Bit of chatter over on FT that the QF9/10 is not doing very well and will be dumped
Emirates tie-up fails to boost Qantas performance - Travel & Hospitality - ArabianBusiness.com
I am surprised at this having flown QF9/10 three times since DXB route started: J is full every time and could not get my preferred seats 2 months out on 1 leg.
This, if true, smells like the QF29/30 MEL-HKG-LHR flights: always heavily booked but stopped "because of poor demand for these flights by passengers". If QF are not doing well internationally it is because they do not fly anywhere (much), try to route everyone via SYD and, for many ports, no longer offer flights on QF metal or at convenient times.
Finally the new route is not good: the flight time DXB-LHR is too short: I arrived severely jet-lagged; the menu is culturally inappropriate for most PAX (and is not as nice as previously); the London crew are often fatigued on the DXB-LHR sector (2 back of clock sectors with short layover) so not always up to standard; and QF have not sorted out supply and aircraft restocking issues.
If QF want a successful international service then they need to provide a service that passengers want to use not what management want to provide. IS AJ deliberately trying to sabotage QF international? Why link up with the airline that has stated that it wants to be the dominant airline to/from Australia? And then hand it most of the routes from Australia to EUrope & UK?