Lets hope some medics are on board for DVT issues. My cousin collapsed at DBX after MEL to DXB, perfectly healthy individual(long day then a long flight).
I certainly only go to SYD with stopovers, and never thru ME3, too long sectors, better by SIN, HKK or TYO. My health is worth a few more ££'s

Whilst DVT can be associated with long haul travel, I have known cases where the person had not had such travel in a very long time. One of them a 19 year female.

I thought these QF 787's were only going to have 220 ish seats. Not much more than a 737-800, so it should be pretty comfortable. Having said that, 19 hours is brutal in Y class :{

Perth is the hub for the mining operations in Western Australia. It also offers the opportunity to clear Australian customs and immigration before continuing to a range of destinations. It would not surprise me if London/Perth/Sydney came in at much the same as the traditional one stop routes with the benefit of being a domestic passenger much like the BA London City/Shannon/ New York.

Whether I want to fly a route that long non stop is another issue!

I assume that was with Garuda on their new B777. They are a Skytrax 5* airline and their B777s are in 9 across configuration which would have given you a comfortable journey. Try it in the middle seat in a sardine can configuration B787 on a lesser airline and I doubt you'd want to repeat the experience.

Some airlines have a special storage area on their long haul aircraft to cater for deaths inflight.

Correct, although their economy class is nothing special, and in terms of elbow room there’s actually not a great deal of difference between 9 across and 10 across on a 777.

You’re partly right, though. I had a vacant seat next to me and that made all the difference. Just as it would have done on a longer journey with Qantas on a 787. If the aircraft had been full it would have been a much more uncomfortable journey, regardless of airline, equipment or seating configuration.

Metro man, I believe that was just SQ on two ULH A340-500s, configured for just F/J, that they no longer own. I don't believe any other airline has found the need.

At this stage, QANTAS is more likely to be indulging in some ‘kite flying’ to elicit interest in the route.
Frankly, 14 x 17½ hour flights a week to Western Australia, leaving the majority of passengers with a transfer followed by another 5-7 hour flight to reach Eastern Australian or New Zealand destinations would seem to be stretching credulity.
With much fanfare they’ve announced new seats in Economy Class – an extra inch of legroom. I’ve news for Mr Joyce. Several airlines have been offering 32 inches in Economy for many years. Some even offer 33 inches as standard.
Try as I might and even with the magic extra inch along with the Dreamliner ‘mood lighting’ and better cabin pressurisation, I cannot see QANTAS getting the loads they will need to make this route a success regardless of which class of seating you look at.
Wait for aircraft able to go the extra miles to reach Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne or even Auckland and Christchurch and QANTAS and other airlines may then be on to a winner.
But, and it is a very big BUT, those flights will be 20 hours or more. The bulk of passengers interested in taking the direct route will be those looking for package deals and the least expensive options. That means they will NOT be First or Business Class passengers and I’d be surprised if QANTAS could achieve reasonable load factors in these premier classes.
Which brings the not unimportant question of passenger comfort to the fore.
Anyone willingly subjecting themselves to the torture that is today’s long haul Economy Class standard for 17 to 20 hours needs their bumps read. There is only one solution that will ensure near full loads and that is one class, Premium Economy as standard on these ultra-long haul flights. More importantly, this accommodation should be offered at Economy Class rates with additional, value added services available to increase revenues.
If QANTAS, or any other long haul airline, really wants such routes to be an economic success then that is the only way to go. Otherwise, the majority of us will continue taking the regular routes with stops like Singapore or Dubai to let us get off, stretch our legs or book into a hotel for a shower, change of clothes and a night in a proper bed.
So, it will take 2 days instead of 1. So what?

Metroman,
I regularly fly BKK-LHR direct. It's 12 hours. The airline I use has 3-3-3 seating in economy and I am happy enough with that but 12 hours is my limit. Premium Economy, if I am prepared to pay massively for the extra 6 inches of legroom and 2-4-2 would make the extra hours acceptable.

IIRC The SQ non stop to New York initially had a business and low density economy class configuration which changed to all business. Low density economy may have been due to payload restrictions rather than passenger comfort.

A QF B787 PER-SIN-LHR may be a better proposition as this would still give a direct service though not non stop, and would allow a mini hub in Singapore for connections from other Australian cities and the Jetstar Asia network.

Some passengers would prefer a transit through Singapore rather than Dubai and they would be catered for whilst limited seating on the B787 wouldn't encroach on the tie up with Emirates too much.

Time will tell if the numbers workout. Sydney - London non stop in reasonable comfort at a reasonable price would be the ultimate goal.

I suspect there will be enough business travellers in premium cabins to make the front end worthwhile. Time is money, as they say.

For the sardine section, QF will be able to price it very keenly, and still generate the equivalent yield of a flight via DXB/HKG/SIN.

Cost sensitivity seems to be the main driver for filling economy seats these days.

As you know, this thread originated in this forum in October 2015. I posted this in #25:

I mentioned this topic to a good friend who is a travel agent. She said they get lots of calls about booking a particular kind of flight to Australia. "I don't want the flight that stops, you know? I want the one that goes straight there. I don't want the flight that takes 24 hours."

I'm told that all agents are used to this.

Bottom line, just like most things in life, some will and some won't use this service whatever their reasons. We (passengers) have the final choice. My personal choice will be "no thank you", but that's me!

Given that it will require a new generation of aircraft to fly non-stop between UK and Eastern Australia, I'm struggling to see any fundamental different between flying LHR/SYD via Perth in the meantime and doing the same via DXB, BKK or SIN.

Given that QF did break the record for a non stop LHR-SYD 744 flight back in 1989, (OK so there were only a handful of pax onboard) then using a 789 on a restricted payload might work on a premium basis a La Singapore's US flight.

If QF went back to the kangaroo route and avoided ME3 territory, then it would pick up more travellers, instead of the slog from ME3 to downunder and vv.:*

But they came off the through Kangaroo routes because they weren't making enough money..............

Never sure how as they always seem pretty full but a lot of people seemed to use airmiles out of Australia

I'd hazard a guess that Qantas pick up a fair amount of interline traffic at DXB, which is presumably what prompted them to fly via there.

Which is the alternate before Perth - it is suggested Learmonth? Plenty up here.:rolleyes:

This.


If touchdown were in Sydney or Melbourne, it would be attractive but you're talking about landing at an Australian city whose nearest large city isn't in Australia but in Indonesia. Someone has been talking lessons from Ryanair and Easyjet in describing a location as actually near where people are trying to fly to :D