After a year-long hiatus and months of speculation, Qantas recently announced they are resuming flights between Perth and Singapore, with services to resume in June. The route was operated for many years until it was cut from the route map in an apparent cost-cutting exercise last year. The move angered many Perth-based flyers, who were left with just one international Qantas flight – a twice-weekly service to New Zealand that only operates for a few months each year.
The new service won’t quite resemble the old one as there are two key differences – firstly, the new service will be operated by smaller, single-aisle Boeing 737 aircraft. Secondly, the service won’t operate daily; rather five times per week.
In spite of this, many of our members are delighted. A number of members have already confirmed that they will be supporting the service and hoped others would do the same to ensure the route remained. Some are even hopeful of a future upgrade to a larger aircraft.
I am so pleased to have the PER – SIN QF option reinstated. And I am happy that the flights are not overnight. The SIN -> PER time is a little late for me but overall, great news.
Others are just pleased to have a direct oneworld connection to Singapore. Loyal Qantas or oneworld flyers previously had to take a longer routing via Kuala Lumpur using partner Malaysia Airlines, or fly Jetstar.
However some members aren’t so impressed. They still feel bitter towards Qantas for removing the service in the first place and believe it’s a case of too little, too late. Many have since shifted their loyalty over to competitors such as Singapore Airlines who, in the eyes of some flyers, offer a superior product.
Why should we support QF? Give us decent service, good aircraft and we will support you. Australians are proud of their national airline, but don’t treat WA as the poor cousins who will accept hand me downs…
…Other airlines are killing the pig out of Perth, because QF can’t
Some flyers complain that they would not use the service as five hours on a narrow-body Boeing 737 aircraft does not sound appealing. It will be interesting to see what place the new service had in a market which is already somewhat saturated. Singapore Airlines already offers a premium product and 4x daily frequency on the Perth-Singapore route, while Jetstar and Scoot already offer cheaper flights to the budget market. For this reason, some believe Qantas will have no choice but to also compete on price if the route is to be successful.
Those who are saying we should suck it up and cop 6 hours on a narrow body will rapidly see what this market is accustomed to and will accept, this isn’t transcon US in a Seinfeld episode!
Join the discussion HERE.
