CBR to go international within two years

[thewinchester]

On Plane Talking today, also has some behind the scenes photos of the new terminal under construction:

Canberra to go international within two years
August 31, 2010 – 4:38 pm, by Ben Sandilands

Canberra Airport will break Sydney Airport’s monopoly grip on international flights in much of NSW within two years according to its managing director, Stephen Byron.

He told a Canberra Business Council luncheon this afternoon that the breakthrough would come in the form of four to five weekly trans Tasman flights to Auckland and Wellington and an initial three flights a week to Singapore or Hong Kong, with connections to Europe and the rest of Asia.

Byron also said the rise of low cost international carriers such as Jetstar and AirAsia X meant a perfect match between their business model, and the inexpensive coach connections between Canberra and Sydney that already exist because of the ACT’s established inclusion in ‘must visit’ attractions for international tourists.

 

[Hvr]

Will be good for *Class sales and cheap SCs.

This might be a good reason to continue living in this hell hole.

 

[dajop]

Isn't it a case of been there done that? A few years ago FJ tried running flights to NAN several times a week. Although to be fair one would think if somewhere was worth trying it would be WLG or SIN.

 

[markis10]

Love the master plan for 2009: "Direct international flights to Canberra are expected to commence in 2010." LOL - News?????

 

[harvyk]

I'll believe it when I see airlines offering direct international flights to \ from CBR. They have been talking up Canberra INTERNATIONAL Airport for years.

Yeah, I remember when FJ did direct flights, I think it lasted about 3 months.

That said, if they ever did do direct Int flights, my guess is it would be operated by B737's \ A320's, I right now chose to go via SYD \ MEL to avoid narrow bodies for dom travel, even if a direct flight existed, I doubt I would change that just because it was a direct international flight.

 

[kezsco]

I grew up in Canberra (didn't leave until I was in my 20s). Anyway, I remember in the late 80's, early 90's there used to be an international flight into Canberra.

It was once a week and from memory, I believe it was a BA flight that came in and left on the weekends. I can also remember discussion about the runway and how it wasn't ideal in length for the international aircraft coming in (747s?).

Of course, Canberra has 'grown up' a fair bit since then, so maybe it'll work this time.

 

[Flashback]

I'll believe it when I see airlines offering direct international flights to \ from CBR. They have been talking up Canberra INTERNATIONAL Airport for years.

Yeah, I remember when FJ did direct flights, I think it lasted about 3 months.

That said, if they ever did do direct Int flights, my guess is it would be operated by B737's \ A320's, I right now chose to go via SYD \ MEL to avoid narrow bodies for dom travel, even if a direct flight existed, I doubt I would change that just because it was a direct international flight.

That's a long flight on an A320 to SIN/HKG :shock:

 

[markis10]

Apart from the short stint by FJ, Canberra has not had an international service, it does get the odd diversion and certainly diplomatic flights as well as the odd heavy such as Air Force One, which caused a lot of damage back in 2003.

 

[harvyk]

That's a long flight on an A320 to SIN/HKG :shock:

Yeah, I'll believe direct flights to SIN/HKG (obviously in a widebody) when I see them taking off, and not before....

 

[Gold Member]

A little OT, but they're telling us we'll be in the new airport by end of year. Forgive my weekly observations as I transit the sheer delight that is CBR Domestic, but I think we've got buckley's chance of sitting in a nice new QP by Dec 31st!

BTW, has anyone else snuck into the Chairman's Lounge when they notice the Loung Dragon migrate to the QP for a minute or two??

 

[NM]

BTW, has anyone else snuck into the Chairman's Lounge when they notice the Lounge Dragon migrate to the QP for a minute or two??

No, but the Business lounge was very busy yesterday afternoon. Much busier than BNE domestic business lounge on a Monday Morning.

 

[medhead]

A little OT, but they're telling us we'll be in the new airport by end of year. Forgive my weekly observations as I transit the sheer delight that is CBR Domestic, but I think we've got buckley's chance of sitting in a nice new QP by Dec 31st!

BTW, has anyone else snuck into the Chairman's Lounge when they notice the Loung Dragon migrate to the QP for a minute or two??

Wasn't there a recent qantas announcement that the new QP will be open from 11 Oct. I'll have a look.

 

[jamesatfish]

Wasn't there a recent qantas announcement that the new QP will be open from 11 Oct. I'll have a look.

At the Qantas Corporate Travel Show last week the CBR airport guys were telling us the Qantas terminal will be ready by 30 September 2010, and Qantas will make the final decision regarding transition date but they expect to move between 7 and 14 October.

I imagine the new terminal will be only partly finished when the transition occurs and the construction work will continue for a few months thereafter - certainly in regards to the new road and departures facilities.

 

[JohnK]

It would be great if QF (not JQ) had direct flights CBR-SIN 3 times a week that arrived in SIN late afternoon.

Unfortunately I do not see this happening anytime soon and the best one can hope for is a JQ A320 to DRW and then off to SIN. No thanks.

 

[kamchatsky]

I cannot imagine QF having direct CBR flights to SIN/HKG/Trans-Tasman. Afterall QF is well know for funnelling all domestic-international traffic via SYD.

 

[JohnK]

Can we pretend though that QF may be interested?

It would be great if QF had one flight from somewhere on the East Coast that got into SIN before 6:00pm. Perhaps I am asking (possibly hoping) for way too much.

 

[kamchatsky]

Can we pretend though that QF may be interested?

Perhaps I am asking (possibly hoping) for way too much.

Yes and yes!

 

[NM]

Perhaps if SQ can justify multiple daily services from MEL, SYD, BNE etc, they can justify a single daily CBR-SIN. Note that a QF flight CBR-SIN only really captures traffic destined for SIN, FRA or LHR. An SQ flight on the same routes can capture traffic to a much larger number of destinations.

 

[vertisol]

What's a viable load for an int'l flight? While I imagine there are many of us Canberran's heading off for international flights it's hard to think there are 150+ going to the same place on any given day.

Unless there are airlines who would consider dropping in on CBR while they reposition aircraft on their way OS.

 

[dajop]

Perhaps if SQ can justify multiple daily services from MEL, SYD, BNE etc, they can justify a single daily CBR-SIN. Note that a QF flight CBR-SIN only really captures traffic destined for SIN, FRA or LHR. An SQ flight on the same routes can capture traffic to a much larger number of destinations.

SQ do make daily's to ADL & CHC work, though ADL with 3x population of CBR and CHC with greater tourist appeal than CBR. But would there be a reasonable amount of J traffic out of CBR?? Maybe comparable to ADL?

Still, I think there are probably destinations that SQ would have much higher priority than CBR!