Over-capacity on MEL-CBR?

[Saab34]

I have been flying this route quite alot lately to see family on the other end and it has not been too hard to snag a fare sub $50 the day before departure. For instance, I bought a Virgin fare a week ahead for $37 for travel last week, quite surprised as I have never seen a GoFare! this low usually. A mere 15pax were onboard the E170 so I came to the conclusion that there is too much capacity here. Tiger usually only pulls 130~ on its daily departure, from flying it around 10-15 times, and Virgin only occasionally send a 738 there.

Having a look now, there are indeed plenty of $27 Virgin fares for next month. Undercutting TT by $1.

 

[Sprucegoose]

I have been flying this route quite alot lately to see family on the other end and it has not been too hard to snag a fare sub $50 the day before departure. For instance, I bought a Virgin fare a week ahead for $37 for travel last week, quite surprised as I have never seen a GoFare! this low usually. A mere 15pax were onboard the E170 so I came to the conclusion that there is too much capacity here. Tiger usually only pulls 130~ on its daily departure, from flying it around 10-15 times, and Virgin only occasionally send a 738 there.

Having a look now, there are indeed plenty of $27 Virgin fares for next month. Undercutting TT by $1.

what about the red rat??

 

[samh004]

what about the red rat??

Looks like from $85 to $99.

 

[Sprucegoose]

Looks like from $85 to $99.

It is the public servants

Holding that qf route up. They should all be flying virgin or the lowest fare available but the appeal of the pub is just too strong it would appear.

They view it as a freebie.

 

[Worldtraveller8888]

They should all be flying virgin or the lowest fare available

Is it just about the lowest fare available? Are fares still that much different once you add baggage and food/snack/lounge access?

Maybe it's just that the QF product offering suits the public servant/pollie market better. If the customer doesn't want the product you offer, perhaps you should change the product...

WT

 

[Mal]

It is the public servants

Holding that qf route up. They should all be flying virgin or the lowest fare available but the appeal of the pub is just too strong it would appear.

They view it as a freebie.

Canberra is not just a Public Servant/Pollie market. There are also many commercial pax who fly to/from Canberra for meetings / sales / negotiations etc. And "lowest fare available" isn't always the best fare for the purposes either. Blaming it on public servants seems too simple to me.

Will be interesting when the tender for travel purchasing arrangements finally gets sorted to see how the travel is divvied up.

 

[mvjs]

I fly MEL-CBR quite often and all my recent flights (on DJ, QF and TT) have been completely full. A QF flight I took quite a while back was the only flight that was lightly loaded. Since then, QF, DJ, TT have all been completely full. Anecdotal I know but I also thought this route performed pretty well. (Tiger do only fly into Canberra once daily though).

 

[pauly7]

Anecdotal I know but I also thought this route performed pretty well. (Tiger do only fly into Canberra once daily though).

It does perform well for QF.

The OP was talking about DJ more specifically. Everyone knows their past on the Canberra routes - it seems like they are hanging on in there and copping some pain for long term gain.

Better than running away (again) and handing it to QF on a silver platter!

 

[anat0l]

Is it just about the lowest fare available? Are fares still that much different once you add baggage and food/snack/lounge access?

Maybe...

• $10 for checked baggage
• $35 for one-time lounge access
• $10 for a snack and drink on board

But even if we consider the humble pollie....

• How often do they travel with checked bags?
• Lounge access can be paid as an annual subscription; pretty much on par if not cheaper than QP
• Who needs to eat on a 1 hr flight?
• The government might like it more because having to force workers to claim back expenses on on-snacks can make them more accountable, thus reducing the bottom line
• Not sure if anyone in government can attain status or the like. DJ Silvers and Golds have the $10 checked bag fee waived.

So the difference of DJ and QF is between splitting hairs to some decent cost savings.

The only thing DJ doesn't have is Business, but considering QF operate that route with a 734 and convertible J, it's not much better if not inferior to DJ PE.

One also has to wonder how many government workers fly on a best fare of day basis, or flexible fares.

 

[harvyk]

OP what time of day did or do you fly?

I've noticed daytime flights are usually fairly empty, (the B767 QF811 CBR-MEL run is usually so empty you could swing a cat and not hit anyone) but early morning and evening flights are usually very full.

Flying CBR - MEL for the day makes a lot of sense, as it's very possible to leave early in the morning, have a full day down there and still be back that night without breaking a sweat.