Qf 9, 747

[pennelton]

Hey all,

Does any one know what plane is used forQF 9 Melbourne to Heathrow via Singapore, Was hoping it would be a 747 400 as I have heard the 747 300 doesnt have AVOD.

Can anyone help with this one?

Cheers
Chris

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

Always a 747-400

 

[Keith009]

3 class 744 for sure. Usual tech swap disclaimer applies (maybe 0.0000001% chance) but I haven't been the victim of one of those on QF9 or 10 yet.

 

[garyjohn951]

But there is still the unknown,
Will it work !!!

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

But there is still the unknown,
Will it work !!!

Expect that it won't. That way not disappointed when it doesn't work, and if it does it makes a nice suprise.

 

[simongr]

Arent there still some 744s that dont have AVOD? ISnt the likelihood of a 743 on that route incredibly small - but AVOD is 50/50? Then you have to assume it will work and that it has something good (no films on QF interest me at the moment)...

 

[swissbignose]

This excellent repository of information (maintained by one amongst us) indicates that all 747-400s are AVOD equipped.

QFlyer - Qantas Fleet Information

Has been since the beginning of the year IIRC.

(Doesn't guarantee that it'll be functioning to spec, though.)

 

[pennelton]

Thanks for that!

So the vibe im getting is the AVOD is very unreliable, I fly the QF26/25 Auckland - Melbourne flight quite reg and im yet to have a problem with it!! Perhaps I have been lucky!!

Couldnt think of anything worse then flying all that way without anything to watch!!

 

[Reggie]

Flew LAX - SYD in early feb, flights was completely full. I was upstairs and 5 seats had non working AVOD, which meant 5 very very unhappy pax, and two FA's continuously appologising, even the CSM came up to appologise and gave them some vouchers I think, dont know for how much though.

 

[Batesy]

The 743's are busy plying their way from Melbourne and Sydney to Perth and back. Very rarely used on int flights now. There are only 5 of them listed as still in QF fleet as opposed to 30 of the 744's.

 

[oz_mark]

The 743's are busy plying their way from Melbourne and Sydney to Perth and back. Very rarely used on int flights now. There are only 5 of them listed as still in QF fleet as opposed to 30 of the 744's.

And one of those 5 is nor far away from retirement or finding alternate employment elsewhere.

 

[maninblack]

The 743's are busy plying their way from Melbourne and Sydney to Perth and back. Very rarely used on int flights now. There are only 5 of them listed as still in QF fleet as opposed to 30 of the 744's.

Only 5, thats 2000 seats, quite a bit for an airline thats short of long haul capacity, they are again going to be running some AKL-LAX services this year and who knows where else when needed. These planes were all going to be retired back in about 2003 but QF has needed them, so they were re-fitted and sent back to work. VH-EBU Nalanji Dreaming is unofficially retired and being stripped for parts and the other 5 still going. You are highly unlikely to get one on QF9 though.

PS check out.
rwy34.com - Photo Request

 

[Wunala Dreaming]

There's currently only 4 747-300s in active service with Qantas.

743s are useful in covering 744 maintenance and operating flights that may need extra capacity during busy holiday times, such as SYD-NOU/HNL. BNE-PER-BNE is still slated to get 743s on the ~8.30am flight later in the year.

1 747-300 will operate a Captain's Choice Tour later this month.

You won't see a 747-300 on QF9/10, but it's always possible you may see a 2-class 747-400. The 747-300 has operated QF127/128 (normally 3-class 744) in the past before, but you have to remember this doesn't continue onto LHR, like QF9/10 does, and there is no way Qantas would operate a 743 and Dreamtime to LHR - I mean they would rather cancel BNE/MEL/SYD-LAX flights and use the aircraft to LHR.

AVOD was installed on the final 747-400 in early March 2007 - so all of fleet has had it for a little while.

Rgds

 

[pennelton]

Will this flight be full? Any chance of asking for an empty seat next to me? or am I dreaming

 

[serfty]

There's currently only 4 747-300s in active service with Qantas. ...

Saw them all in SYD Yesterday at 6:45am while doing the inter terminal transfer. Three were parked (along with a 744 and two 763's) at the NE apron area and one was at gate 10.

 

[serfty]

Will this flight be full? Any chance of asking for an empty seat next to me? or am I dreaming

What day are you travelling?

Use SeatCounter - The Booking Class Availability Machine to get an idea.

 

[pennelton]

What day are you travelling?

Use SeatCounter - The Booking Class Availability Machine to get an idea.

Monday the 18th June - Stopover for a night in Singapore then Flyout out directo LHR on the 19th

 

[oz_mark]

There's currently only 4 747-300s in active service with Qantas.

743s are useful in covering 744 maintenance and operating flights that may need extra capacity during busy holiday times, such as SYD-NOU/HNL. BNE-PER-BNE is still slated to get 743s on the ~8.30am flight later in the year.

So they are planning to have 3 of the in PER at midday. Can't see that working too well.

 

[serfty]

A B C D F H I J K L M P	R S U V W Y Z
4 9 9 0 4 9 0 9 9   9 0     0     9 0

F4 A4 J9 C9 D0 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 R9 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0

This is what seat counter and ExpertFlyer are showing for 18th June.

5 Weeks out, this tends to indicate the flight is starting to fill up.

For more information on Fare Buckets, check out NM's informative post here: Flight Availability Tool

 

[Optics]

Will this flight be full? Any chance of asking for an empty seat next to me? or am I dreaming

You always have the chance to ask for an empty seat, the real issue is what chance of the answer you want . This will of course depend on how full the a/c is, and then be influenced by your QFF status. I hope you have good luck.