Article: Qatar Airways’ Bizarre Daily Melbourne-Adelaide Flight

[justinbrett]

I doubt that you would be let through immigration?

I doubt they'd even be able to stop you if you have the documentation to enter Australia, can't see what legal basis they'd have for that.

The airline however might have a problem with it.

 

[pangwen]

From the new article:

That said, it would not be possible for Qatar Airways to operate the Melbourne-Adelaide leg of QR988 in the early hours of the morning because Adelaide Airport has a curfew between 11pm and 6am.

I wonder why they picked ADL then? Sure, it's the largest city they could fly to (given BNE, SYD, MEL, PER are out of bounds), but the terrible flight times would totally negate this as a consideration. I guess the considerations are:
- Must be an AU destination (e.g. can't go to AKL) under the terms of the regional loophole
- Can't be BNE/SYD/MEL/PER
- Apparently CBR doesn't work
- Must have the ability to cater for international widebody flights (ruling out NTL and many other domestic-only airports)
- Must not have a curfew (ruling out OOL)

Putting on my armchair airline CEO hat on, some of the alternatives could be:

Airport	Pros	Cons
WTB (Toowoomba)	Possibly get QLD govt funding for launching a new international route No curfew Airport can accommodate international widebody planes Possible freight route	No border force presence currently, although talks had previously been underway (pre-COVID, and during the construction of the quarantine facility)
MCY (Sunshine Coast)	Possibly get QLD govt funding for launching a new international route No curfew Airport can accommodate international widebody planes Border force already present on a seasonal basis (MCY-AKL route)
TSV (Townsville)	Possibly get QLD govt funding for launching a new international route No curfew Airport can accommodate international widebody planes	Starting to get a bit far from MEL No current border force presence (although the airport has previously hosted international flights)
CNS (Cairns)	Possibly get QLD govt funding for launching a new international route No curfew Airport can accommodate international widebody planes Border force already present	Pretty far from MEL
DRW (Darwin)	No curfew Airport can accommodate international widebody planes Border force already present	Pretty far from MEL
HBA (Hobart)	No curfew Airport can accommodate international widebody planes Border force already present	The QF lounge

EDIT: Added sly dig at HBA's lounge (I know the other cities listed aren't any better)

 

[AIRwin]

- Must not have a curfew (ruling out OOL)

ADL has a curfew though?

 

[pangwen]

ADL has a curfew though?

Yeah, that's the problem (the destination airport curfew forcing an hours-long overnight stay in the terminal for pax in MEL) I was trying to solve!

 

[Mattg]

Yeah, that's the problem (the destination airport curfew forcing an hours-long overnight stay in the terminal for pax in MEL) I was trying to solve!

I think the best solution would be for QR to sort out its issues with Canberra Airport.

 

[justinbrett]

From the new article:


I wonder why they picked ADL then? Sure, it's the largest city they could fly to (given BNE, SYD, MEL, PER are out of bounds), but the terrible flight times would totally negate this as a consideration. I guess the considerations are:
- Must be an AU destination (e.g. can't go to AKL) under the terms of the regional loophole
- Can't be BNE/SYD/MEL/PER
- Apparently CBR doesn't work
- Must have the ability to cater for international widebody flights (ruling out NTL and many other domestic-only airports)
- Must not have a curfew (ruling out OOL)

Putting on my armchair airline CEO hat on, some of the alternatives could be:

Airport	Pros	Cons
WTB (Toowoomba)	Possibly get QLD govt funding for launching a new international route No curfew Airport can accommodate international widebody planes Possible freight route	No border force presence currently, although talks had previously been underway (pre-COVID, and during the construction of the quarantine facility)
MCY (Sunshine Coast)	Possibly get QLD govt funding for launching a new international route No curfew Airport can accommodate international widebody planes Border force already present on a seasonal basis (MCY-AKL route)
TSV (Townsville)	Possibly get QLD govt funding for launching a new international route No curfew Airport can accommodate international widebody planes	Starting to get a bit far from MEL No current border force presence (although the airport has previously hosted international flights)
CNS (Cairns)	Possibly get QLD govt funding for launching a new international route No curfew Airport can accommodate international widebody planes Border force already present	Pretty far from MEL
DRW (Darwin)	No curfew Airport can accommodate international widebody planes Border force already present	Pretty far from MEL
HBA (Hobart)	No curfew Airport can accommodate international widebody planes Border force already present	The QF lounge

EDIT: Added sly dig at HBA's lounge (I know the other cities listed aren't any better)

Unless it's going to operate MEL-xx_-DOH, all of those cities except HBA can be ruled out. Nobody is going to want to fly that far south to go North again.

 

[hossein_au]

Sorry for a repeat question, and I think I am not going to like the answer, but if someone wants to get out at MEL, are they prevented from doing so? Is there anyone on this forum who has actual tried it?

Just last week I found rewards availability in J and booked this flight for mid-Feb, with the view that I disembark at MEL and will let the airline know I would not be continuing to ADL... Sounds like I'll have t start looking for alternatives :-(

 

[Pushka]

Sorry for a repeat question, and I think I am not going to like the answer, but if someone wants to get out at MEL, are they prevented from doing so? Is there anyone on this forum who has actual tried it?

Just last week I found rewards availability in J and booked this flight for mid-Feb, with the view that I disembark at MEL and will let the airline know I would not be continuing to ADL... Sounds like I'll have t start looking for alternatives :-(

Luggage can only go to ADL.

Post automatically merged: Jan 19, 2023

Are all of Adelaide bound flights doing this hokey Melb thing or just a few?

 

[hossein_au]

Luggage can only go to ADL.

Not having planned to do this, but I can organise to have HLO if I can get off the flight in MEL.

 

[jase05]

Not having planned to do this, but I can organise to have HLO if I can get off the flight in MEL.

Anecdotally it seems as though you are herded into the transit area and can’t leave but I’m not sure if anyone has tried and succeeded in leaving the airport

 

[eastwest101]

Sorry for a repeat question, and I think I am not going to like the answer, but if someone wants to get out at MEL, are they prevented from doing so? Is there anyone on this forum who has actual tried it?

Just last week I found rewards availability in J and booked this flight for mid-Feb, with the view that I disembark at MEL and will let the airline know I would not be continuing to ADL... Sounds like I'll have t start looking for alternatives :-(

First of all I haven't tried it, but the logic goes as follows.

Are you asking if you have a 1 way ticket booked DOH-MEL-ADL and if you are hand luggage only, and you have a valid, preferably Australian, passport to enter Australia? Then yes - you can get off in MEL, provided that MEL immigration is staffed and open at the time. A story to them about why you are disembarking at MEL should not be necessary but if you make something up like a "family emergency" or a "change in work schedule" as a reason to be getting off at MEL then you would want to possibly have some supporting info in case Immigration ever do check. I doubt they would, but you never know.

If you tell Qatar that you are exiting immigration at MEL expect them to be pretty grumpy but not much QR can do about it except possibly make your life difficult if you book another QR flight in the future. If you don't tell QR about disembarking at MEL and leaving the airport then I expect they would call you and eventually offload you (if travelling HLO then no search through the baggage hold for your luggage so certainly a courtesey to the other pax on the plane who would otherwise get delayed).

If its part of a larger itinerary, or a larger flight ticket with more sectors after that, expect that all following ticket sectors would all be cancelled as a no show. Expect to have an argument about the flight sector if attempting to claim or earn status credits or points for a Frequent Flyer scheme (either QR or another Frequent Flyer scheme)from this booking.

Only questions you could honestly answer, as its all about your specific circumstances.

 

[hossein_au]

Anecdotally it seems as though you are herded into the transit area and can’t leave but I’m not sure if anyone has tried and succeeded in leaving the airport

Yes I gathered, but I was under the impression that, similar to the US, international passengers arriving in Australia need to clear custom at the point of entry. I think SQ SIN-xSYD-CBR was the only exception I knew. Oh well... I am not desperately looking for an alternative, and if all fails I'll have to book a one way ADL-MEL for the day. Having to spend the night in the airport defeats the purpose of flying in premium cabin :-(

 

[jase05]

Are all of Adelaide bound flights doing this hokey Melb thing or just a few?

ADL was just a tag to get an extra MEL flight so QR988/9 to/from MEL have the ADL tag.
The regular DOH/ADL/AKL flights are fine

 

[hossein_au]

First of all I haven't tried it, but the logic goes as follows.

Are you asking if you have a 1 way ticket booked DOH-MEL-ADL and if you are hand luggage only, and you have a valid, preferably Australian, passport to enter Australia? Then yes - you can get off in MEL, provided that MEL immigration is staffed and open at the time. A story to them about why you are disembarking at MEL should not be necessary but if you make something up like a "family emergency" or a "change in work schedule" as a reason to be getting off at MEL then you would want to possibly have some supporting info in case Immigration ever do check. I doubt they would, but you never know.

If you tell Qatar that you are exiting immigration at MEL expect them to be pretty grumpy but not much QR can do about it except possibly make your life difficult if you book another QR flight in the future. If you don't tell QR about disembarking at MEL and leaving the airport then I expect they would call you and eventually offload you (if travelling HLO then no search through the baggage hold for your luggage so certainly a courtesey to the other pax on the plane who would otherwise get delayed).

If its part of a larger itinerary, or a larger flight ticket with more sectors after that, expect that all following ticket sectors would all be cancelled as a no show. Expect to have an argument about the flight sector if attempting to claim or earn status credits or points for a Frequent Flyer scheme (either QR or another Frequent Flyer scheme)from this booking.

Only questions you could honestly answer, as its all about your specific circumstances.

Thanks for the detailed response. Yes, I'm familiar hidden city bookings and the possible complications. This is a reward ticket booked with another airline's points, and as a matter of curtesy I was definitely going to let QR know I was disembarking at MEL

I booked this itinerary to minimise my transit time in DOH. And I want to go back to work in the morning. Now it seems I'll have to spend the night at the airport without much facilities, get a flight from ADL to MEL, and I'll miss out on some work meetings on the day. If I know this, I would have simply booked a revenue ticket, which even in economy would have been more convenient than flying in J with this awful setup.

 

[dajop]

Then yes - you can get off in MEL, provided that MEL immigration is staffed and open at the time.

Anecdotally it seems as though you are herded into the transit area and can’t leave but I’m not sure if anyone has tried and succeeded in leaving the airport

QR are selling QR988 to passengers into MEL, in fact that's the whole point of the flight, to circumvent restrictions preventing the additional flight to MEL. Thus of course immigration would be open at the time and most of the passengers would be alighting - therefore not everyone would be herded into the transit area. The question is do they examine BP's of those heading to immigration to verify their BP says MEL and not ADL?

 

[jase05]

QR are selling QR988 to passengers into MEL, in fact that's the whole point of the flight, to circumvent restrictions preventing the additional flight to MEL. Thus of course immigration would be open at the time and most of the passengers would be alighting - therefore not everyone would be herded into the transit area.

That is true of course I wonder if staff are able to ID all those booked to ADL (there wouldn’t be many) and direct them to transit or whether it’s just a honesty system.
I’m assuming immigration wouldn’t care less where you got off so unlikely they would ask questions

 

[stump]

Better for me if all Melbourne flights stop in Adelaide both ways...

 

[madrooster]

That is true of course I wonder if staff are able to ID all those booked to ADL (there wouldn’t be many) and direct them to transit or whether it’s just a honesty system.

Australia participates in the advance passenger information system (along with CAN, USA, GBR and a few others) where the airline is required to submit a manifest to immigration authorities, so QR would report who is disembarking in MEL and who is disembarking in ADL.

 

[dajop]

so QR would report who is disembarking in MEL and who is disembarking in ADL.

Yes, I guess the question is does Border Force care if someone disembarks in MEL instead of ADL? I assume they might, but then again as both destinations are in the country they might not care (as opposed to say someone from the DOH-ADL-AKL flight with a BP that says DOH-AKL).

 

[Spizz]

voron was there any service between Melbourne to Adelaide like breakfast?