As trends go there replace the A330's with 737's.

Will be quite the network then

Ha

It appears QF sales between PER and LHR on the nonstop have been disappointing after all the publicity. The reason being they are double the cost of their competitors using either a stop in the ME or a stop in Asia.

Industry analysts privately have held concerns that despite the spin, the route would likely be thin.

Operationally it seems a bit of a stretch, perhaps not the correct aircraft. This a function of a decade of neglect of QF as much as anything.

If in fact ticket sales are not strong then perhaps the Qantas bashing induced by management against brand, staff and indeed customers has had a tangible effect on their demand elasticity.

So who actually has access to say its not selling?

Thin route? Gees if a 78 cant do it then maybe...

Any travel agent can see the loads

Given the long lead time I doubt anyone would be expecting full aircraft just yet.

Run the service via Singapore instead of non stop. Then there is a wide body on that route to compete with SQ and Scoot. Onward passengers can be picked up in Singapore from the J* network and other Australian cities served by QF. Tickets could even be sold to passengers originating in Singapore.

The aircraft could easily be filled up as seats would be sold in different markets enabling selective discounting. Bali to London could be priced lower than Brisbane to London if required. A Singapore stopover could be offered as an alternative to Dubai or even an addition as both cities could be visited as part of a London trip.

direct means same aircraft. Before QF flew BNE/LAX nonstop, they flew BNE/AKL/LAX & so BNE/LAX could be called direct, but it wasn't nonstop.

because every other airline is trying to give away seats at present. We heading into one massive recession & everyone knows it, except some silly people who keep buying real estate in SYD & MEL.

As we picked up in other threads the hastily convened EK 'alliance' does not seem to make any money, nor is there upside in passenger numbers through Dubai.. Traffic patterns suggest the Asian routes are much preferred.

Is this hail-Mary ULH route a tacit admission that the EK alliance necessitates a hub through Dubai and trying to get something via Perth a way out of the spiral Joyce signed QF up for?

They cannot.

They can see only availability.

Qantas staff with access to Amadeus/Altea/Staff Travel can see loads

Not on Staff Travel; it just shows N/A and can't be booked on S/T until about October.

I'm not sure too many staff will want to go that way anyway. The chances of being offloaded for seat availability will be bad enough but if it is looking tight on gas PER-LHR (and it will) you're a near certainty to get bumped.

A swarm of 787s from Aust capitol cities into DXB/orSIN/orBKK/orKUL (insert your favourite hub here), then redistribute pax and onwards to lots of points in Europe would work a treat. The hub you have when not having a HUB. Seems to work for the competition.

A quick question.

When I fly Q from Melbourne to LHR via PER, will I have to collect bags from domestic terminal, re-checkin international flight and then pass immigration? Same the other way round? How can that be batter than going via SIN, BKK, DXB, AUH, DOH, HKG, PEK, NRT, or any others?

No. If you're flying on the QF9 you'll be on the same jet all the way through and your bags will be checked all the way through.

If you're coming from somewhere else (say ADL or SYD) you'll have a 200m walk (or less) between the T4 domestic gates to the T3 international departure area. You'll have to go through customs but with only a couple of hundred people I don't reckon that'll be an issue and youlll probably already be checked in.

Like occurs in any other port in Australia now, your bags can be checked all the way through from your domestic flight.

Returning may be a bit different if you're transiting and going to ADL. You'll need to clear customs in PER before checking in for the domestic flight. I suspect that will be made pretty seamless though and again, it's not like there's going to be heaps of people. If you're going to MEL though you'll clear customs in MEL.

Reduced customs times in PER with fewer int departures/arrivals is one positive I can see. If it really works out that way and if it lasts of course. In the old days a lot of customers when HNL-US for precisely that reason - Kerry Packer included.

Rechecking baggage on the return leg will be a hassle for any domestic connection...

More likely your bag will still be tagged through and will be dropped at a desk after the CIQ barrier just like in the old days of International (QF and others) to Domestic transfers to TN and AN.

Originally Posted by pilotchute View Post
Any travel agent can see the loads

worked with Amadeus few years back, when I was multitasking for a small airline & travel agents sometimes book seats on a flight until it is sold out, so they can see availability & they can see how many seats can be sold, before an airline says no more, so this is effectively the load, plus maybe a few % for the no show factor.

Way I understand it, if an agent or whoever, books seats in a CRS, the airline isn't charged straight away, so if the agent cancels the seats relatively quickly, the airlines is not charged by the CRS company & doesn't get ****ty with the agent.

Had to ban some agents, who would book out a flight & not cancel the ones they didn't want straight away, so the airline was charged segment fees by CRS & yet got no revenue from the sale of tickets & probably lost sales, as no one else was able to book those flights, so leakage to other airlines was probably happening. You had to wonder, if the agents, were being paid in some form, to stuff up our inventory.

Remember stories similar to this when Compass mark 1 started. Res staff (talking 1990 before the internet) would answer the phone & would only get clicking sound, so someone, probably from Ansett or TAA/Qantas had organised for computers to continually dial Compass's 1800 number & therefore jam the phones, so real customers couldn't get thru. It happens, but very hard to prove.