V Australia in plan to fly to Fiji

[docjames]

One would imagine they cant use the 777 in the same way (ie whilst it would otherwise be "resting" in SYD/MEL/BNE) so would need dedicated aircraft to fill this route consistently.

That also being the case, the seating mix is probably not ideal for hawaii (with less than usual mix of J/Y+/y - would need aircraft config with more Y, less J/Y+). The fact the aircraft can be used to fill "rest" time makes a sub-optimal seating layout for NAN less of an issue as it's flying and generating revenue, even if Y is chockers and J/Y+ isnt.

 

[maninblack]

One would imagine they cant use the 777 in the same way (ie whilst it would otherwise be "resting" in SYD/MEL/BNE) so would need dedicated aircraft to fill this route consistently.

That also being the case, the seating mix is probably not ideal for hawaii (with less than usual mix of J/Y+/y - would need aircraft config with more Y, less J/Y+). The fact the aircraft can be used to fill "rest" time makes a sub-optimal seating layout for NAN less of an issue as it's flying and generating revenue, even if Y is chockers and J/Y+ isnt.

Everyone seems to forget that HNL is a 10+ hour flight and attracts a large volume of premium travelers. It would do well alright in all classes. One aircraft is required to run this route in a 24 hour return schedule.

 

[docjames]

Everyone seems to forget that HNL is a 10+ hour flight and attracts a large volume of premium travelers. It would do well alright in all classes. One aircraft is required to run this route in a 24 hour return schedule.

They dont currently have one spare a/c to use.

The 10+hr flight is (IMO) the reason that it currently fails to stack up (NAN they get in as an "extra" flight from the fleet they're using for SYD/BNE/MEL-LAX, HNL would require another a/c)


There seems to be two schools of thought re: premium pax flying to HNL. We clearly differ in opinion.

Again, IMO, the the carriers that go there are far from offering their "premium" service (ie QF763s and they have also subbed in JQi which is a cheaper version of the same product) with no Y+ seating and lousy (relative to VA/QF744/380 DL 777) J seating. If there was such a premium traveller demand, the airlines would improve the fleet to allow for even higher premium fares.

 

[maninblack]

If there was such a premium traveller demand, the airlines would improve the fleet to allow for even higher premium fares.

Yes I am aware V don't currently have spare aircraft.

On the above point QF operate 3 x 763 services a week to HNL and they fill the J cabin on almost every flight at exorbitant fares. (try getting a Business class FF redemption to HNL BTW)

 

[BAM1748]

Was thinking last night about this move. No doubt fleet utilisation is a huge part of the move.

But, I also wonder if it's an attempt to move upmarket with the product to Fiji. There's lots of luxury resorts there and nearby, so an opportunity exits to put some premium seats onto the route. It also positions their product upmarket (ie. allow them to charge a price premium) if JQ move onto SW Pacific routes.

Pitty the place is run by the military as a dictatorship.

 

[samh004]

Pitty the place is run by the military as a dictatorship.

Not exactly the worst thing in the world. Countries that have democracies look badly on countries that don’t, but they work much the same…

 

[ejb]

Not exactly the worst thing in the world. Countries that have democracies look badly on countries that don’t, but they work much the same…

Sam,

That is quite a statement......I am sure democratic countries would beg to differ.

You can not honestly think that dictatorships are equal to democracies.

ejb

 

[oz_mark]

Not exactly the worst thing in the world. Countries that have democracies look badly on countries that don’t, but they work much the same…

I think the good citizens of somewhere like, say, Myanmar, would be unlikely to agree with you.

 

[samh004]

Sam,

That is quite a statement......I am sure democratic countries would beg to differ.

You can not honestly think that dictatorships are equal to democracies.

ejb

I didn’t say they were equal.

I think the good citizens of somewhere like, say, Myanmar, would be unlikely to agree with you.

Yeah, it’s awful for the citizens of those countries, but should we invade? No. Should we stop travelling there so they become poorer? Probably not. It’s a fact of life that not everyone in the world is on the same page… but you always get governments like Australia saying Thailand is bad because they ousted a guy that was making money off the country, or the US for saying Cuba is off limits.

It’s bad, I’ll give you that. It’s not ideal at all. But it’s not as bad as say Iraq was… or some other countries in this world. You’re saying just because it’s a dictatorship it’s automatically as bad as every other dictatorship there’s been in history with generic comments like the one above. They’re all different.

And to be fair, the naz_ party was elected (in fear) in a democracy.

 

[browski]

A democracy is only considered good if the guy that wins is someone you like.
So Iran is an example where a democracy is not good because we would prefer a dictator who was friendly to us - rather then the democratically elected guy who is not friendly towards us.
Saudi Arabia is an example of where we prefer a dictator (or monarchy for the naive) instead of a democracy. If we allowed Saudi to have a democracy they would very likely elect someone we do not like - so best to deprive them of a democracy and support the dictator.

I'm pretty sure that's how our foreign policy works - but I could be wrong.

 

[markis10]

Yes I am aware V don't currently have spare aircraft.

On the above point QF operate 3 x 763 services a week to HNL and they fill the J cabin on almost every flight at exorbitant fares. (try getting a Business class FF redemption to HNL BTW)

QF do have the capacity with all the 767s coming back to domestic ops off the tasman runs amongst others, if HNL is such a premium market pearl then I would have thought capacity would be restored on the route , at the least Starclass upgrades on departure would be rare given there is little overlap on the operating days.

Given that we have an airline staffer commenting that the route is highly populated by VFR/Holiday traffic, that the route has been dropped by quite a few airlines despite open skies and Jetstar struggle to fill the larger starclass cabin, I doubt we will see VA there anytime soon.

There is always NZ and FJ if you are looking for alternatives, even if they do involve a stop, which would be the case for most australians anyway not flying from VAs originating port should they take up the service.

 

[maninblack]

QF do have the capacity with all the 767s coming back to domestic ops off the tasman runs amongst others, if HNL is such a premium market pearl then I would have thought capacity would be restored on the route , at the least Starclass upgrades on departure would be rare given there is little overlap on the operating days.

Given that we have an airline staffer commenting that the route is highly populated by VFR/Holiday traffic, that the route has been dropped by quite a few airlines despite open skies and Jetstar struggle to fill the larger starclass cabin, I doubt we will see VA there anytime soon.

There is always NZ and FJ if you are looking for alternatives, even if they do involve a stop, which would be the case for most australians anyway not flying from VAs originating port should they take up the service.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's a "pearl" but it is probably no more marginal than VA's MEL-HKT route where you can pick up Business class return for $2k.

It is the advent of long range aircraft that has lead to airlines "dropping" the route though in recent times that is only AC (what other airline has dropped the route in the last 20 years?) but of course they still fly there from Canada. The Qantas Group has actually increased it's capacity into HNL over the last few years.