Qantas' last flight to (Continental) Europe today

[IGetAround]

The final QF5 to Frankfurt is operating today. This immediately frees up two 747s, presumably for retirement; in the longer term, QF5 SYD-SIN-SYD moves to an A330, freeing up a further 747.

Any idea why they moved the termination of this route out to October then back to April?

I wish they could have kept it going another few days to coincide with my trip to Europe on Thursday; fingers crossed that Berlin gets up at some point in the medium term.

 

[Brettmcg]

Shed a tear over this one. I spent much of my childhood travelling on this route between my native and adopted homes.

I just hope that one day when/if QFi returns to the black that we see QF metal again in Germany and Continental Europe.

 

[JessicaTam]

Some of the crew on QF82 today did say they heard rumours of QF operating a DXB-TXL flight in the future. That would suit me!

 

[Brettmcg]

Some of the crew on QF82 today did say they heard rumours of QF operating a DXB-TXL flight in the future. That would suit me!

Can't see them going into TXL as it is set to close once BER becomes fully operational. The rumour about Berlin has been circling for a while and speculation was fuelled when AJ mentioned it as a possible future destination at the QF/EK launch two weeks ago. EK can't go there as they have exhausted their current German allocations. I would expect that if QF were to put on a BER flight it would originate in PER or BNE to add extra QF capacity to DXB and then continue on with an uplift of EK pax in DXB. If QF couldn't make money in their own right flying to FRA, they'll never be able to do it to BER without EK traffic.

 

[gwilli1]

Can't see them going into TXL as it is set to close once BER becomes fully operational. The rumour about Berlin has been circling for a while and speculation was fuelled when AJ mentioned it as a possible future destination at the QF/EK launch two weeks ago. EK can't go there as they have exhausted their current German allocations. I would expect that if QF were to put on a BER flight it would originate in PER or BNE to add extra QF capacity to DXB and then continue on with an uplift of EK pax in DXB. If QF couldn't make money in their own right flying to FRA, they'll never be able to do it to BER without EK traffic.

Agree totally, if it is to happen, it will be to BER. As for originating port my money is with PER-DBX (5606 miles/9000km) with an A330. My simple reasoning here, is the 747's are up for retirement & an A330 is not really capable of doing BNE-DXB (7444 miles/11980km) .

A rough PER-DXB-BER-DXB-PER QF schedule I believe could be:

Ex PER 1630 / Arr DXB 2330 (11 hours)
Ex DXB 0205+1 / Arr BER 0635+1 (6.30 hours)

Ex BER 2330 ARR DXB 0745+1 (6.15 hours)
Ex DXB 1000+1 ARR PER 0030+2 (10.30 hours)

All of the above allows for at least a MCT in DXB of 90 mins for PER connections to LHR and SYD/MEL to BER and the same on the return
A long a/c layover in BER of around 15 hours , but QF had a similar layover in FRA also.

As a result of the QF introduction on PER-DBX-PER , I would see EK reducing there own metal services from 3 flights to 2 per day, and free up a 777 to be used elsewhere on their network. Codeshares would be across all services.
A daily PER-DXB-PER combined QF/EK schedule could look something like:

Ex PER

600 1300 (EK)
1630 2330 (QF)
2230 0530+1 (EK)

Ex DXB

0255 1725 (EK)
1000 0030+1 (QF)
2145 1215+1 (EK)

The only problem I see with the above are the EK a/c layovers in PER of between 10-13 hours which may or may not be favourable , if not , I would see further enhancements to the EK schedule would likely be needed. (and thats another story)

This was basically just to show how QF could intergrate a service to BER using there own metal.

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

I fear we won't see anything until the 787 introduction to mainline QF.

God forbid, JQ into BER? I shudder just typing that...

 

[gwilli1]

I fear we won't see anything until the 787 introduction to mainline QF.

God forbid, JQ into BER? I shudder just typing that...

Whilst I wouldn't rule out BER not happening until QFi get the 787-9 in 2016 , I feel that this may happen before that as QFi takes delivery of the A330's from JQ as they commence roll out 787-8 later in the year (hopefully!).

In regards to the Orange Cancer doing BER , again I would never rule it out , but don't believe it would be desirable for EK to codeshare their premium customers on an LCC like JQ . I don't think there is any codeshare arrangements in place for EK on JQ as per the current partnership that kicked off on the 31st March ( happy to be corrected) .

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

I think this is wishful thinking, but hope you are right.

I also wouldn't rule out SYD-SIN QF5 continuing on a refurb 744 for the medium term, as the load factors are quite good.

 

[markis10]

JQ long haul is proving to be an issue with profitability concerns, one of the reasons the A330s are coming back now.

 

[JessicaTam]

Can't see them going into TXL as it is set to close once BER becomes fully operational. The rumour about Berlin has been circling for a while and speculation was fuelled when AJ mentioned it as a possible future destination at the QF/EK launch two weeks ago. EK can't go there as they have exhausted their current German allocations. I would expect that if QF were to put on a BER flight it would originate in PER or BNE to add extra QF capacity to DXB and then continue on with an uplift of EK pax in DXB. If QF couldn't make money in their own right flying to FRA, they'll never be able to do it to BER without EK traffic.

My bad typing the wrong Berlin airport code - it has been a long weekend!

In my conversation with the cabin crew, A330s were mentioned, which as per gwilli1's post could indicated PER

 

[vitagen]

JQ long haul is proving to be an issue with profitability concerns, one of the reasons the A330s are coming back now.

How is that getting fixed by introducing the 787s?

 

[markis10]

How is that getting fixed by introducing the 787s?

The 787 should offer savings in the vicinity of 10% compared to their current A330s which have low MTOW specs.

 

[vitagen]

The 787 should offer savings in the vicinity of 10% compared to their current A330s which have low MTOW specs.

QF have more long haul routes serviced by A330, shouldnt the allocation go to them I would have thought?

 

[oz_mark]

QF have more long haul routes serviced by A330, shouldnt the allocation go to them I would have thought?

The immediate issue with QF is its (mainly) domestic fleet of 767s. That is what needs to be replaced. While I have no idea about the ins and outs of asset allocation within QF, I have heard that it is quite possible that QFd preferred to take the A330s over the 787-8s.