Qantas to start flights from Darwin to Singapore

[justinbrett]

Will these be operating with blocked seats? Right at the edge of the range for the E190.
The E190 on MEL-DRW has been stopping in ASP for fuel a few times lately during poor weather

It's well within the range at full payload according to the QF website (not all E190s are equal so going with their figures). 2450 NM, DRW-SIN is 1803 NM (1829 NM via the normal air routes).

I think MEL-DRW is more affected by the jetstream than DRW-SIN is.

 

[keilya]

OK memory a bit fuzzy, but thanks to wayback machine and QF PDF timetables stored on it, I've worked it out for at least the period I lived in Darwin (which saw all three airlines on the DRW-SIN route).

There was definitely a period of no AO in DRW and QF not flying CNS-DRW-SIN (it was flying ADL-DRW-SIN), although I don't doubt they may have done it many years to go, just no way to verify it online.

2003 NW (earliest available on wayback)
3x QF (ADL-DRW-SIN)
View attachment 366953

2005 NW
3xQF (ADL-DRW-SIN)
1xAO (CNS-DRW-SIN)

View attachment 366947

2006 NS
3xQF (2x ADL-DRWxSIN, 1x BNE-DRW-SIN)
5xQF*AO (CNS-DRW-SIN)
View attachment 366948

2006 NW
4xQF*AO (CNS-DRW-SIN) - ended Oct 2026
7xJQ (CNS-DRW-SIN)
View attachment 366949

2007 NS
7xJQ (CNS-DRW-SIN)
View attachment 366952

Going back a bit when Qantas offered around Australia trips with 5 stops for 30000 points (around 2001) I remember definitely taking a Qantas flight Cairns - Darwin which then went to Sin. (You could do the domestic let on the international flight - drinks and food!)

 

[RichardMEL]

Going back a bit when Qantas offered around Australia trips with 5 stops for 30000 points (around 2001) I remember definitely taking a Qantas flight Cairns - Darwin which then went to Sin. (You could do the domestic let on the international flight - drinks and food!)

Back in the day they even had a 767 on CNS-DRW (possibly the same one went onto SIN - i don't recall that though).

That 37k points (iirc) round Oz reward was a geeat great deal for sure...

 

[dajop]

2003 NW (earliest available on wayback)

I'll have to interrogate my wayback machine. I know it has a snapshot of 1993, 1997 and 2000 timetables. Processing speeds are a little slow though, it will take almost 2 weeks to retrieve the information (i.e when I return home at the end of the month).

 

[Rangalad]

Back in the day they even had a 767 on CNS-DRW (possibly the same one went onto SIN - i don't recall that though).

That 37k points (iirc) round Oz reward was a geeat great deal for sure...

QF61/62

CNS/DRW/SIN v.v.

 

[rickn380]

It’s amazing how Qantas reinvents a new route. I guess the marketing department weren’t employed them.
In a previous life I belted up and down DWN -SIN in QF 767s

 

[RichardMEL]

It’s amazing how Qantas reinvents a new route. I guess the marketing department weren’t employed them.
In a previous life I belted up and down DWN -SIN in QF 767s

DWN.. downtown airport in Oaklahoma city? Funky route!

DRW of course

 

[henrus]

I'm actually looking forward to this route.

Through December the direct flights on QF/SQ from BNE-SIN are quite expensive, well over $1100 on the days I want to travel. Instead I've booked JQ from BNE-DRW, overnight in Darwin then QF DRW-SIN for less then the direct.

It breaks up the trip in Darwin plus an E190 into Singapore.

 

[exLXCXFF]

Operational question: There can be heavy rain / bad weather in the evening in SIN when we often see smaller aircrafts (esp those heading to XSP) being held back by a few hours out of KUL/Indonesia especially or diversions back/into Malaysia/Indonesia.

Any ideas how QF handles this scenario for the Embraer into Singapore? @jb747 maybe?

 

[jb747]

Operational question: There can be heavy rain / bad weather in the evening in SIN when we often see smaller aircrafts (esp those heading to XSP) being held back by a few hours out of KUL/Indonesia especially or diversions back/into Malaysia/Indonesia.

Any ideas how QF handles this scenario for the Embraer into Singapore? @jb747 maybe?

Firstly it's a Qlink (or some other affiliate) problem not Qantas mainline. As far as I know, there's zero knowledge transfer around the various subsidiaries.

From what I've heard of the Embraer, it can be tight for fuel even going to the east coast when the weather is iffy.

So, how will it be handled? Well, largely by wishful thinking, I suspect. There are some closer alternates, and I guess they'll try to use Paya Lebar, Batam, and Johor as their alternates. A bit of history shows that they're every bit as bad, but if you're hopeful enough, they won't be bad at the same time. Beyond that, you can always offload the luggage for a few kilos of fuel. I won't be traveling on it, so let me know how it goes.

And a thought...I wonder if they'll be carrying life rafts? The rules could easily be "loop-holed".

 

[serfty]

QF61/62

CNS/DRW/SIN v.v.

Flew upper deck Business QF61 CNS-DRW on a 747SP once ...

 

[jb747]

Flew upper deck Business QF61 CNS-DRW on a 747SP once ...

I'm not sure of the destination, but I think it was DRW. A 767 leaving Singapore had to shut an engine down, and returned. It needed an engine change, so the company sent an SP up to fly the passengers out. The Captain, who was quite a character, made a PA along the lines of "if you look out the left hand window, you'll see two engines...and if you look out the other side, you'll see two more". Amusingly, he found himself flying the 767 not long afterwards.

And on another occasion, I landed in DRW (from CNS in the 767) and on the way to Singapore. There was an SP parked at the gate, which by my reckoning shouldn't have been there at all. So, whilst being refuelled I had a chat to the Captain. They were out of Sydney, bound for Singapore. Turned out that they'd got an engine overheat warning, and had to run the engine at idle (i.e. whatever power makes the warning go away). So, my question was, "what are you doing here though"....where there was zero support for an SP. Just prior to this, the company had made a big song and dance about how Captains were just doing 'stuff' off their own bat, without contacting the company for advice. And we were directed to contact ops control, 'cos they had their finger on the pulse. I completely ignored this memo. So, somewhere near Alice Springs they'd had the issue. The obvious solution was to return to Sydney, but Brisbane and Melbourne were both reasonable options. Anyway, he asked the company. They came back with their preferred option being Singapore, but after a few more comments they worked out that even though the engine wasn't shut down, they only had 3 engine performance, and so could no longer reach Singapore. They stuck their finger more firmly on the pulse, and came back with Darwin. They were asked a number of times if they were sure, and they became more sure on each iteration. So, they took the aircraft to Darwin. Where it couldn't be fixed, there weren't planned flights that could remove the passengers, and as it was middle of the season, there were very few hotel rooms. The eventual fix was to drop a 747-400 into Darwin, with a 5th pod and engineers. Needless to say, everyone went back to just doing 'stuff' after that story got around.

 

[JohnK]

I do remember CNS-DRW-SIN operated by Australia Airlines. I think I had an award flight booked from DRW-SIN that was then cancelled.

There was also ADL-DRW-SIN that QF operated.

I know difficult for ADL to have direct QF overseas flight but I see nothing wrong with QF operating ADL-PER-SIN or even ADL-DRW-SIN. It would give a little more options when coming back from SE Asia.

 

[jb747]

I flew CNS-DRW-SIN, and ADL-DRW-SIN countless times on the 767.

 

[Rangalad]

Flew upper deck Business QF61 CNS-DRW on a 747SP once ...

The best thing (after first class) was travelling upstairs on a SP or 747-200.

 

[dajop]

OK memory a bit fuzzy, but thanks to wayback machine and QF PDF timetables stored on it, I've worked it out for at least the period I lived in Darwin (which saw all three airlines on the DRW-SIN route).

There was definitely a period of no AO in DRW and QF not flying CNS-DRW-SIN (it was flying ADL-DRW-SIN), although I don't doubt they may have done it many years to go, just no way to verify it online.

2003 NW (earliest available on wayback)
3x QF (ADL-DRW-SIN)
View attachment 366953

Building on this, earlier timetables also had QF61/62 DRW-SIN route: (all services originated/terminated in CNS). In 1993 QF61 ran non-stop CNS-SIN on Wed/Sat 0935/1410, and QF62 non stop SIN-CNS on Mon/Tue 2235/0840+1.



EDIT: in the timetable effective 1 JUL 2000 - it had been up-gauged to a 74L .. i.e. 747SP.

 

[CaptJCool]

Going back a bit when Qantas offered around Australia trips with 5 stops for 30000 points (around 2001) I remember definitely taking a Qantas flight Cairns - Darwin which then went to Sin. (You could do the domestic let on the international flight - drinks and food!)

Well I just did JQ
ADL-SYD-MEL-SYD-MEL—ADL
For 34,400 and around $155 co-payments
So that’s about as close as you’ll get to 30,000 points

 

[justinbrett]

Building on this, earlier timetables also had QF61/62 DRW-SIN route: (all services originated/terminated in CNS). In 1993 QF61 ran non-stop CNS-SIN on Wed/Sat 0935/1410, and QF62 non stop SIN-CNS on Mon/Tue 2235/0840+1.

View attachment 370706

EDIT: in the timetable effective 1 JUL 2000 - it had been up-gauged to a 74L .. i.e. 747SP.

I mean if you go back far enough, QF1 went through DRW (although it was probably EM1 back then)

 

[p--and--t]

Well I just did JQ
ADL-SYD-MEL-SYD-MEL—ADL
For 34,400 and around $155 co-payments
So that’s about as close as you’ll get to 30,000 points

Oh - there must be an interesting backstory to that itinerary

 

[CaptJCool]

Oh - there must be an interesting backstory to that itinerary

International Flounge opportunities before "soft" landing
JQ63 (Cancelled) JQ47 JQ63
plus a couple of ODIs