Rex to fly between Australian capital cities

[PineappleSkip]

Could it be that business travel has tanked generally, while leisure travel is going gangbusters? Why fly there when you can pfaff around on Zoom and Teams?

BTW Completely over Zoom and Teams; our current project is flagging due to not being there

Cheers skip

 

[henrus]

Don't think they're going to abandon the mel/syd route anytime soon but I suspect frequency could be adjusted when they announce whatever their next routes might be.

Wishing it's Brisbane... no reason in particular but all I say is that it's unfair seeing OOL-SYD for $299 and then BNE-SYD for $449 in J.

 

[Robert K]

from my one flight with ZL I would totes fly them again. Especially with the extra cookie over virgin.

 

[henrus]

Especially with the extra cookie over virgin.

This is the deal breaker

 

[Melburnian1]

Could it be that business travel has tanked generally, while leisure travel is going gangbusters? Why fly there when you can pfaff around on Zoom and Teams?

BTW Completely over Zoom and Teams; our current project is flagging due to not being there

Cheers skip

The QF CEO has made comments suggesting for his airline, business travel is 65 per cent of pre-COVID days.

 

[Saab34]

Virgin seems to be pretty full Melbourne to Sydney. More so than QF who are running many widebodies on the route.

Virgin has matched the $39 fares. While their website is down I can see them on webjet.
I wonder what Jetstar will do. $39 with baggage so they should be around $20

 

[Must...Fly!]

Virgin has matched the $39 fares

Well that is interesting...

 

[Saab34]

Hurry up Rex and launch more routes so I can snag more cheap VA fares !

 

[jakeseven7]

Could it be that business travel has tanked generally, while leisure travel is going gangbusters? Why fly there when you can pfaff around on Zoom and Teams?

BTW Completely over Zoom and Teams; our current project is flagging due to not being there

Cheers skip

Then people must be dressing up in suits to fly for fun during the week, have you been to a J lounge recently

I’m with you on video con. Good for short sharp catch ups. That’s about it.

 

[Jacques Vert]

John Sharp was just on ABC News Breakfast. Said that with the $39 fares they could see a 100% increase in loads!

Shouldn't be too hard; 100% increase on 0 is still 0.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

John Sharp was just on ABC News Breakfast. Said that with the $39 fares they could see a 100% increase in loads!

Shouldn't be too hard; 100% increase on 0 is still 0.

It seems to me several people here are willing Rex to fail. Having a third airline on domestic is a good thing for so many reasons. The smart *** commentary by some on here is in my view pathetic.

 

[Chicken]

It seems to me several people here are willing Rex to fail. Having a third airline on domestic is a good thing for so many reasons. The smart *** commentary by some on here is in my view pathetic.

I don't think anyone here wants REX to fail, but it's more like people are making sarcastic comments, as they think they are watching someone driving a car towards the cliff.

 

[Melburnian1]

It seems to me several people here are willing Rex to fail. Having a third airline on domestic is a good thing for so many reasons. The smart *** commentary by some on here is in my view pathetic.

Agree. There must be a lot of complacent AFFers whose companies or government departments have previously paid through the nose for extortionate fares on QFd and to a slightly lesser extent VAd who are hoping ZL will fail.

Different matter if one pays for one's own fares, or doesn't have five million FF points accrued through business flying!

Wait until one of the three fails, and watch a cosy duopoly again ensure fares skyrocket.

With today's SYD fog, ZL10 (0600 hours ex MEL) is diverting back it appears to MEL, so that's one disadvantage of the small ZL B738 fleet:

Regional Express Delays/Cancellations

ZL153, the 1830 hours early evening SYD - MEL has been cancelled on Friday 19 March.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[Must...Fly!]

I have no desire to see Rex fail but the only way they'll succeed is if they find their place in the market. 12 daily between MEL and SYD is clearly not it.

 

[Melburnian1]

I have no desire to see Rex fail but the only way they'll succeed is if they find their place in the market. 12 daily between MEL and SYD is clearly not it.

I don't disagree with the latter point, but QFd and VAd must also be losing a lot of money on the route given the decline in business traffic.

Logically, QFd (like ZL) ought reduce its frequencies. But logic and airline managements are often poles apart.

No one on AFF seems to know how JQd is doing.

 

[henrus]

I don't think anyone here wants REX to fail, but it's more like people are making sarcastic comments, as they think they are watching someone driving a car towards the cliff.

Correct. If QF or VA were operating flights with no one onboard then I'd be making the same jokes. QF domestic flights are doing quite well however stuff across the Tasman is shocking with some Queenstown flights less than 30.

If I were a shareholder or QF or ZL I'd be concerned. Whilst things have obviously bounced back since last year there are still rough times ahead.

No one on AFF seems to know how JQd is doing

Quite hard to tell. Unlike QF/VA/ZL who publish a seat map to the GDS, JQ doesn't.

Only ways to sort of tell is to look at the Jetstar website about 3 hours prior to the flight departure (just prior to the flight bookings closing) and view the specific seat maps via seat select. By this time everyone would have selected a seat or been automatically assigned one by the system so it's a reasonably accurate way to tell how many people are onboard. You some flights may also show as sold out or say how many seats are remaining which gives further clues. Problem with both of these methods is you have to do it at a very specific time because once the flight has closed and been moved to airport check-in then it's impossible to view.

 

[HS-TQE]

I have no desire to see Rex fail but the only way they'll succeed is if they find their place in the market. 12 daily between MEL and SYD is clearly not it.

Second this. Clearly it looks like ZL's future in the Jet market is on leisure routes and leisure timings on some main trunk routes. That may even include 'unique' timings suited to the 'leisure' market on the SYD-MEL route if ZL can find them.

 

[Chicken]

No one on AFF seems to know how JQd is doing.

Aren't JQ flights so full that Qantas is bringing in big birds normally used for JQ international?

 

[milehighclub]

Aren't JQ flights so full that Qantas is bringing in big birds normally used for JQ international?

Correct

Jetstar announces hiring spree and bigger domestic planes

Jetstar will go on a hiring blitz to fill hundreds of roles as airline switches some of its grounded international fleet towards domestic flights which are surging in demand.

www.news.com.au

 

[jakeseven7]

Aren't JQ flights so full that Qantas is bringing in big birds normally used for JQ international?

Qantas/QantasLink are now exceeding their pre-covid leisure travel capacity and are warming up more A330's to come online, we are now seeing them appear on DRW routes etc.

Jetstar are bringing in a bunch of 787's and 10 A320's from Jetstar Japan because of the demand for domestic leisure.