with ETOPS requirements and not being severely payload restricted? That I don't know, but even if it CAN do it non stop, the additional miles coupled with stronger winds mean that it will take significantly longer.

Isn't it all done on an EDTO basis these days? That would affect both 4 and 2 engine aircraft.

The new regulations covering 4 engines are not effective yet (can't remember the date but it's a few years away)

A Comfy Chair

Without having the benefit of charts etc, I concede that it will take longer, but 3 hours, I think not.

The great circle route cannot be flown 180 minutes EDTO, no doubt. On the other hand 207 minutes (which would be available after a period of operation at 180 minutes) may change that.

I'm not sure of which suitable alternates would be used, however if Cocos and Mauritius are suitable the northerly diversion to stay within 180 minutes, is not great.

Once again I have no data, but I would think that keeping above 40 south would be beneficial WRT to winds, and although they might be stronger than those below 50 south, I would be surprised if it was a significant difference.

Couple that with the fact that the pax will be given a young aircraft with a vibrant and engaged cabin crew, and an IFE that works, I think they will be impressed.

Interesting times.

Maui

Maybe they want to take advantage of the large amount of South African's who travel between JNB and PER?

Definately interesting times ahead.

It is you that is now making assumptions Maui... like that the IFE will work :}

I think the difference in winds between 70S (where Qantas often fly) and 40S will be quite significant, and I think the track miles will be quite a lot higher. You will also have to fly a LOT further north to keep Mauritius in the equation. Often on a QF route Mauritius is never our closest airport... its Perth and then Durban. So its a long way :}

A bit of competition never hurt anyone... but I'm just hoping that people don't blindly assume just because its Virgin they are here to be the knight in shining armour. Standby for (ultimately) fares that are very similar to QF.

No assumption mate. I've used it. It is infinitely better than the Q system. And it does work, unlike 100% of my Q international flights in recent years.

Maybe when it is as old and tired as the Q equipment it may also have problems, but in the meantime the customers will get it as advertised.

M

The QF system worked fine on trials too.

Have you used it on a line flight on a V oz aircraft? With 350 pax deciding to use it at exactly the same time?

We won't know until 6 months in how its going. I certainly hope it works well though.

I'm amazed how many people on PpRune have had QF flights with unserviceable IFE systems... in 5 years on the 744 I can only remember 5 occasions with an inoperative system, and maybe about 10 with it in degraded mode. Maybe I'm lucky, or PpRuners are unlucky!

Anyway... good luck to the V australia team... it is a difficult time to be launching an airline, and no doubt Qantas will push hard. SYD - LAX traffic is already down significantly, and with more airlines fighting for passengers (not just Qantas and V aus), its going to be nasty.