What's the emptiest international flight ex or to Oz you've been on?

[Melburnian1]

Many of us travelling in whY are used to at least two thirds full international flights, if not even more heavily loaded.

Some of us probably think that we have a talent for NOT scoring an empty seat next to us in whY, making for a cosy but sometimes not so pleasant experience, particularly if we are tall or (dare I say it) wide and the seats are the horrid so-called slimline type.

However, some AFFers may have scored the jackpot: if not an operational upgrade, four seats vacant in whY (perhaps down the back of the 'bus') so that one could stretch out in a poor man's J class.

Restricting travel periods to the last 12 months for recency's sake, what is the emptiest international flight you've been on to or from Australia in either (a) whY (b) J (c) F and was it as empty in other classes?

What airline was it, what month and day of the week, what time did you leave your origin, which aircraft type was it, what destination was the plane flying to, roughly how many were on the manifest in your chosen class or other classes and did you therefore have a very good snooze or extra attention from the cabin crew?

Did you pay a lower fare than normal because it was relatively poorly patronised, or was there no obvious nexus between demand and price?

 

[harvyk]

AKL-MEL on QF26 a few years back (ok so not in the last year). It was a B747 and there wouldn't have been more than about 30 pax in Y. Every single person had a full row to themselves...

 

[jetlagger]

Many of us travelling in whY are used to at least two thirds full international flights, if not even more heavily loaded.

Some of us probably think that we have a talent for NOT scoring an empty seat next to us in whY, making for a cosy but sometimes not so pleasant experience, particularly if we are tall or (dare I say it) wide and the seats are the horrid so-called slimline type.

However, some AFFers may have scored the jackpot: if not an operational upgrade, four seats vacant in whY (perhaps down the back of the 'bus') so that one could stretch out in a poor man's J class.

Restricting travel periods to the last 12 months for recency's sake, what is the emptiest international flight you've been on to or from Australia in either (a) whY (b) J (c) F and was it as empty in other classes?

What airline was it, what month and day of the week, what time did you leave your origin, which aircraft type was it, what destination was the plane flying to, roughly how many were on the manifest in your chosen class or other classes and did you therefore have a very good snooze or extra attention from the cabin crew?

Did you pay a lower fare than normal because it was relatively poorly patronised, or was there no obvious nexus between demand and price?

Just last week, JQ11 OOL/NRT whY cabin load was around 48%.
Return same sector around 80% load & I still managed to score 4 'sleeper seats" :mrgreen:

 

[Melburnian1]

By the way, I am trying to exclude so-called 'triangular' sectors within Australia on international flights such as JQ or AI flying between SYD and MEL on what is the first leg of an international flight. If say a JQ flight has started in SYD without international passengers ex other countries, it is going to have spare seats for passengers joining in MEL.

 

[AngieP]

MEL to HNL some years ago on JQ - I think the plane was only about one third full - hubby and I had already secured exit row seats so I moved back to full row of the poor woman's sleeper! Similar experience on the way home - I guess that is why that service was eventually discontinued. Conversely I've also been on a flight where two seats were 'doubled' booked! That was an interesting discussion between the two couples with the same boarding passes! I think the bikie looking guy won!

 

[defurax]

SCL-SYD on QF28 in late August. J at 50%, Y+ at 30% (I didn't have a look at the whY cabin). Service in Y+ was VERY attentive. The flight was so empty I witnessed a J upgrade being processed in the galley!:shock:

 

[toowongman]

The flight was so empty I witnessed a J upgrade being processed in the galley!:shock:

Huh - only thought TG did those "galley upgrades"...

 

[JohnK]

I have been on many flights where the load has been <50%. In fact this one time CHC-SYD on QF there were only about 10 people in the second section of the 767. I sat down the back and there wasn't a person near me within 10 rows. CSM came around and we had a great chat and she gave me a bottle of champagne as well to take with me. I saw her a few months later on a SYD-SIN flight working in the upper deck business and I had an op-up into an exit row.

Personally I can sleep upright without any issue at all. I just slept for the majority of the VA flight OOL-SYD in 4C. I am not interested in a row of 4 seats down the back. I want to be sitting in front bulkhead if at all possible otherwise seats like 80AK and exit rows are also attractive.

I did have 40DEFG bulkhead all to myself on a 747 once. So does that count as 3 shadows?

 

[Mattg]

QF56 (AKL - SYD) on a Monday afternoon in June - had around 40 people on board. (Apparently the return QF49 was full though as it was the end of a long weekend in NZ).

 

[pauly7]

Pity you are restricting this to last 12 months because there were some amazingly empty VA international routes in their short lived international expansion during the dying days of Brett Godfrey!!

 

[Happy Trails]

I had the whole F cabin to myself earlier this year with TG SYD-BKK (thanks Lifemiles).
Needless to say I didn't lack for attention, at one point there was one FA topping up my champagne, another serving me caviar and a third pouring me iced vodka.
On arrival we parked at a remote stand and I did feel a little embarrassed when the rest of the pax were held back while I descended the stairs to my private minibus.

 

[RooFlyer]

EK 415 SYD-DXB Monday last week; FA told me the plane was much less than half full.

 

[redcow]

On QF5 9th Oct 6 people in back section of 330 and front section lightly loaded also W was full

 

[aikman]

Etihad AUH-MEL a few months ago. Y was about a third full if that. Our family of four had a row of 4 seats each. The 15 hours flew by.

 

[Theky]

1) SYD to SIN on a BA 744 a few years back on Christmas Day. Only 3 passengers in CW on the upper deck.

Sadly, BA still managed to deliver an indifferent service on such a light load :-|

2) MEL - SIN on a SQ 388 in March this year. I'm the only passenger in Suites. After boarding, I did not see any of the other passengers for the rest of the flight.

Needless to say, the service was impeccable and it's the closest I've come to a private jet

 

[Simo]

Most of my international flights have always been pretty full but have done some domestic flights and they have been very light as it is like 1 FA to 2 or 3 paxs.

 

[blackcat20]

The emptiest I've been on had one seat spare, in my row, only because the passenger didn't turn up. I seem to have a knack for travelling on busy days, eg the last weekend of school holidays.

 

[AvroAnson]

NCE to MXP on Qatar earlier this year. SWMBO and I were the only pax in J on an A330. Service was superb, with the staff falling over each other to serve us.

About 10 years ago I was one of about a dozen pax down the back of a BA 747 LHR - SIN. I was pretty sick at the time and snagged a row of four to myself so I could stretch out and sleep in relative comfort the whole way.

 

[Dalescott]

Flew in an EK flight a few years ago, in J, and it had only the wife, myself, and another couple in J. Not like that these days, full and I mean full.

 

[Melburnian1]

Thank you to AFF members such as alkman for exploding the myth of my perception (based on a few flights with SQ, and fewer with EK and EY as I am not a great fan of Middle Eastern airlines) that these carriers' flights are 'always full or close to it.'

While the statistics show that there must be some lightly loaded flights, if one's experience a la AFF member blackcat20 is usually on near full flights with particular airlines, that's the image of them that the traveller will have for every flight.