Qantas Project Sunrise goes ahead, 12 new A350-1000s ordered

[RSD]

Yes QF know what they're doing, they've researched everything, but how many mistakes have they made in the past??

In sure every move they make they've researched and planned every angle, but no matter what they've ticked off, they certain to fail at times in the future.
Oh now tell me anyone and everyone can fail at times.

So saying they've done there homework & know what they're doing is a little nonsensical if not pointless.

Same could be said about BHP - they have made some almighty clangers when it comes to acquisitions.

Post automatically merged: Yesterday at 10:12 PM

Send them to HND for a few weeks before going to LHR.

Cough cough send them to Cairo please!

 

[MooTime]

Same could be said about BHP - they have made some almighty clangers when it comes to acquisitions.

Post automatically merged: Yesterday at 10:12 PM

Cough cough send them to Cairo please!

What on earth does BHP have to do with Qantas sunrise flights?

Stick to water on school nights bud.

 

[elanshin]

Yes QF know what they're doing, they've researched everything, but how many mistakes have they made in the past??

In sure every move they make they've researched and planned every angle, but no matter what they've ticked off, they certain to fail at times in the future.
Oh now tell me anyone and everyone can fail at times.

So saying they've done there homework & know what they're doing is a little nonsensical if not pointless.

The whole point this was started again today was because someone was asking if there was any evidence of this being viable and the best answer is that QF did the hw and at this stage we can only believe that they know what they're doing because we have nothing empirically to claim otherwise for sunrise.

 

[RSD]

What on earth does BHP have to do with Qantas sunrise flights?

Stick to water on school nights bud.

Merely pointing out that Qantas isn't the only one that has extensively planned and researched something and then had it go badly wrong...

 

[justinbrett]

Yes QF know what they're doing, they've researched everything, but how many mistakes have they made in the past??

In sure every move they make they've researched and planned every angle, but no matter what they've ticked off, they certain to fail at times in the future.
Oh now tell me anyone and everyone can fail at times.

So saying they've done there homework & know what they're doing is a little nonsensical if not pointless.

Route wise, I think they've got a pretty stellar record.

In many ways, the QF A350-1000ULR is the modern equivalent of the 747-400ER, which QF was the sole customer, which enabled QF to do much longer routes like MEL-LAX and even later SYD-DFW (back via BNE).

 

[jrfsp]

That's pretty much how QF already is. If you're coming to London, fly QF. If you're going to the continent - here are our partners.

QF really doesn't codeshare on many BA Euro routes.

That said London is hugely popular as a destination for Aussies, for obvious reasons. I personally would find it rude flying to Europe and not popping in for a visit, regardless of how many times I've been.

indeed, there are a few holes in EKs network which are reliant on BA codeshares, BER for instance, which is surprisingly popular destinations for Aussies these days, also LHR I’ve found really easy to fly into, transit etc, beats transit in CDG anyday. I’ve not been to any other country in Europe where Aussies can use e gates, never waited more than 1 minute to enter the country.

 

[RSD]

indeed, there are a few holes in EKs network which are reliant on BA codeshares, BER for instance, which is surprisingly popular destinations for Aussies these days, also LHR I’ve found really easy to fly into, transit etc, beats transit in CDG anyday. I’ve not been to any other country in Europe where Aussies can use e gates, never waited more than 1 minute to enter the country.

I prefer DFW for ease of transitting due to the monorail loop - but LHR wins every time for ease of entry.

 

[justinbrett]

I prefer DFW for ease of transitting due to the monorail loop - but LHR wins every time for ease of entry.

Dallas is in Europe now?

 

[SCM]

I don't really understand the economics of Qantas's project sunrise flights. I don't see how they can make profit on such a long flight which needs so much fuel, modified aircraft, catering etc. Does anyone know what the operating costs for one of these flights will be?

After ww2 (nevermind how hard it was before), it took 6 stops and a crew ratio of 1:3 to make this route. Every time they reduced the number of stops, you could have said the very same thing, and yet somehow they made it work. I suppose the argument is, much the same, they can make it work now with zero stops.

What are the economics? Well...

- Extra fuel tank is not in itself a big deal for cost, it's just another aircraft. Qantas isn't fronting the cost of aircraft R&D, and many airlines are expected to buy this variant.
- It will require more fuel to do such a long journey, yes. The initial take-off weight will be quite a lot. You could potentially counterbalance that by not carrying any extra freight, although that too cuts into profits.
- It will require one extra meals for a total of 3 (my guess), but Qantas is very cheap in the catering department, so it's unlikely to really cost much in terms of space or weight, probably a sandwhich or something, so I don't think this will make much difference.

On the other hand;

- Don't have to pay airport taxes, country taxes, whatever other taxes to land somewhere in between
- They don't have to pay for double takeoff (planes use a lot of fuel during takeoff)
- They don't have to pay lounge costs in Perth/Singapore/Wherever else, and can effectively increase pax capacity to Europe, without increasing any lounge capacity/costs, nor have to pay partners for lounge costs.


There will be some categories of people who will really want all this, because;
- Business travellers won't mind doing that length of flight in business or first class
- Some people will have the "just get me there quick, even if i have to go through hell" mentality
- Small/short people will be less affected by this trip, they may see very little downside
- People travelling in emergencies (medical, family, etc) will put up with the flight length as well, they need to get to the destination as quickly as possible
- If someone wants to de-risk from the chances of anything going wrong during transit (for example, random aircraft maintenance issue, storm over Singapore requiring diversion, etc).


Everything so far looks like Qantas aims to create new demand (or steal it from competitors), rather than move existing customers onto this route, which is very interesting - it's not something they have typically done in a long time.