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

[Melburnian1]

They actually explained this, it's to mitigate congestion delays.

Later in the morning they're more likely to face holding - landing that early they've got the best chance of not being held up.

Holding times vary, but if it's the case QFi is 'worried' (as you said elsewhere) about a possible 20 minute holding pattern approaching London Heathrow, then that underlines what a risky endeavour PS is.. Pushing the envelope a little too close for comfort.

Perhaps unusually given summer, about four days ago there was heavy fog at LHR with 1,000 flights disrupted.

It will be fascinating to see if QF1 or whatever flight number it's allocated ever has to divert, meaning a 24 hour delay given pilots and cabin crew would have to rest overnight.

 

[elanshin]

Holding times vary, but if it's the case QFi is 'worried' (as you said elsewhere) about a possible 20 minute holding pattern approaching London Heathrow, then that underlines what a risky endeavour PS is.. Pushing the envelope a little too close for comfort.

Perhaps unusually given summer, about four days ago there was heavy fog at LHR with 1,000 flights disrupted.

It will be fascinating to see if QF1 or whatever flight number it's allocated ever has to divert, meaning a 24 hour delay given pilots and cabin crew would have to rest overnight.

Wouldn't a "low fuel" call shoot them up the priority list.

 

[justinbrett]

Holding times vary, but if it's the case QFi is 'worried' (as you said elsewhere) about a possible 20 minute holding pattern approaching London Heathrow, then that underlines what a risky endeavour PS is.. Pushing the envelope a little too close for comfort.

Perhaps unusually given summer, about four days ago there was heavy fog at LHR with 1,000 flights disrupted.

It will be fascinating to see if QF1 or whatever flight number it's allocated ever has to divert, meaning a 24 hour delay given pilots and cabin crew would have to rest overnight.

Not worried in terms of safety of flight, worried in terms of chance of diversion. Remember when QF8 was a 747? That happened a lot.

I'm sure there will be diversions. But I'm not sure the chance is any higher than QF9 or QF4. It could even be less. QF9 and QF4 are both crack of dawn arrivals so also mitigate congestion.

Wouldn't a "low fuel" call shoot them up the priority list.

You still need to carry the prescribed holding fuel. You can't just rock up and say "I've come a long way".

Now, they could request some sort of special requirement status (before departure) which grants them priority, but I'm not sure they'd get it.

 

[oz_mark]

You still need to carry the prescribed holding fuel. You can't just rock up and say "I've come a long way".

Now, they could request some sort of special requirement status (before departure) which grants them priority, but I'm not sure they'd get it.

I'm sure they've learnt a few things from the 787 flights, but I imagine that you'd pretty much have to declare an emergency to get up the priority list.

 

[Melburnian1]

Another (hopefully rare) difficulty will be if there's a medical diversion required.

Again, a 24 hour delay is the probable result.

 

[justinbrett]

Yeh, OK you've got me. Yes, 'm being somewhat selective, I could only find 14 AA arrivals before 9am , and another 5 between 9 and 10., and probably a few more AS flights to boot. And not every ticket is issued with AA connectors. I've travelled a plenty on mix and match interlines bookings such as SQ/AA, QF/UA .

(East) Asia works better as you're travelling at similar latitudes - shorter flights that cover more time zones. In winter, it's a 5 hour jump from local time take off to local time arrival to Japan - to Sydney it's 10 hours. So even a 0900 departure (which would rule out connecting arrivals after 0730) would land at SYD at 1900, and at that time of night the only connections left are MEL & BNE (who have their own direct flights).

A day time flight to BNE is probably the most suitable, as in winter it's a hour behind, and it's a slightly shorter flight.

 

[Quickstatus]

Wouldn't a "low fuel" call shoot them up the priority list.

Generally no. You could push the envelope and declare "minimum fuel" but that could open a can of worms in the form of a "please explain" later if you do it routinely. Not sure if the regulators investigate min fuel compared to mayday fuel which they do. Can you imagine the effect on the airline's reputation if it leaked out that they didn't have enough fuel on this particular route?.

The airline will plan to arrive with adequate fuel. They have experience with estimating fuel for various ULH flights including recent PER-LHR and DFW-SYD on the A380 which also require less than full passenger loads. . It is not about how many hours the aircraft can fly for. It is about arriving with adequate fuel no matter the aircraft - whether a Cessna or an A350. So I don't think we should worry that the airline has not properly prepared for this route. It would have done all the calculations and analysed all the scenarios and contingencies.

if by some chance they don't have enough fuel there are many diversion fields en route. They will just go there and the pilots most likely will go to the hotel.

Edge cases may involve reducing passenger payload. Or in extreme cases - land in Singapore with prepositioned crew to take over from there.

I'm not worried about fuel for Ps
I'm not worried about having to divert - it would be an adventure. Lots of airports 120minutes away
The airline is not going to stretch the calculations to make it fit.
I'm more worried about flights like SYD-SCL where there in nothing between the 2 destinations on a 2 engine except ocean

 

[offshore171]

if by some chance they don't have enough fuel there are many diversion fields en route. They will just go there and

It certainly is a thing. I recall the Qantas A380 from Dallas to Syd has diverted to Brisbane in the past, if they encountered strong headwinds and chewing through too much fuel.

For Syd to LHR, on the upwind sector there's plenty of "friendly" airports they could potentially divert to in a low fuel state occurs.

Coming back, the last couple of hours will be over Australian territory and the prevailing wind is a tailwind so this is less of a concern.

 

[Quickstatus]

has diverted to Brisbane

And NOU and AKL
Fuel planning is basic pilot skill and with the airlines is augmented by sophisticated system.s.

 

[flydoc2]

"Cabin lighting to combat jet lag"? As if they actually care.

I think the reality will be - lights are out, shut up, sleep and don't bother us for the next 22 hours. Well feed you when we feel like it.

Quote from VH, in this months QF Travel Insider magazine - “ the cabin lighting will shift with your destination timezone and menus will be built around sleep and wake cycles”

Ostensibly the statement for cabin lighting is quite objective, implying the intent is for it to be actively managed inflight to help align pax with the destination time-zone.
The comment on the timings of the inflight meals service has far more wriggle room. IMO.

 

[justinbrett]

Another (hopefully rare) difficulty will be if there's a medical diversion required.

Again, a 24 hour delay is the probable result.

How is that any different to the current QF1 or QF9? or most long haul flights for that matter?

 

[lovestotravel]

Quote from VH, in this months QF Travel Insider magazine - “ the cabin lighting will shift with your destination timezone and menus will be built around sleep and wake cycles”

Ostensibly the statement for cabin lighting is quite objective, implying the intent is for it to be actively managed inflight to help align pax with the destination time-zone.
The comment on the timings of the inflight meals service has far more wriggle room. IMO.

I hope the lighting is actually used properly. I've lost track of flights where the mood lighting is used rarely/incorrectly or hardly at all.