BA to start LHR-Chengdu services

[Isochronous]

British Airways Outlines Summer 2014 A380 and 787 Deployment :: Routesonline

How come BA can make it work but QF can't?

 

[burrco]

British Airways Outlines Summer 2014 A380 and 787 Deployment :: Routesonline

How come BA can make it work by QF can't?

Bit harsh. China is only Australia's biggest trading partner and most likely soon to be our biggest source of tourists. Bit much to expect Qantas to fill a plane under those circumstances.

 

[dajop]

British Airways Outlines Summer 2014 A380 and 787 Deployment :: Routesonline

How come BA can make it work by QF can't?

It's population base is larger and more concentrated, plus it can support connections from a larger population base in Europe. How many people live within 3 hr drive or 1 hr (300 miles) flight of LHR vs the number that live within 3 hr drive or 1 hr flight of SYD? Even extending it to 1.5hr flights (so BNE and MEL, and a big chunk of Germany is included), the numbers are still almost an order of magnitude different.

And also, with these population differences in mind, how many flights a day to Chinese carriers have to UK vs to Australia? Looking at LHR & LGW - I counted flights (at most daily) to CAN on CZ, PEK on CA and PVG on MU from LHR and 4xweekly to PEK on CA from LGW. In the meantime SYD has up to 2x daily to each of SHA and CAN on MU &CZ respectively, flights to PEK & SHA on CA plus MU flights to Nanjing and 3U flights to Chongqing. Then MEL has double daily to SHA & CAN as well! (ie QF has a lot more competition from Chinese carriers than BA).

 

[badseed]

Don't forget that MEL has 3 x weekly flights to Chengdu on Sichuan. Not sure how their loads / yields are.