Author: Matt Graham
What Are The IATA Northern Winter & Summer Schedules?
Today marks the beginning of the 2022-23 IATA northern winter scheduling period. For passengers, this doesn’t really mean much – but it’s a significant date for airline schedulers. Many new airline route launches, cancellations or restarts are planned around the IATA scheduling seasons. With today heralding in the new IATA northern winter season, for example, … Continued
Qatar Airways Stops Selling Flights to Canberra
Qatar Airways’ new route to Canberra could be dead in the water before it even started. In July of this year, Qatar Airways announced that it would launch daily flights from Doha to Canberra via Melbourne from 1 October 2022. But shortly before this route was due to launch, the Qatari airline announced that the … Continued
Podcast #96: 49 Years in the Cockpit
Retired pilot Ron Haack flew for 49 years, starting his career in the Royal Australian Air Force and finishing up flying Airbus A330s and Boeing 747s for Qantas. In episode 96 of the AFF on Air podcast, Ron joins Matt for a chat about the life of a pilot and some of the more challenging … Continued
49 Years in the Cockpit – AIR096
In the episode, Matt chats to Ron Haack, a recently retired pilot. Ron began his career in the Royal Australian Air Force and then flew for Qantas for 24 years, flying Airbus A330s and Boeing 747-400s. Episode contents: 0:55 – Fortnightly news round-up 8:48 – Interview with Ron Haack 34:00 – Feedback from … Continued
How Will Virgin Australia Launch Flights to Tokyo?
Just before the COVID-19 pandemic began, Virgin Australia won a daily slot to operate flights to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. Virgin prepared for months to launch daily Airbus A330-200 flights from Brisbane to Tokyo, which were to be operated in partnership with All Nippon Airways. The airline even began selling tickets and had planned a big … Continued
Air NZ Removes “Seat Only” Fares to Perth, Hawaii & Tahiti
Over the past decade or so, there has been a clear trend in the airline industry to “unbundle” airfares. For the increasingly prominent low-cost carriers, selling cheap tickets with optional add-ons is a core part of the business model. But even some full-service legacy carriers have launched “light” or “basic” fares in recent years which … Continued
Sydney-Melbourne in Qantas Business Class: 737 or A330?
When flying from Sydney to Melbourne with Qantas, you’ll often have the choice to fly on a narrow-body Boeing 737 or a wide-body Airbus A330. The Airbus A330 is a more popular aircraft with most passengers because it has a better Business Class product and is more spacious. On the Qantas A330, all Business Class … Continued
Review: Canberra-Sydney with Link Airways (Virgin Australia)
Since March 2022, Link Airways has been operating the Canberra-Sydney route on behalf of Virgin Australia using Saab 340 turboprop aircraft. These flights are marketed by Virgin Australia and carry “VA” flight numbers. The usual Velocity Frequent Flyer benefits apply in the same way that they would for a Virgin Australia flight, meaning you can … Continued
Jetstar Strands Passengers in Bali for 18 Days
A family of four was left stranded in Bali for 18 days after Jetstar cancelled their flight home and didn’t offer an alternative flight until more than two weeks later. After a holiday in Indonesia, AFF member Hutch0007 and their family was booked to return to Melbourne on a Jetstar flight departing on 16 September 2022. … Continued