Doha-Adelaide-Auckland QR914 route stopping - why?

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Kezza21

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I have tried getting an answer from Qatar to no avail.
There is a currently a great (cheap) way of getting to NZ which is to pick up QR914 Doha to Auckland in Adelaide where it currently does a "technical stop". This is typically $380 one way and $295 AKL - ADL making it a really cost effective direct flight to NZ.
I have been trying to book this route for Jan 2024 and it no longer exists on the Qatar site but they cannot tell me why it is stopping. It seems to disappear after August 2023. It was a brilliant alternative to costly and lengthy Qantas flights or direct but costly AirNZ flights. Any insights would be appreciated.
 
It’s an excellent way to get to NZ and we flew the route in J earlier this year. My understanding from a work colleague is that it’s rumoured that the stop in ADL will become just a 1hr technical stop and we will no longer be able to book the ADL-AKL leg. I hope this turns out to be a false rumour
 
jase05 said:
It’s an excellent way to get to NZ and we flew the route in J earlier this year. My understanding from a work colleague is that it’s rumoured that the stop in ADL will become just a 1hr technical stop and we will no longer be able to book the ADL-AKL leg. I hope this turns out to be a false rumour
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Seems it may be true as that leg is no longer showing on Qatar booking site after August. A real shame.
 
I did expect that it wouldn’t last forever but still disappointed as it suited us perfectly and was a great way to get to NZ. Looks like it’s back to a stopover in the East both ways now from ADL now to get to NZ which is a bit of a downer
 
QR is reinstating DOH-AKL non stop from 1st Sep so the ADL-AKL tag will no longer operate from that date.
 
madrooster said:
QR is reinstating DOH-AKL non stop from 1st Sep so the ADL-AKL tag will no longer operate from that date.
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Interestingly the articles all mention the A350 is returning to that route yet according to QR website they are still running the 777 on that route and still with a tech stop in ADL.
 
jase05 said:
Interestingly the articles all mention the A350 is returning to that route yet according to QR website they are still running the 777 on that route and still with a tech stop in ADL.
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It was only formally announced this week. They have not yet released a commercial policy for what they will do with pax who are booked ADL-AKL only either - that's in the works still.
 
Technically though this was never a technical stop (at least according to ICAO definition which states ….. “No traffic is unloaded or loaded during a technical stop”).

Thus it is easy to explain. Post Covid it was operated this way to combine two routes into one, plus pick up some fifth freedom traffic, due to either aircraft/crew constraints, lower demand forecast for both cities or a combination of both. Now it is returning to the precovid state of affairs of ADL and AKL both having dedicated non stops.
 
madrooster said:
It was only formally announced this week. They have not yet released a commercial policy for what they will do with pax who are booked ADL-AKL only either - that's in the works still.
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I get that but this wouldn’t have been a spur of the moment decision and I would have thought they would remove the flights from sale immediately. Seems they are slow out of the blocks with their IT department
 
jase05 said:
I get that but this wouldn’t have been a spur of the moment decision and I would have thought they would remove the flights from sale immediately. Seems they are slow out of the blocks with their IT department
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Isn't that what they've done? The flights don't stop for many months yet.
 
justinbrett said:
Isn't that what they've done? The flights don't stop for many months yet.
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Correct that you can’t book the ADL-AKL leg anymore but If you book DOH-AKL for as far forward as next year you will still be booked on QR914/15 which is a 777 and still listing a 90 minute stop over in ADL.
QR20/21 is the direct DOH-AKL flight operated by the A350 but as yet it’s not bookable by the looks. I guess their IT is just a tad slow
 
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Pretty ordinary ADL-AKL schedule time, the reverse isn’t that bad.

I am fairly sure they didn’t offer much to those abandoned Canberra pax so these passengers will probably just get a refund. Kiwi’s will hike the fares right about…….now!
 
jase05 said:
I get that but this wouldn’t have been a spur of the moment decision and I would have thought they would remove the flights from sale immediately. Seems they are slow out of the blocks with their IT department
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Those who book onto the QR914/915 will be schedule changed over to the QR920/921. Those pax aren't really an issue. They blocked ADL-AKL quite some time ago so there won't be a whole lot of pax affected on that segment.
 
jase05 said:
Some creative routings?
QF can’t be bothered with ADL and NZ has no J.
Personally if I had flights booked I’d be hoping for a full refund
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ADL-MEL-AKL is hardly creative.

In this situation it's take it or leave it (and take the refund). They only have to give you an option, and it doesn't have to be direct.

You're entitled to a refund either way though.
 

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