Qantas holding pattern NZ-Melbourne May morning 2009

[davidj]

I took these photos on 19 May at 8.30am, and now have the chance to finally share! Correct me if I am wrong but I'm assuming a Qantas flight from NZ. Melbourne was in thick fog this morning, and it surely was a very fresh morning. Photos taken from eastern Victoria. Sorry for the poor quality, but interesting never the less!

 

[Davo70]

Great photos davidj. A few travellers getting dizzy.

 

[samh004]

That's a pretty cool photo.

 

[straitman]

The AKL-MEL flights pass just north of the Bass Strait oil platforms and just north of Sale if that puts any perspective on things.

 

[munitalP]

cool pics!

Mr!

 

[markis10]

There are two holding patterns , one just south of Warragul and the other at Wonthaggi.

 

[serfty]

Heading East to AKL they generally pass well to the north of Sale, crossing the coast around Mallacoota.

Heading to West to MEL, they tend to travel further south, often crossing the coast around Paynesville - they then head to the North of Highway 1, often from an A seat I have looked down at places like Trafalgar, Warragul and Drouin (Identifying the Golf Courses I have played )

 

[straitman]

Heading East to AKL they generally pass well to the north of Sale, crossing the coast around Mallacoota.

Heading to West to MEL, they tend to travel further south, often crossing the coast around Paynesville - they then head to the North of Highway 1, often from an A seat I have looked down at places like Trafalgar, Warragul and Drouin (Identifying the Golf Courses I have played )

serfty,

Not a lot in it :!:

Mallacouta (37deg 34min S) is only 21NM further Nth than Paynesville (37deg 55min S).

I have on occasions coasted out East of Sale and south of Paynesville when heading to AKL.

 

[moa999]

Why so sure NZ flights? Could they not be any aircraft

 

[serfty]

Yep, the route does vary a little. However, what I noted were the general routings - gleaned from the pre 2006 days of 763's and upgrading with UC's from any economy class (SkyShow was a favorite).

 

[serfty]

Why so sure NZ flights? Could they not be any aircraft

Very few commercial passenger aircraft fly over these areas Gippsland that are not heading to / from NZ.

Interestingly, when the 388 first started operating QF94, the LAX MEL routing was changed to link up with the Westbound NZ/MEL pathway approx 100 Km East of Pt Hicks. I noticed back in March this had reverted to the standard overpass of SYD at ~380fl.

 

[markis10]

Very few commercial passenger aircraft fly over these areas Gippsland that are not heading to / from NZ.

Interestingly, when the 388 first started operating QF94, the LAX MEL routing was changed to link up with the Westbound NZ/MEL pathway approx 100 Km East of Pt Hicks. I noticed back in March this had reverted to the standard overpass of SYD at ~380fl.

It changes daily depending on the winds, as does the Perth-Sydney routes, with the aircraft joinging the main inbound routes at either Mallacoota or Wollongong for sequencing with domestic traffic.


The effect the winds have on flight path can be seen here:

FlightAware > Live Flight Tracker > Qantas Airways Limited #94 > 24-Nov-2008 > KLAX-YMML

This flight was on standard routing

FlightAware > Live Flight Tracker > Qantas Airways Limited #94 > 08-Jun-2008 > KLAX-YMML

This flight appears to have been given direct Mallacoota routing at some stage with the reporting points becomming lat/longs rather than the standard 5 letter points.

By comparison todays flight went via Wollonging

FlightAware > Live Flight Tracker > Qantas Airways Limited #94


The variance you see with the trans tasman routes also has something to do with the winds or more often its just an indicator of the difference it makes when an aircraft gets a direct clearance to a particular point, rather than being restricted to standard dseparture and enroute tracks.