Qantas Delays/Cancellations

[Melburnian1]

B789 VH-ZNC on Saturday 28 February's 1150 hours LHR down to PER, QF10, took off pretty much on time at 1221 but due to closure of much Middle Eastern airspace, it has flown above Georgia, Azerbaijan, the Caspian Sea, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and then India, so estimated arrival becomes 1318 hours on Sunday 1 March, 48 late.

IImpressive that 'the 10' can carry sufficient fuel for this extra distance, though I don't know if all the luggage is on the flight, or whether further pax had to be refused carriage. Contributors such as @jb747 will know a lot more.

This routing is being used by many airlines to connect Asia to Europe and the UK. QF1 (A388 VH-OQL) is among them but doesn't seem to be losing time: it took off from SIN at 0009 this morning and should arrive only five minutes late at LHR at 0620 hours on Sunday 1 March.

The airspace looks busy, but not super crowded as at least 15,000 flights have been cancelled in little more than 24 hours, a list that'd be growing by the minute. Apparently a 'normal' day worldwide sees 100,000 to 120,000 flights, so having 20,000 out of the air is a big dint.

 

[tomlee1986]

B789 VH-ZNC on Saturday 28 February's 1150 hours LHR down to PER, QF10, took off pretty much on time at 1221 but due to closure of much Middle Eastern airspace, it has flown above Georgia, Azerbaijan, the Caspian Sea, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and then India, so estimated arrival becomes 1318 hours on Sunday 1 March, 48 late.

IImpressive that 'the 10' can carry sufficient fuel for this extra distance, though I don't know if all the luggage is on the flight, or whether further pax had to be refused carriage. Contributors such as @jb747 will know a lot more.

This routing is being used by many airlines to connect Asia to Europe and the UK. QF1 (A388 VH-OQL) is among them but doesn't seem to be losing time: it took off from SIN at 0009 this morning and should arrive only five minutes late at LHR at 0620 hours on Sunday 1 March.

The airspace looks busy, but not super crowded as at least 15,000 flights have been cancelled in little more than 24 hours, a list that'd be growing by the minute. Apparently a 'normal' day worldwide sees 100,000 to 120,000 flights, so having 20,000 out of the air is a big dint.

In these situations, better late arrivals than anything… safety comes first

 

[jb747]

B789 VH-ZNC on Saturday 28 February's 1150 hours LHR down to PER, QF10, took off pretty much on time at 1221 but due to closure of much Middle Eastern airspace, it has flown above Georgia, Azerbaijan, the Caspian Sea, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and then India, so estimated arrival becomes 1318 hours on Sunday 1 March, 48 late.

I've never taken much notice of the 787 flights out of Perth, as they aren't something I'd want to travel on. But the biggest issue will be for the west bound flights. The winds are generally more favourable heading east. The 380s via Singapore generally had a fair bit of weight margin in either direction.

 

[Melburnian1]

On Wednesday 4 March 2026, QF19, the 1205 hours lunchtime SYD-MNL (A332 VH-EBR) was not airborne until 1334, so gate arrival should be at about 1813 hours, 38 minutes late.

QF79 (A333 VH-QPG, the 0925 hours MEL-NRT) was in the sky at 117 hours so an 1858 hours arrival is on the cards, 78 late.

Sister -VPC is on QF29, the 1105 hours MEL-HKG that should arrive at gate at approximately 1815 tonight, 40 late.

B789 VH-ZNK is operating the 1220 hours SYD across to SCL that took off at 1326 with same day arrival likely at 1126 hours, 31 late.

B789 VH-ZND today arrived SYD two minutes early at 0633 as QF75 overnight from distant YVR. It formed QF3 from SYD to AKL (and later, JFK) with this 0945 hours flight airborne at 1201, so arrival at gate in AKL became 1637, 107 late. This flight is mostly punctual.

 

[LionKing]

QF11/5 Mar is more than 4 hours late and only departed at 2227 instead of 1745

 

[Melburnian1]

On Friday 6 March, the 1205 hours lunchtime SYD-MNL (QF19) has A332 VH-EBR. It is shortly expected to depart at 1400 hours, so will be at least 90 late arriving at gate in the Philippine capital. This flight for many months has almost always been an A333 but seems now to often be an A332, perhaps reflecting insufficient A333s available. The Manila flights carry a lot of passengers travelling for business as more employers opt for hiring Filipino staff and concurrently sack Australian-based staff. This is especially prevalent in Victoria with the forthcoming 'legislated two days a week at home' despite Victoria's IR powers having transferred to the Federal jurisdiction about 31 years ago. Odd that QFi lacks a MEL-MNL nonstop given the larger population of Filipinos in Victoria compared to Queensland that has a QFi BNE-MNL and a JQi BNE-CEB. nonstop.

B789 VH-ZNA arrived in PER on 6 March at 1022 hours, 22 late as QF34 from CDG in Paris but the second leg scheduled to push back at 1135 has been delayed until 1400 hours. I've not looked at Perth airport gate allocations but this second sector may be VH-ZNI that's arriving from LHR at about 1255 hours, as sometimes QFi swaps aircraft on the '33' or '34'. At face value this is inefficient, as ULD containers with luggage and freight have to be transferred.

 

[Melburnian1]

Since Wednesday 4 March, the daily B789 QF9 from PER nonstop to LHR has instead had a SIN fuel stop insert, adding hours to the replacement flight number QF209., scheduled to depart PER at 1550, much earlier than the normal QF9.

This is so QF9 can accommodate a full payload given the need to avoid flying through Iranian airspace.

 

[Melburnian1]

On Saturday 7 March, QF59 (A333 VH-QPB, the 1200 'high noon' SYD-HND) did not take off until 1355 hours, so a 2121 hours mid evening gate arruval, 81 late, is on the cards.

A333 VH-QPA is on the 1205 hours SYD-MNL, QF19, that should arrive 36 late at 1806 hours.

 

[TheMoose]

Friday 6 March QF12 scheduled to depart LAX 2125 delayed until 0900 Sat and ultimately airborne 0957 with arrival into SYD now expected 1845 Sun 8/3, some 680 mins late.

 

[tomlee1986]

QF2 SIN SYD on OQG - it got diverted to Perth overnight and now back on the way to SYD - arrival time is 1140 instead of 0635

According to Facebook - it was medical with a crew member- hope speedy recovery

 

[docjames]

The PER-SYD leg of delayed/diverted QF2 has also taken an interesting routing - quite far north compared to eg. QF642, VA550 flying at similar times. Wonder why?

 

[tomlee1986]

The PER-SYD leg of delayed/diverted QF2 has also taken an interesting routing - quite far north compared to eg. QF642, VA550 flying at similar times. Wonder why?

I wonder could it be related to the staff medical issue? just curiously asking this point

 

[tomlee1986]

Also a new flight delay that I just saw - QF 127 SYD HKG is delayed to at least 1215 - aircraft registration is QPD (A333) and this aircraft is being flown in as a spare from Melbourne after arriving as QF 80 from Tokyo. The flight from Melbourne just arrived at 1131 - therefore it will be likely to be at least 1300 departure with towing to gate, cleaning and boarding. I wonder which flight this aircraft will from when it returns from HKG tonight..