Melbourne to London via SIN?

[Doddler]

Thank you! That's a far more eloquent way of putting it and basically what I was trying to get at with my previous post.

I think your post raised a relevant point - connecting flights from other Australian cities/towns.

As for the following post by Human, yes, clearly Qantas has had reasons for what it's done so far.
But:
"I find it difficult to believe that Qantas would put a smaller aircraft on a route out of MEL if the demand existed for a larger one."
They didn't have much choice. With limited landing slots in SIN, and LHR they are stuck between A330s or a 2nd A380. Two A380s to SIN-LHR is clearly too much capacity and would be economically unviable. The question is how the maths change when the A350 service with 98 premium seats commences from Sydney.

144 premium seats on the A380, 98 on the A350, 49 on the A330.
So what makes more sense?
Sydney 144+98 = 242 and Melbourne 49
or
Sydney 98+49 = 147 and Melbourne 144

As I said, we'll see what happens.

 

[offshore171]

For whatever reason -- and I would guess that it's a complex set of reasons including demographics, competition, presence of high-paying corporate customers, etc -- the demand for international Qantas flights out of SYD is quite evidently greater than the demand for international Qantas flights out of MEL.

The other factor is the traffic from the opposite direction, ie: the poms, and other Europeans visiting AU from LHR.

The most popular port of entry would be SYD, particularly for tourists and business travellers.

 

[Doddler]

The other factor is the traffic from the opposite direction, ie: the poms, and other Europeans visiting AU from LHR.

The most popular port of entry would be SYD, particularly for tourists and business travellers.

Good point. I think you're right for tourists. Not sure about business travellers though - Imagine they would want to fly to wherever their meeting is taking place. Melbourne and Sydney probably similar in that regard.

 

[jase05]

Melbourne and Sydney probably similar in that regard.

I’m not sure it is.
Sydney is and will always be the main economic and financial hub of Australia and Sydney would have far more multinational headquarters than Melbourne.

 

[Doddler]

I’m not sure it is.
Sydney is and will always be the main economic and financial hub of Australia and Sydney would have far more multinational headquarters than Melbourne.

Melbourne's ranked 28th on the Global Financial Centres Index, Sydney is ranked 30th. Splitting hairs really. The Global Financial Centres Index - Long Finance )

edit to add: The International Congress and Convention Association rankings put Sydney at 30 and Melbourne at 31, based on international meetings/conferences etc. So again, splitting hairs between the two cities (as with most things, except the Harbour and coffee)

 

[ayebee]

This discussion seems to be continuing.

Personally, I used to fly QF to LHR a lot when my work destinations were actually Sweden and Belgium, and occasionally Italy and France.
I would routinely take the Qantas LHR flight and either make a connection there or overnight and then fly into Europe. I was loyal to Qantas, and indeed reaped the benefits of the early (international) QFF program with regular upgrades, lounge etc. Also did the Rome and Frankfurt flights when they made sense, and would use them again.

Now, coming from MEL, I would only take the QF flight to LHR if London was my destination, whether it is a sunrise flight (direct or via SYD) or a connection in Singapore.
We have been to Europe many times since my working life, but not London. Maybe it is time for another visit.
We did the MEL-PER-LHR QF9 a few years back, and while that flight was fine, the LHR connection + BA flight back was a pain having flown over our destination a few hours earlier.

The point is, if I am flying to a city in Europe then there are many better one stop options where you can fly one stop via Asia or ME directly to those cities. Milan, Bologna, Barcelona, Munich, Vienna, Zurich... the list is huge.
Admittedly I still have a swag of QF points, and would consider connecting via Sydney or LHR to use them, but I am more likely to try for a QF points flight into Asia and then fly direct to the city I want to get to.

 

[Doddler]

The point is, if I am flying to a city in Europe then there are many better one stop options where you can fly one stop via Asia or ME directly to those cities. Milan, Bologna, Barcelona, Munich, Vienna, Zurich... the list is huge.
Admittedly I still have a swag of QF points, and would consider connecting via Sydney or LHR to use them, but I am more likely to try for a QF points flight into Asia and then fly direct to the city I want to get to.

Yep, similar here. I've flown to Zurich, Geneva, Helsinki and Frankfurt from Melbourne in the last 6 years. Haven't flown Qantas once. The single connection to my final destination is too good to pass up. Plus usually cheaper flights. Plus avoiding LHR which is not a pleasant or reliable place.