Qantas Project Sunrise goes ahead, 12 new A350-1000s ordered

[justinbrett]

One would also wonder whether CNS-LAX nonstop could be viable on JQ’s 787s once they have cabins upgraded and range extended….JQ talked about the possibility of flights to the US mainland when making that announcement about 787 upgrades last year

CNS-LAX is actually longer than BNE-LAX.

I would think they would go for a capital city if any.

 

[encryptededdy]

Also I'm not sure if the 787s could be called a premium aircraft

Premium (class) heavy, I presume. I find the lack of Premium Economy on Haneda to be aggravating.

 

[DC3]

One would also wonder whether CNS-LAX nonstop could be viable on JQ’s 787s ….

Well, yes. And Cairns is the capital of FNQ, isn’t it?

 

[elanshin]

Premium (class) heavy, I presume. I find the lack of Premium Economy on Haneda to be aggravating.

Just fly JL Y in bulkhead row. Thats basically QF W

 

[SYD]

Just fly JL Y in bulkhead row. Thats basically QF W

and VA J….

 

[justinbrett]

Well, yes. And Cairns is the capital of FNQ, isn’t it?

Not really. TSV is generally considered the unofficial capital.

 

[SYD]

Not really. TSV is generally considered the unofficial capital.

CNS would be the main centre for FNQ according to Wikipedia.

TSV is relegated to Nth QLD.

Far North Queensland - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[justinbrett]

CNS would be the main centre for FNQ according to Wikipedia.

TSV is relegated to Nth QLD.

Far North Queensland - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

My point is that TSV is considered to be the major city of the north half of the state - in terms of business, government services, military, universities, and of course the Cowboys. CNS is mostly tourism.

 

[DC3]

Not really. TSV is generally considered the unofficial capital.

I’ve lived in Townsville and the ‘F’ in FNQ did not mean ‘Far’ by the way . Just saying

 

[SYD]

My point is that TSV is considered to be the major city of the north half of the state - in terms of business, government services, military, universities, and of course the Cowboys. CNS is mostly tourism.

Yes, but they get as much international airline service from QF and VA as ADL…

Whereas CNS has Oz and international airlines operating (and gradually returning) to service the Tourism market. It’s not inconceivable that some we might see some other entrants while the QLD Government is splashing incentive cash around. They certainly could use it up there after a horror summer season.

Although, coming back to topic, I don’t expect to see non-stop CNS-CDG any time soon! (even if it’s 1000 nm shorter).

 

[justinbrett]

Yes, but they get as much international airline service from QF and VA as ADL…

Whereas CNS has Oz and international airlines operating (and gradually returning) to service the Tourism market. It’s not inconceivable that some we might see some other entrants while the QLD Government is splashing incentive cash around. They certainly could use it up there after a horror summer season.

Although, coming back to topic, I don’t expect to see non-stop CNS-CDG any time soon! (even if it’s 1000 nm shorter).

Tourism isn’t enough to sustain a long haul route.

 

[TomVexille]

This issue could easily be fixed by removing the QF 787 from HNL services. I find HNL as an insignificant and irrelevant destination for such a premium aircraft - should stick to JQ and the QF A330s.

QF probably wants the extra J seats of the 787 as they seem to be constantly sold out to HNL

 

[DC3]

Those who have been to Townsville (aka Brownsville) may be aware that it’s pretty much in a ‘rain shadow’, extending about 100km-plus to the North and South. Sure, there’s the odd cyclone that comes along.

In some years there is no ‘wet’, just back to back ‘dry’. The only tropical plants/trees that are there have been planted by man-kind.

Cairns of course is in a wonderful tropical setting. Certainly a great destination in its own right. A true tropical capital worthy of 787 flights CNS-USA and vv.

Just my little bit of trumpet-blowing for CNS.

 

[encryptededdy]

Just fly JL Y in bulkhead row. Thats basically QF W

Unfortunately that seat is worse on the other JAL 787-9 config (the Apex Suites J-heavy config), as it has no window.

 

[drron]

Having worked in Townsville I quite like the place in winter. Not too bad a restaurant scene and the Cowboys Club is great value for seniors.
Lots of walking options around and Magnetic Island just a short ferry ride away.
And I agree that they consider themselves the Capital of FNQ.

 

[RSVKanga]

Those who have been to Townsville (aka Brownsville) may be aware that it’s pretty much in a ‘rain shadow’, extending about 100km-plus to the North and South. Sure, there’s the odd cyclone that comes along.

In some years there is no ‘wet’, just back to back ‘dry’. The only tropical plants/trees that are there have been planted by man-kind.

Cairns of course is in a wonderful tropical setting. Certainly a great destination in its own right. A true tropical capital worthy of 787 flights CNS-USA and vv.

Just my little bit of trumpet-blowing for CNS.

Yep CNS is certainly a more appealing international destination than say, ADL, and a Cairns-Los Angeles JQ 787 would be beneficial in directly opening up the GBR to the North American market as it is a major international tourism hotspot in its own right.

 

[wandering_fred]

Gcmap does agree BNE-LAX is 28 miles shorter than CNS-LAX
But CNS is 113 miles closer to PER than BNE
OTOH I know which I would prefer to visit on a holiday (not the political capital)
One must keep up an image while wandering
Fred

 

[Franky]

Yep CNS is certainly a more appealing international destination than say, ADL, and a Cairns-Los Angeles JQ 787 would be beneficial in directly opening up the GBR to the North American market as it is a major international tourism hotspot in its own right.

I can well remember the very full 747s flying in from Japan every second day or so, IIRC it was Sydney for the Opera House, then Ayres Rock, and then Cairns for the Barrier Reef trip and then home. Whatever happened to them? I was in Cairns for a few days when that was going on and I do recall a number of jewellery shops with little signs on their doors saying they were open for Japanese tourists only, so perhaps they were tired of being ripped off?

 

[Cognac]

You do realise people actually live in Perth? So for folks in Perth looking to get to London it's incredibly convenient. Suspect that's why it's so successful.

The east coast never remembers that people actually live in Perth. Airlines schedules, sports fixtures, concert tours, etc. To live in Perth is to suffer in paradise.

As for the actual discussion about ports in Europe; given that Qantas already serves three locations direct from Perth I can't really see it going backwards from there. I know that the tiff with Perth Airport really put the brakes on for a while, but there appears to be progress there. And once everything is consolidated to T1 I think we'll see a steady increase improvements in services available. It might not be all Qantas/all Europe, but adding the Qantas domestic network as the on-flow for international arrivals gives incoming airlines some good flexibility. And there's the bonus of not having to transit a 3rd country for travelers that want to go to England, France, Italy. While nominally you don't need to actually go into [Insert_Country_Here], there may be the risk-averse "Well if either flight gets delayed for some reason I may need to stay - which includes going through immigration in the transit country". This might not describe you, but I know people who think this way.

And when traveling to east-coast Canada from Perth I try to avoid transiting in the US if I can. The US is a special case, I know, but the point is that I can understand the sentiment.

I have no doubt that as aircraft fuel efficiency continues to climb other carriers will also see an attraction of having a direct-to-Aus route via Perth without having to buy ultra-specialised aircraft to fulfill the requirement.

AJ was on record in the past for QF9/10 that the vast majority of pax are originating/terminating in Perth anyway, so it has been viable sans-Melbourne for a long time. PER-FCO clearly does its job. Time will tell for PER-CDG, especially after the Olympics. I don't see Project Sunrise displacing any of these in the short term. SYD-LHR direct and the SYD-SIN-LHR route will just offer more options to get to Sydney. And if enough people have the same "I'll never fly to Perth under pain of death" attitude as some posters here then those people were never going to use the existing routes anyway. For those types of flyers Project Sunrise isn't competing with the Perth routes. It's competing with any of the one-stop-in-Asia-or-ME routes.

 

[elanshin]

I can well remember the very full 747s flying in from Japan every second day or so, IIRC it was Sydney for the Opera House, then Ayres Rock, and then Cairns for the Barrier Reef trip and then home. Whatever happened to them? I was in Cairns for a few days when that was going on and I do recall a number of jewellery shops with little signs on their doors saying they were open for Japanese tourists only, so perhaps they were tired of being ripped off?

No Japanese outbound tourism is very slow in recovery. Inbound tourism is going through the roof but because the yen has collapsed and they're also feeling the impacts of inflation (even if it's less than the rest of the world), outbound tourism is still struggling. Last I heard they were still about 50% of precovid.