Ripper fares OZ to HKG

[Limewood]

Some really excellent Y fares from VA & QF here from OZ to HKG later in the year starting at a mere $559! let the fare wars battle begin...

 

[Melburnian1]

One lady who is a fairly regular traveller to HKG claimed to me that return MEL - HKG fares as low as A$519 with VA or CX including all taxes have been in the marketplace, but she did not tell me from which online site.

 

[yohy?!]

it's a bloodbath - poor CX, couldnt have come at a worse time for them AU routes used to be their rivers of gold...

 

[Melburnian1]

it's a bloodbath - poor CX, couldnt have come at a worse time for them AU routes used to be their rivers of gold...

Apart from VA entering MEL - HKG, a further reason must be that with so many mainland Chinese flights from what we in Oz may call 'secondary cities' (although it's a moot point since some are bigger in population than Sydney or Melbourne), CX's 'feeder traffic' between HKG and those mainland cities whose passengers used to then travel to or from OZ must have decreased.

 

[yohy?!]

Definitely - see how long it takes before QF / VA are running to Canberra for protection against capacity dumping by the state owned carriers

 

[dajop]

Definitely - see how long it takes before QF / VA are running to Canberra for protection against capacity dumping by the state owned carriers

Given that VA is 35% Chinese owned I can't see VA doing that, QF perhaps.

 

[Melburnian1]

Given that VA is 35% Chinese owned I can't see VA doing that, QF perhaps.

That sort of request was rejected when QF claimed to be on the brink of bankruptcy (or very tough times throughout its network) so one could not see it succeeding on a single route, especially given that QF has also elected to operate to places such as PEK (albeit with what others on AFF have described as unsatisfactory planes.)

QF and VA can always do what QF has made an art form of over the years and withdraw from routes: remember BKK- LHR, SIN - LHR, HKG - LHR and the FCO route as a few.

 

[Limewood]

I've never worked out why QF gave up the CNS/HKG run eons ago as CX flights are full and priced accordingly, the old Qf lounge that CX has now is very ordinary too not been improved in a decade or more.

 

[Melburnian1]

CX's latest email hit my inbox today. MEl - HKG return is from A$676 but SYD or BNE - HKG is from A$792 and ADL A$786.

This shows how much fares decrease when a third nonstop operator (in this case VA from MEL) enters a market and in a sense is a strong argument, from travellers' point of view, about how a duopoly is almost as bad as a monopoly for high(er) fares.

Those of us wishing to pay less on routes with only one or two airlines offering nonstops can often use flights with an intermediate stop but that imposes a time penalty.

 

[theblank]

These are the same prices as the Singapore Airlines special that has been running for a month. OTOH it expires 15/06
It originally started as a mothers day sale. the promo details are on their website.

I suspect the VA prices are simply the SG prices passed straight through.