No, it wasn't. But I think that was mostly because QF never really made a serious go of it. They used an older configured plane (a 767) I think, only operated the service 3/4 days a week and were often double the price of the (far superior) SQ service via SIN. Occasionally it was possible to get interline deals with AA to JFK, LAX, HNL, ORD etc. via NRT which were often popular but most of the time but they were very difficult to book and QF's website always encouraged you to go via SYD and LAX instead.
I really think there's a market there for JAL or ANA to start services to Perth and then fly people onwards to their range of North American destinations, just one stop from Perth to New York, Chicago, Seattle etc. Something that QF will never be able to match. At this stage QF's only international destinations out of Perth are SIN and HKG. They've pretty much accepted defeat in Perth and allowed the foreign carriers to take over and expand.
I don't think a "serious go" would've improved conditions on this route, except for the price. Even then, there's a non-trivial weigh-up of direct services vs. via-services; suffice to say we are of a different breed on this board...... now whether that was worth the cost difference I have absolutely no idea. (It probably wasn't, but again,
our AFF judgement here...)
I'm not sure interline to the USA would be a popular option, though I have heard some sandgropers take advantage of this kind of routing; just not many. I thought it would've been a point-to-point market, and again I'm not seeing the big demand.
I'm also not of the opinion that QF has categorically "accepted defeat" in PER. There just isn't market. Most of the traffic is to SIN and I'd be guessing that's for Euro service feeders. Of course, international competitors are always going to come in and challenge QF on routes operating out of PER. The way I see it is what are the real direct opportunities for PER travellers, and a
serious market at that (especially one that would be better than the SIN/HKG feeder markets).
Not every international venture (QF or non-QF) to PER is successful or exactly testament that QF have given up. MH recently had a BKI sortie which is now withdrawn. NZ's PER-AKL service, despite being a very long one, is a Seats to Suit service. Every other entrant is simply flying to their hub (natural thing to do - not necessarily a direct service to where people want to go). And, really, where is the international expansion in PER of select airlines? (SQ notwithstanding, perhaps...)
Also, NH and JL aren't silly, yet JL has only a service to SYD and NH has
none (the latter I find very, very hard to believe). If there was such a rich opportunity staring them in the face why aren't they doing it?
