Qantas to Launch Sydney - Cape Town Flights

[leesionn]

Honestly, why wasting another 8 hours of the valuable B789 by starting from Sydney and not Perth?

I am very puzzled why any flights to destinations west of Australia, other than South East Asia needs to be from Sydney.

Having South African flights from Perth, not Sydney will not only improve aircraft utilisation, but also allow passengers to earn more status credits with extra stops at Adelaide.

Well first up its aligning with the delivery of the latest 787-9s.

Moreover, Sydney is the premier international gateway to Australia (whether people like it or not), in terms of tourism and business, and the amount of corporations that have headquarters or significant offices in Sydney.

When it comes to trying to maximise profit, I have a feeling Qantas know what they're doing and have access to significantly more data than us.

 

[mbe1510]

AfR article
Direct quote is actually “Qantas said in August that it would cut around 5 per cent of domestic capacity and exit or pare back unprofitable international routes.”

They said this route coincides with the arrival of new 787s. Big question is this is a one off seasonal (while they await more planes for a pair) or will it be a regular?

Qantas does seem to be going out the seasonal pathway more frequently in recent years

 

[Cool Cat Phil]

Potentially the flight path flies south even longer duration than than what QF63 does to make for some epic views along the way.

 

[SYD]

Honestly, why wasting another 8 hours of the valuable B789 by starting from Sydney and not Perth?

I am very puzzled why any flights to destinations west of Australia, other than South East Asia needs to be from Sydney.

Having South African flights from Perth, not Sydney will not only improve aircraft utilisation, but also allow passengers to earn more status credits with extra stops at Adelaide.

As above, follow the money. QF know how many PAX are already buying tickets to CPT from the east coast (currently via JNB), so I guess they believe they can make it work.

Plus non-stop is what the B787s are all about!

Potentially the flight path flies south even longer duration than than what QF63 does to make for some epic views along the way.

GC route is only 20 ml shorter than JNB but is a long way further south but ETOPS might mean a more northerly route?

 

[MelbFlyer]

Follow the money! Makes good business sense.

Fair enough, although my opinion still stands in that it seems redundant.

If it makes economic sense then so be it.

 

[mbe1510]

Fair enough, although my opinion still stands in that it seems redundant.

If it makes economic sense then so be it.

It's also not about what is the largest city, but also the demographics of the catchment area, which even if Sydney is overtaken as the largest city won't change.

I think Melbourne's headwind is how south it is so its not as convenient for feeder flights. Sydney is very central to 4 capital cities

 

[SYD]

Fair enough, although my opinion still stands in that it seems redundant.

Apparently the loads are there.

We saw this with SFO. It was the most booked destination that QF didn’t actually fly to. It’s now year round.

If it makes economic sense then so be it.

“Make hay while the sunshines”!

It's also not about what is the largest city, but also the demographics of the catchment area, which even if Sydney is overtaken as the largest city won't change.

I think Melbourne's headwind is how south it is so its not as convenient for feeder flights. Sydney is very central to 4 capital cities

I’d also add that there’s a lot of anecdotal evidence that Melbournian wallets are slammed shut leading to flat outbound tourist numbers whereas Sydney is continuing to see post COVID recovery / growth (last I looked).

Plus the MEL population growth is driven by huge inbound migration. Where they’re coming from might not be on QFs top hit list for new destinations?

 

[CaptJCool]

I’m excited for this route

Like
My son and I climbed up there !!

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Great to see another city on the route map for Qantas opening up more options for travel to Africa. Many will be pleased to be able to avoid Johannesburg I'm sure.

 

[dajop]

Apparently the loads are there.

We saw this with SFO. It was the most booked destination that QF didn’t actually fly to. It’s now year round.


“Make hay while the sunshines”!

I’d also add that there’s a lot of anecdotal evidence that Melbournian wallets are slammed shut leading to flat outbound tourist numbers whereas Sydney is continuing to see post COVID recovery / growth (last I looked).

The BITRE figures for Jun and Jul show some minor differences between MEL and SYD international, but both similar and following trends year on year. Although I think the media for certain reasons is overplaying the direness everything in Melbourne, and come the end of the month once the inevitable has happened a lot of the negativity (in the media) will suddenly evaporate, although peoples circumstances won't change quite so quickly, if at all.

In any event Qantas are capital constrained, so need to use their planes wisely. I'd argue that they have much stronger loyalty in Sydney than Melbourne, and have done so for years. As far as airlines go, Melburnians tend to sleep around a bit more. For non-competitive destinations, like CPT, where travelling via SYD is still helluva lot shorter than going via the ME, or taking a two stop via SIN, then putting new destination from SYD is just a no-brainer. As a native Victorian, no problems with Qantas doing this, and likewise I feel no particular loyalty or allegiance to Qantas.

 

[Quickstatus]

Qantas does seem to be going out the seasonal pathway more frequently in recent years

That's is the best way to get actual demand information

Potentially the flight path flies south even longer duration than than what QF63 does to make for some epic views along the way

Unlike the JNB route, the CPT route has to fly further north due to QF 787 2 engine EDTO time of 330 min. But I don't have the one engine out cruise speed to check

Nevertheless the CPT block times are shorter than JNB

 

[offshore171]

important routes daily or double daily, ie. MEL-HKG or SYD-HKG.

There’s quite a lot of CX flights already running those routes though.

 

[dajop]

There’s quite a lot of CX flights already running those routes though.

And even if they did I bet they'd be more or less the same timing, and wouldn't offer much more than they do other than capacity - 2 x afternoon flights to HKG, and 2x overnight flights back.

 

[offshore171]

Seems pretty official now

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

 

[dajop]

Are you able to post screenshots of the post? I refuse to "view this content on Instagram"?!!!

 

[Quickstatus]

I am very puzzled why any flights to destinations west of Australia, other than South East Asia needs to be from Sydney.

Using that logic, all flights to destinatons north of Australia including Asia should be from DRW.

 

[offshore171]

Are you able to post screenshots of the post? I refuse to "view this content on Instagram"?!!!

There’s 7 pics, but here’s the lead photo.


Text reads:

We are excited to reveal the newest destination to be added to our international network, with direct flights from Australia to Cape Town taking off in October next year.


The seasonal route will operate three times a week on our Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner from October to March, aligned with the next delivery of our additional 787 orders.”

 

[Mattg]

This is very cool. I would love to give this route a try, and I suspect it will do well for Qantas and attract a different demographic compared to SYD-JNB.