QANTAS launches 2 new international routes, roars back to NZ as Virgin Defers until November

[milehighclub]

IFE is being reactivated and should be fully functional from the 15th! Headsets won't be provided initially.

 

[jakeseven7]

Indeed- I applaud Qantas for this. I had feared that all their blurb about making reward seats available once we can fly again would be the usual Marketing bs but nope- they've kept their word, for now at least!

And in the business suite out of Mel, Syd and Cns.......

 

[Kiwi_Flyer]

Couple of interesting and related articles to QF's new trans tasman schedule....

I'll be interested to see how many people take the plunge.

Don't think it will be that attractive to NZ-based flyers. JQ has limited routes & schedule with domestic NZ flights, and there won't be too many people taking multiple international trips in the short term due to all the risks (bubble paused, etc).

IFE is being reactivated and should be fully functional from the 15th! Headsets won't be provided initially.

I wonder where I put my noise cancelling headset? Been so long since I've been able to use it.

 

[Berlin]

And in the business suite out of Mel, Syd and Cns.......

Yes- my trans-Tasman are all on the A330 which is very nice. “Suite” though is total Marketing hype in my opinion. Qatar has “suites” in Business, Qantas has seats (which admittedly are pretty nice domestically but middle of the range internationally).

 

[jase05]

No decent aircraft to the South Island which is our preferred destination. Will have to cross my fingers and wait for EK to relaunch SYD-CHC as I’m not keen to fly TT on J on a 737

 

[Kiwi_Flyer]

No decent aircraft to the South Island which is our preferred destination. Will have to cross my fingers and wait for EK to relaunch SYD-CHC as I’m not keen to fly TT on J on a 737

You could do QF A330 SYD-AKL and do JQ or QF codeshare on NZ AKL-CHC.

 

[milehighclub]

No decent aircraft to the South Island which is our preferred destination

I see SYD-CHC on the A330.

 

[justinbrett]

No decent aircraft to the South Island which is our preferred destination. Will have to cross my fingers and wait for EK to relaunch SYD-CHC as I’m not keen to fly TT on J on a 737

I very much doubt that EK would operate that route as a quarantine free flight (well I doubt they'll operate it at all until regular loads return to SYD-DXB). EK won't have crews sitting around in AUS/NZ just to operate the quarantine free flight (and the international crews aren't allowed to operate it)

 

[Berlin]

I see SYD-CHC on the A330.

Really? I wish.

 

[henrus]

You could do QF A330 SYD-AKL

I've booked this and really hope it sticks and they keep the A330 running. It's a big downgrade from the EK A380 but better than a 737.

I very much doubt that EK would operate that route as a quarantine free flight (well I doubt they'll operate it at all until regular loads return to SYD-DXB). EK won't have crews sitting around in AUS/NZ just to operate the quarantine free flight (and the international crews aren't allowed to operate it)

Don't quote me on this but I remember reading something last year saying Emirates may look at bubble flights.

They find themselves in a weird position with this. They've got lots of spare aircraft, plenty of Australian/New Zealand crew plus the requirement isn't about where the crew comes from it's about where they've been in the last 14 days, and most importantly they still hold traffic rights to routes that have quite a lot of potential right now. I highly doubt they'd do anything (and QF might not want it) but the potential is there for them to bring crew to Australia, make them complete 14 days quarantine and then start TT flights. Current requirements even allow them to use the aircraft that arrive from international flights on bubble flights (provided they've undergone a deep clean).

 

[jakeseven7]

I've booked this and really hope it sticks and they keep the A330 running. It's a big downgrade from the EK A380 but better than a 737.


Don't quote me on this but I remember reading something last year saying Emirates may look at bubble flights.

They find themselves in a weird position with this. They've got lots of spare aircraft, plenty of Australian/New Zealand crew plus the requirement isn't about where the crew comes from it's about where they've been in the last 14 days, and most importantly they still hold traffic rights to routes that have quite a lot of potential right now. I highly doubt they'd do anything (and QF might not want it) but the potential is there for them to bring crew to Australia, make them complete 14 days quarantine and then start TT flights. Current requirements even allow them to use the aircraft that arrive from international flights on bubble flights (provided they've undergone a deep clean).

Doubt they'd make any money, aircraft too heavy even when things were normal....

It will be the QF/NZ show for a while I think - especially now they are code sharing on their domestic routes.

Suspect we will see a flood of NZ code on QF domestic flights in a few weeks! Will give QF domestic a boost too.

 

[henrus]

Really? I wish.

From 19 April Qantas will fly an A330 daily from SYD-CHC-SYD.

QF137 from SYD to CHC and then QF136 from CHC-SYD.

It might seem odd at first but I guess this is all about cargo. Throughout the pandemic, they've been operating their daily B767 freighter from SYD-AKL-CHC-SYD (sometimes SYD-CHC-AKL-SYD) and occasionally the A330 has been swapped in, so CHC has actually seen quite a few A330's recently.

 

[jakeseven7]

Appears sales are going well?!

Already putting more flights on...

Seems most people are braver than me!

----

Qantas ramps up trans-Tasman flights

Qantas has added more flights to its trans-Tasman schedule in response to early demand for seats when the two-way bubble begins.

NoCookies | The Australian

www.theaustralian.com.au

 

[henrus]

Appears sales are going well?!
Already putting more flights on...
Seems most people are braver than me!

For those who don't have access to the Australian, my summary:

After the bubble announcement, QF/JQ scheduled 120 flights per week across the Tasman.

Qantas is now adding an extra 20 return flights per week between May and October due to VA not operating during that period. Most of these extra flights are on the BNE-CHC and SYD-WLG routes.

The strongest demand on flights to NZ is flights into AKL and ZQN with the strongest demand from NZ into SYD and MEL. Award bookings between AU and NZ are also strong with redemption rates 80 times a normal day.

The article then goes on to talk about VA not operating across the Tasman and that anyone who had booked with VA would be rebooked onto NZ or refunded (either cash or credit). Articles says that VA isn't operating across the Tasman due to aircraft shortages.

Finally QF has been award a federal gov contract to operate DRW to DIL fortnightly.

 

[Berlin]

CoFrom 19 April Qantas will fly an A330 daily from SYD-CHC-SYD.

QF137 from SYD to CHC and then QF136 from CHC-SYD.
View attachment 244087
It might seem odd at first but I guess this is all about cargo. Throughout the pandemic, they've been operating their daily B767 freighter from SYD-AKL-CHC-SYD (sometimes SYD-CHC-AKL-SYD) and occasionally the A330 has been swapped in, so CHC has actually seen quite a few A330's recently.

Consider me surprised. But then EK made a whole A380 work on that route for a long time (that had been one of my absolute Favs!) and your comment about cargo makes lots of sense too. I personally love Christchurch and think it's underrated as a Kiwi destination so bring it on!

 

[henrus]

Consider me surprised. But then EK made a whole A380 work on that route for a long time (that had been one of my absolute Favs!)

Emirates does seem to plan to bring it back, it was completely removed from the booking system however it's now back from late November (obviously borders pending) but it does show that they want to bring the A380 back even if unlikely in November.

 

[NSun]

Consider me surprised. But then EK made a whole A380 work on that route for a long time (that had been one of my absolute Favs!) and your comment about cargo makes lots of sense too. I personally love Christchurch and think it's underrated as a Kiwi destination so bring it on!

I agree. I've always enjoyed the Parklands (reminds me of Adelaide), Brighton Beach and the Antarctica Museum. But even if none of those are your taste it is a gateway to the rest of the South Island and I find it cheaper to fly into Christchurch then fly on or drive to Queenstown. Lake Tekapo - on the way to Queenstown - was amazing, I'd never seen water so blue in my whole life.

I too would like to see the A380 back on CHC but it's not going to happen until a broader boarder re-opening between Australia, New Zealand and the rest of the world. And in the mean time the A330 is better than the 737.

 

[henrus]

The next thing I'd love for Qantas to fix up is the Air NZ codeshares.

In the last 12 months, many of the domestic Air NZ flights have changed number or time which means the QF codeshare has magically dropped off the flight. It's annoying because when searching into regional NZ you'll get one option with a QF codeshare but then all the others are the same price but NZ flight number (which means no lounge or points). Previously almost all of the flights had QF flight numbers which made it a lot easier.

 

[jakeseven7]

The next thing I'd love for Qantas to fix up is the Air NZ codeshares.

In the last 12 months, many of the domestic Air NZ flights have changed number or time which means the QF codeshare has magically dropped off the flight. It's annoying because when searching into regional NZ you'll get one option with a QF codeshare but then all the others are the same price but NZ flight number (which means no lounge or points). Previously almost all of the flights had QF flight numbers which made it a lot easier.

Have you given feedback to Qantas to follow up? What was their response?

 

[henrus]

Have you given feedback to Qantas to follow up? What was their response?

Nope, not even sure how to follow up without getting a generic reply back via a feedback form.