QF76 29 September - when your business class flight arrives at the Qantas Freight terminal

[smckay]

Today was a real doozy - QF76 ex-Vancouver to Sydney lands about 20 minutes early.
We roll around to the Gate 8-10 area but keep going.
On stopping and seatbelt sign off, the CSM informs us that due to lack of a gate space or parking, we have arrived at the Qantas freight terminal, a set of stairs will be rolled up to the aircraft and we will all board buses to go to the terminal.
WOW.
And, as is regular with being bussed off, we had to wait on the tarmac for associated operational equipment to pass us before we could move.
To add insult, Korean Air had landed just after us and must have gone to a gate and we bussed past an AA aircraft that had just slotted into a gate.

Most of the front cabin were Australian but for the overseas visitors they must have thought they landed in the wrong country.

One positive - I got to see the a$$ end of an A380

 

[Ktan89]

SYD airport has been doing this lately. I live in mascot and noticed not just QF but BA, CX and other metal being parked in this remote area (see pic) which is usually used for freight.
Sucks to be arriving there after an overnight flight and waiting for buses and stairs.

 

[drron]

And has been doing it for years. We have arrived at the QF freight terminal 5 or 6 times between 1996 and 2012. Mainly flying in from BKK.

 

[AIRwin]

You're all precious - cargo!

 

[Ktan89]

And has been doing it for years. We have arrived at the QF freight terminal 5 or 6 times between 1996 and 2012. Mainly flying in from BKK.

Oh there you go.. we moved here during the pandemic and maybe just seeing things picking up.

I know QF does over flow from terminal to the start if freight area. Especially with the morning rush of SE Asia A330 flights but now SYD is also using this patch. Usually you will see DHL or Qantas freight planes parked here.

 

[BAM1748]

You're all precious - cargo!

Self loading freight

 

[smckay]

Self loading freight

So like a Woolworths self-serve checkout, right?
Except we were self-unloading this trip

 

[kookaburra75]

I know QF does over flow from terminal to the start if freight area. Especially with the morning rush of SE Asia A330 flights but now SYD is also using this patch. Usually you will see DHL or Qantas freight planes parked here.

We experienced this on departure in late July, flying out on QF3 to Auckland. They announced a gate change, which we found out was through Gate 25, onto the bus and out to the aircraft, which was literally parked across the road.

 

[jb747]

Would you have preferred the alternative? Waiting on board until a gate becomes available. Qantas does not control which gates are used.

 

[flying_double]

It’s inconvenient but not really a doozy. An example of bussing when a contact gate isn’t available in the peak. This happens at airports across the globe. You were in Business class so your expectations may not have been met, but to the airport your class of travel on this particular flight is irrelevant. Lots of people onboard lots of flights across different classes. With the QF 787-9 having only 236 seats, versus AA and KE both having higher density configs (and operating to schedule), it’s a sensible operational decision.

 

[Quickstatus]

It's not new.

Ah! the pointy end passengers have to mingle with the great unwashed on a bus

Ive even got off at a remote stand once when the MEL bound QF94 had to land in SYD (my final destination) due to fog in MEL and refuel

Happened in LAX not infrequently as well where deplaning occurred at a location other than a gate

Where else have AFF passengers deplaned at airports other than gate?

 

[mrsterryn]

Ummm am I the only one that would have been thrilled to see a new part of the airport unexpectedly like that ?

 

[Franky]

It's not new.

Ah! the pointy end passengers have to mingle with the great unwashed on a bus

Ive even got off at a remote stand once when the MEL bound QF94 had to land in SYD (my final destination) due to fog in MEL and refuel

Happened in LAX not infrequently as well where deplaning occurred at a location other than a gate

Where else have AFF passengers deplaned at airports other than gate?

In the mid 60s was returning to my ship in Sydney after some leave in Perth, and probably on a TAA flight when about an hour after take-off we were told to turn around just before we reached Kalgoorlie. We returned to Perth, and just prior to landing we were told that they had received a call that there was a bomb on the aircraft. We were told we would land and go to the end of the runway and were asked to dis-embark quietly and slowly! When the doors were opened there was an almighty rush to get off - no such thing as women and kids first, it was a stampede...

 

[Quickstatus]

we were told that they had received a call that there was a bomb on the aircraft

Something about shouting fire in a crowded place comes to mind

 

[RnD]

Happens in Dubai, usually followed by a 10min bus ride.

 

[Himeno]

We experienced this on departure in late July, flying out on QF3 to Auckland. They announced a gate change, which we found out was through Gate 25, onto the bus and out to the aircraft, which was literally parked across the road.
View attachment 346204

My JAL flight arriving back in Australia at the end of my 2019 holiday parked in that bay as well.
Likely because it arrived almost 2 hours late.

 

[Himeno]

Where else have AFF passengers deplaned at airports other than gate?

The majority of flights I've had through DOH have been at remote stands.
The last departure I had from DOH used a normal gate with a jetbridge, but we still had to go outside, down the stairs and on to buses half way across the airport (economy class pax were being boarded first because the J bus hadn't arrived. When the bus for J pax finally arrived, it was an F bus. It was 42C during boarding via the bus, at 2am)

About 1/3 of the time I've departed LHR T5, the flight has used the dreaded gate 4 or gate 10. aka the remote bus stands.

 

[Princess Fiona]

3 out of my last 4 QF long haul arrivals have been a bus gate at SYD T1.
Most recent was QF8 earlier this week.

It’s not that uncommon lately.

 

[Franky]

Happens in Dubai, usually followed by a 10min bus ride.

We passed thru there earlier this year on a non A380 aircraft, and with all of the work going on with at the airfield, it took us 25 minutes on a bus from the tarmac to a gate.

 

[kelvedon]

I was on QF 128 on Tuesday and it parked outside the freight terminal. DNATA didn’t arrive with stairs for about 8 mins. The tutting from the passengers sounded like a Kalahari tribesmen’s conference.
Pilot said that gate or remote allocation was Sydney Airports decision and not Qantas’s.
There was a new Rolls Royce sitting on a pallet outside the freight terminal, it was still there this morning……