Qf 9, 747

[serfty]

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

F4 A4 J9 C9 D9 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 R9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O0

This is what seat counter and ExpertFlyer are showing for QF9 SIN-LHR 19th June.

5 Weeks out, this tends to indicate the flight has plenty of empty seats.

 

[maninblack]

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

I believe there are 5 in service. EBT, EBV, EBW, EBX and EBY. As Serfty spotted 4 of them at SYD this morning, and one of them was operating QF485 from MEL this morning at 08.25 that would account for number 5.

 

[Wunala Dreaming]

I believe there are 5 in service. EBT, EBV, EBW, EBX and EBY. As Serfty spotted 4 of them at SYD this morning, and one of them was operating QF485 from MEL this morning at 08.25 that would account for number 5.

4 747-300s are currently in active service.

VH-EBY operated QF485 MEL-PER yesterday, meaning VH-EBT, -EBV, EBW and -EBX were on the ground when serfty passed (yesterday).

VH-EBT is currently minus all titles ("Qantas", "Spirit of Australia" etc) and only has some markings on the rudder/tail. The aircraft is currently for sale and needs a major overhaul or a "D" check.

-EBT's last flight was QF566 PER-SYD on 14th April.

 

[littl_flier]

4 747-300s are currently in active service.

VH-EBY operated QF485 MEL-PER yesterday, meaning VH-EBT, -EBV, EBW and -EBX were on the ground when serfty passed (yesterday).

VH-EBT is currently minus all titles ("Qantas", "Spirit of Australia" etc) and only has some markings on the rudder/tail. The aircraft is currently for sale and needs a major overhaul or a "D" check.

-EBT's last flight was QF566 PER-SYD on 14th April.

Relly sorry to go off thread here, but I'm fascinated how you know which aircraft operate which service. Is there something readily available to the general public or is this inside knowledge? If this is readily available, do you know what aircraft will operate a service before the flight, or only once flown?

 

[maninblack]

4 747-300s are currently in active service.

VH-EBY operated QF485 MEL-PER yesterday, meaning VH-EBT, -EBV, EBW and -EBX were on the ground when serfty passed (yesterday).

VH-EBT is currently minus all titles ("Qantas", "Spirit of Australia" etc) and only has some markings on the rudder/tail. The aircraft is currently for sale and needs a major overhaul or a "D" check.

-EBT's last flight was QF566 PER-SYD on 14th April.

Okay. Was on VH-EBT to HNL in December, so I guess that was my last trip on it. Any idea when QF is getting the extra A330's they ordered, they must really be hanging out for them now.

 

[Wunala Dreaming]

Relly sorry to go off thread here, but I'm fascinated how you know which aircraft operate which service. Is there something readily available to the general public or is this inside knowledge? If this is readily available, do you know what aircraft will operate a service before the flight, or only once flown?

For past flights, in many cases the information is available online (and to the general public). There are a number of websites where you can check for aircraft registrations of past flights, but IME, these are full of errors, double-ups and missing information. As a result, they are highly unreliable and I do not use them (use other online and offline sources). One example is - ACARSD (full of errors and double-ups - but you get the idea)

With regards to registrations of upcoming flights - that's something that is not accessible to the general public. Access to airline intranet or internal systems will often provide aircraft registrations for upcoming flights. In many cases it easy to work out regos for flights (BNE-LAX-BNE for example).

Hope that helps!

maninblack, QF mainline's A330-200s are due from December 2007 onwards (like with all things in aviation - subject to delays). 2 332s for JQi are due to arrive June/July/August and will allow CNS-NGO/KIX and SYD-KUL services to commence.

Rgds

 

[littl_flier]

Hope that helps!

Thanks Wunala Dreaming. Quite interesting.

maninblack, QF mainline's A330-200s are due from December 2007 onwards (like with all things in aviation - subject to delays). 2 332s for JQi are due to arrive June/July/August and will allow CNS-NGO/KIX and SYD-KUL services to commence.

I was talking to a mate who works for Qantas the other day and he was saying that the reason Qantas chose to move the A330-200's in particular to Jetstar (in addition with other things no doubt) was because the floor was not structually sound enough to support the weight of skybeds in J class. I presume for QF to order more, they must have sorted this out?

 

[serfty]

This problem with the 332 flooring has been mentioned several time on this forum as well as on FT.

And yes, this problem has been sorted out; it was simply far too expensive to strengthen the floors of the existing 332's.

 

[maninblack]

Thanks Wunala Dreaming. I was talking to a mate who works for Qantas the other day and he was saying that the reason Qantas chose to move the A330-200's in particular to Jetstar (in addition with other things no doubt) was because the floor was not structually sound enough to support the weight of skybeds in J class. I presume for QF to order more, they must have sorted this out?

Apparently true. Seems yet another insane decision from QF regarding their past fleet purchases. Why reduce your long term flexibility by ordering an aircraft that cannot be fitted with your already existing seat product, when it can be manufactured to do so? They had intended to use they A330-200 for big Cityflyer routes like MEL-SYD but turnaround proved too slow to fit scheduling. With the advent of Jetstar, the presence of the A330-200's was convenient but i wonder if they were able to take Skybeds whether they may have stayed with QF mainline and 767's may have gone to JQ awaiting the 787's.

 

[Altair]

Apparently true. Seems yet another insane decision from QF regarding their past fleet purchases. Why reduce your long term flexibility by ordering an aircraft that cannot be fitted with your already existing seat product, when it can be manufactured to do so? They had intended to use they A330-200 for big Cityflyer routes like MEL-SYD but turnaround proved too slow to fit scheduling. With the advent of Jetstar, the presence of the A330-200's was convenient but i wonder if they were able to take Skybeds whether they may have stayed with QF mainline and 767's may have gone to JQ awaiting the 787's.

I do not know if JQ would have used the 767, they probably would have receieved a long overdue cabin refit if they did.
The QF A330-201 no longer exist, when transferred to JQ they received the update to the engine system so they an be A330-202 allowing a higher MTOW for the longer range JQ missions.
Because QF planned to use them on the high density Cityflyer route, they did not see the need for strong floors and higher engine ratings. Some airports in Australia charge the airlines on aircraft weight, not passenger volume so QF did this to reduce the airport charges. Good in theory but as noted before the A330-200 did not work too well on these short missions but better on the longer missions. I do not know where QF will put these birds if they are returned to the fleet. The trans-con routes now have more capacity amd demand with the aging 747-338, if they do take over from them will they get the Dreamtime seats and PTV in Y?
Trans-Tasman they have too much capacity, well according to the argument of QF-NZ . Or they may have the floors strengthened for longer-thin routes which the new A330-200 are slated for.

 

[maninblack]

Because QF planned to use them on the high density Cityflyer route, they did not see the need for strong floors and higher engine ratings. Some airports in Australia charge the airlines on aircraft weight, not passenger volume so QF did this to reduce the airport charges. Good in theory but as noted before the A330-200 did not work too well on these short missions but better on the longer missions. I do not know where QF will put these birds if they are returned to the fleet. The trans-con routes now have more capacity amd demand with the aging 747-338, if they do take over from them will they get the Dreamtime seats and PTV in Y?
Trans-Tasman they have too much capacity, well according to the argument of QF-NZ . Or they may have the floors strengthened for longer-thin routes which the new A330-200 are slated for.

By the time they get them back...if they come back...the 743's will be well and truly ready to go, if not gone already. So they may go onto routes like East coast-PER or SYD-AKL. As they can't take the Skybed they cannot be used on many international routes. No way they will get Dreamtime seats, these will be ready for the scrapheap in 2009. Maybe they will get the floors strengthened, but i think that they may be with JQ for a long time.

 

[oz_mark]

4 747-300s are currently in active service.

VH-EBY operated QF485 MEL-PER yesterday, meaning VH-EBT, -EBV, EBW and -EBX were on the ground when serfty passed (yesterday).

VH-EBT is currently minus all titles ("Qantas", "Spirit of Australia" etc) and only has some markings on the rudder/tail. The aircraft is currently for sale and needs a major overhaul or a "D" check.

-EBT's last flight was QF566 PER-SYD on 14th April.

I've heard -EBT has been sold and is (or may already have) leaving the country.