Qantas 747s to fly Perth-Sydney

[reductionist]

Does it need to depart from the domestic terminal, couldn’t they just add it to an international route and fly it from the international terminal, thus making a lot of WP’s very happy?

You'll have to excuse my ignorance, does QF currently do any domestic legs on international routes departing from the international terminal in MEL or SYD?

 

[markis10]

You'll have to excuse my ignorance, does QF currently do any domestic legs on international routes departing from the international terminal in MEL or SYD?

Yes, QF20 to BNE then MNL as well as QF81 SYD to ADL.

 

[tuppaware]

Checking on QF website - it seems the flights with 747 is loaded from Early June.
At $1300 each way I dont think 'Paying for J' is worth it and for Y I'd rather the 767/A330 for a better chance of NOT sitting in the middle somewhere.

You dont know how much I argue with my partner about having the window.

 

[anat0l]

Don't people think that this is a little 'unfair' in a way though?, QF using their international product against DJ... - there is no way the DJ J class will compare to Skybed.

That's like saying QF can't compete with EK because they have better suites, more buying power to acquire more 388s, the full backing of a government and favourable industrial laws in the UAE.

Forget it - it doesn't work that way.

From the comments on the thread, it's possible that the actual impact of having international standards and/or Skybeds on the route may be less than what is perceived.


I didn't think about the fact that Y will go from 2-4-2 on most configs to a 3-4-3 on the 744, resulting in a bit more discomforting flight for most.

Pricing is an interesting question for discussion.

DJ won't be able to go super cheap as they will need to get a ROI on their new capex and they aren't exactly rolling in money at the moment.

Also a huge % of J travel are corporates of which QF well and truly have stitched up. So DJ will need to attack them and QF know they are coming, it won't be a short process to get a corporate across to fill their cabins.

The corporates typically have access to decent discounts on retail J rates, in addition to volume rebates etc. QF then keep retail rates comparatively higher for the average Joe... Do we really think DJ will price their retail rates THAT much lower? Will they be able to without the corporates filling the rest of the seats?

I'm trying to think back to when VA launched and set a brand new precedent for airfares on the Trans-Pacific. Yeah, they didn't make any money for a while, but the action still forced the hand of the competition.

I see the same thing happening as a very valid outcome. Even if the difference is $200 in mass market fares, that'll be enough to put the tack on some of the seats of the bean counters and yield management at QF.

Keep in mind that on this route DJ PE is much, much cheaper than QF J, albeit the former is certainly inferior to the latter. However, DJ is coming from a much lower cost base than QF (newer fleet, less legacy issues (especially w.r.t. wages)). DJ's new J - no matter what comes out (unless it is a complete disaster, which is 99.99% unlikely) is also going to be a lot more "fresh" than even QF's Skybed Mk II, of which the latter has close to no chance of being introduced on the transcon for a long time. For DJ not to have a "stuffy" image and without the burden of precedent is a great booster for their marketing effort at nil cost.

In saying all that, I wouldn't be surprised if the new DJ J will enter the market at a "rack rate" of at the very least $200 cheaper than QF J, with opening specials perhaps as low as current PE rates.

 

[8803]

Posted on Fairfax website earlier this evening.

Great news for those of us in SYD heading west, or returning "over east", as they like to say in WA!

My apologies - I'm unable to post a link due to my lack of contributions.

 

[chooms]

Best news in ages! I miss the old 743s I used to take when in my old job.

The timing of this is perfect for my newly initiated weekly commute to Sydney.

Now.... When is PER Dom getting a J lounge....

 

[pauly7]

DJ's new J - no matter what comes out (unless it is a complete disaster, which is 99.99% unlikely) is also going to be a lot more "fresh" than even QF's Skybed Mk II,

I'm sure It won't be a complete disaster as well, but have small niggling doubts about how 'fresh' or great it will be.

VA when it launched had a chance to turn things on their head but the metal/hard product ended up being pretty ho-hum.

HOWEVER I guess VA was launched under BG and his low cost buddies, trying to do full service on the cheap, now we have JB and he has fired so many of the old watch at DJ that I feel a bit more excited

 

[cove]

This 744 will be popular for PER J travel as we were mostly happy with the 743 even when they were ready to be pensioned off to the Arizona desert.
What seemed to happen with the previous model was it took off late as the flight engineers had to fiddle with little stuff to get those 747s to turn around for the return journey.
If the 744 can take off on time will be the key factor.

 

[markis10]

Three class bird sold as two - makes sense?

 

[serfty]

With those maps, PE seats can be had for WHY cost - I wonder if QF would start selling W/T/R fares on these routes ...

Seriously, unless one is on a red-eye a PE seat would be close to ideal.

 

[JohnK]

At $1300 each way I dont think 'Paying for J' is worth it and for Y I'd rather the 767/A330 for a better chance of NOT sitting in the middle somewhere.

You dont know how much I argue with my partner about having the window.

You know you can both sit in a window seat.

I guess I will never understand why 2 people who spend so much time together need to sit next to each other on a flight. Can't bear to be apart for a few hours? Much better to be apart for a few hours than expect one of you to make a sacrifice.

 

[ozmille]

You know you can both sit in a window seat.

I guess I will never understand why 2 people who spend so much time together need to sit next to each other on a flight. Can't bear to be apart for a few hours? Much better to be apart for a few hours than expect one of you to make a sacrifice.

Interesting thought JohnK. But I think it won't be received well by the mrs. over here

 

[markis10]

You know you can both sit in a window seat.

I guess I will never understand why 2 people who spend so much time together need to sit next to each other on a flight. Can't bear to be apart for a few hours? Much better to be apart for a few hours than expect one of you to make a sacrifice.

Might be the only chance they get to talk uninterrupted by life for 8-14 hours, did you and your dad both have windows on your big trip ?

 

[ozmille]

With those maps, PE seats can be had for WHY cost - I wonder if QF would start selling W/T/R fares on these routes ...

Seriously, unless one is on a red-eye a PE seat would be close to ideal.

seems only WP's can preselect the PE seats. Maybe a T-80 the others get a chance as well. Wouldn't mind a PE seat on these flights.

 

[Reggie]

I am not as excited about this as others here.

Flying the the old 743's from PER-SYD/MEL was horrific. Not one single flight I was on left on time (and I was on alot of them). I hated flying them, I can't rmember a flight leaving within 2 hours of scheduled depature, the worst was a 14 hour delay out of PER for a MEL flight.

Granted that the new models "should" have less minor/major faults, however the etchs in Perth rearely touch them, so when soemthign goes wrong the tiem to locate and rectify is multiplied.

YMMV

 

[markis10]

Granted that the new models "should" have less minor/major faults, however the etchs in Perth rearely touch them, so when soemthign goes wrong the tiem to locate and rectify is multiplied.

YMMV

I think you will find they are at roughly the same age as when the 743s operated ex PER with the 3 class fleet 20-23 years old.

 

[Reggie]

I think you will find they are at roughly the same age as when the 743s operated ex PER with the 3 class fleet 20-23 years old.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo :shock:

 

[ozmille]

In the paper today big ad for this with a picture of a guy on a skybed wearing QF PJ's.... Are they going to start handing them out? Also they say no more red-eye... but the flight from PER leaves at 1435 and arrives in SYD at 2020... When are they going to ramp up the services?

 

[tuppaware]

You know you can both sit in a window seat.

I guess I will never understand why 2 people who spend so much time together need to sit next to each other on a flight. Can't bear to be apart for a few hours? Much better to be apart for a few hours than expect one of you to make a sacrifice.

Trust me I have used the same argument without any affect. Sigh..... Plus my partner and I both have big shoulders making it difficult to sit comfortably next together in Y.

 

[Sequel]

Have a JASA booked PER-BNE in September. After reading this thread I thought I might check my booking to see if I could change from the 763 to a new bird, only to discover that QF650 on the date I am travelling now takes 5 mins longer and is operated by a A332!

The booking had a big orange banner telling me "your flight has changed, either confirm or call QF". Same flight number, same departure time, same seat numbers (although row 5 is no longer the last row of J) and only 5 mins longer flight time, to the untrained eye it looks like nothing had changed.