QF1/9 cancellations coming?

[dajop]

I certainly would not want to be travelling in the current environment, and I suspect that I'm not alone.

Is that because of having to do pre-departure testing before returning to Australia? I am advised in another thread, that this is the main thing holding back the Australian tourism industry and stopping people either travelling overseas or travelling to Australia for holidays.

It seems in that thread I was way off the mark in suggesting that other factors and world events might be dissuading many from travel. But I was wrong it seems it is largely due to the testing requirements.

 

[justinbrett]

Longer runway? and further west ?
And dom flights already occur to BME?

What happened to the Sandline helicopters at KTR after the Sandline mercernary incident

Longer runway than where? Tindal? Broome is only 7900 feet.

Katherine (actually called Tindal) is 9000 and far better equipped being a RAAF base. That said, unlike Darwin it's not a joint user base (so would require ministerial approval) and not really great at handling a B787 outside of an emergency/divert. Airfield is fine but it lacks the GSE for a quick turnaround. There's certainly no lounge in Tindal, though the Officer's Mess is not bad.

 

[Quickstatus]

Broome is only 7900 feet

I’m told BME adequate for 787-9 takeoff and 200nm closer than KTR and insignificantly 40nm closer than DRW
Interestingly the Officers Mess Tindal is not registered for GST - no tax invoices. But the Seargents mess is

 

[justinbrett]

I’m told adequate for 787-9 takeoff and 200nm closer.

Told by who?

 

[jrfsp]

It will be routed back to PER as soon as the minor terminal upgrades are finished in T3.

 

[Quickstatus]

Told by who?

A QF 787 captain who during the covid furlough was part of the faculty involved in medical training especially in human factors.whether actually true I have no idea

 

[Quickstatus]

It will be routed back to PER

Or routed via SIN/DXB due to fuel prices?

 

[justinbrett]

A QF 787 captain who during the covid furlough was part of the faculty involved in medical training especially in human factors.whether actually true I have no idea

I just run the numbers, and as expected, with full fuel (as it needs to get to LHR), it could take off with nil cargo and nil pax.

Possibly you did not ask him in context of this exact situation.

7900FT is a tiny runway for a widebody - especially given the higher temperatures of the tropics (which increase runway distance required). Enough for a domestic flight but not for ULH.

 

[Quickstatus]

Possibly you did not ask him

Nope I asked him about Broome as personally I have no desire to transit via PER . He didn’t do any actual calculations though if that helps
Does the 787-9 always go full fuel to PER? The limitation is crew hours.

 

[jrfsp]

Nope I asked him about Broome as personally I have no desire to transit via PER . He didn’t do any actual calculations though if that helps
Does the 787-9 always go full fuel to PER? The limitation is crew hours.

Dont want to go through PER but BME is okay? The QF club might struggle....

 

[justinbrett]

Nope I asked him about Broome as personally I have no desire to transit via PER . He didn’t do any actual calculations though if that helps
Does the 787-9 always go full fuel to PER? The limitation is crew hours.

Alice Springs is only 100FT longer than Broome and even it can't support a full B717 flight to Darwin on a hot day.

I can't speak for your contact, but I'd love to see his numbers if he disagrees.

It's the fuel that makes this unviable. You're about 20T under MTOW due to the reduced length, and once you load the fuel there's nothing left for pax and cargo.

 

[dajop]

Why on earth would there be any value in transiting BME? If you’re routing via WA you’d simply go back to PER. On great circle, DRW is about 400miles closer to LHR than PER. But on the routing avoiding Russian airspace PER is 200+ miles closer to LHR (as great circle doesn’t go over Russia). Overall via PER (from MEL) would be 550 miles shorter than current route via DRW.

 

[Quickstatus]

Why on earth would there be any value in transiting BME?

Because there is nothing in PER. A whimsical exploration of the possibilities

 

[dajop]

Because there is nothing in PER. A whimsical exploration of the possibilities

Ok, if that's the case what about LEA then. It should be able to handle a fully loaded 787?

 

[Scr77]

Because there is nothing in PER. A whimsical exploration of the possibilities

Well in that case, let’s go with Learmonth and visit the whale sharks.

edit. pipped by dajop

 

[justinbrett]

Does the 787-9 always go full fuel to PER? The limitation is crew hours.

There can be more than one limitation. They'd be flying SYD-LHR direct if the only limitation was crew hours.

From my calculations out of Broome it would require full fuel (~90T for the trip leaving 10T for alternates & safety margins) - and PER is slightly further. But PER & DRW both have 11,000FT runways so they can take off full fuel with decent loads. Obviously every flight is different with winds, OAT and cargo loads.

Ok, if that's the case what about LEA then. It should be able to handle a fully loaded 787?

Yep, it's longer than Tindal, around 10K. But getting ground handling would be difficult, it's only a RAAF bare base, and the civilian airport usually serves much smaller aircraft - refuelling would be a bit of a hassle. Curtin would also be OK, runway is the same length.

None of these are good options though, runway length is just one factor.

 

[dajop]

None of these are good options though, runway length is just one factor.

Oh agreed. PER would actually make most sense, especially as the route is now shorter than DRW route.

 

[Quickstatus]

None of these are good options though

LEA good as well. Lots to do
PER-LHR actually longer than DRW great circle.

 

[dajop]

PER actually longer than DRW great circle.

I didn't say it wasn't. But it's irrelevant right now, as they can't use the great circle route from DRW at the moment, as it goes over Russia, but they more or less can from PER.

The PER routing would be like this, so 9183 miles, add on 100 or so for whatever reason: Great Circle Mapper

The DRW current routing is around 9350 miles:

QF9 (QFA9) Qantas Flight Tracking and History 16-Mar-2022 (DRW / YPDN-LHR / EGLL) - FlightAware

Track Qantas (QF) #9 flight from Darwin Int'l / RAAF to London Heathrow

flightaware.com

 

[Franky]

Because there is nothing in PER. A whimsical exploration of the possibilities

I would suggest there 'is nothing' in transit lounges anywhere, whimsical or otherwise....