Article: What to Expect Flying QF1 from Sydney to London via Singapore

[Melburnian1]

Q: What to Expect Flying QF1

A: Delays

This remains as true as when it was written.

QFi competitors can mostly manage to arrive LHR within 15 minutes of schedule.

Far too often, QF1 cannot. Yet mostly, passengers pay more to fly on QFi. Certainly isn't my choice!

 

[Melburnian1]

When I did QF1 last August, there was no time for lounge access as we were late departing SYD (someone checked-in and checked a bag then failed to board, so it had to be offloaded), which meant the turn around time in SIN was less than 25 minutes...

I'd like to suggest 'impossible' but instead, will simply state 'seems hard to believe'.

Generally, QF1 if anything exceeds the permitted (timetabled) allowance on the ground. I have never observed it being cut to a 25 minute turnaround. When one considers passengers alighting doesn't just take two minutes, ULDs must be unloaded and loaded (luggage and I assume freight and mail), plus the aircraft given a brief internal clean, catering trolleys taken off and replacements loaded, as well as pilots having to do their usual checks, and cabin crew change over, a minimum of 90 minutes at the gate is more like it.

 

[Lynda2475]

a minimum of 90 minutes at the gate is more like it.

If we had 90 minutes I could have gone to the lounge, we did not have anywhere near this amount of time - after taking a pee and clearing the massive security line were only in the holding pen 10 minutes before F & J started boarding again. So i stand by 25 mins from exiting the plane to boarding again.

 

[Sprucegoose]

I flew QF1 recently and was underwhelmed by the crew. They were a disjointed mob who were distracted by an onboard wedding proposal.

It's a hard flight for the CSM. I prefer the 330 for attentive service.

 

[Cheatah]

If we had 90 minutes I could have gone to the lounge, we did not have anywhere near this amount of time - after taking a pee and clearing the massive security line were only in the holding pen 10 minutes before F & J started boarding again. So i stand by 25 mins from exiting the plane to boarding again.

If you boarded again in 25mins how long after that did you take off? I would be surprised if they can refuel the A380 in less than 30 minutes for the long SIN>LHR flight!

I also thought there was brake & engine cooling times which meant the plane cant take off again so soon after landing - prehaps @jb747 can give us the low down!

 

[AIRwin]

I would be surprised if they can refuel the A380 in less than 30 minutes for the long SIN>LHR flight!

And cleaning?

 

[downgraded]

clearing the massive security line were only in the holding pen 10 minutes

Isn't that what the lounge is for? Stay in the lounge whilst the queue subsides and then arrive in time to walk straight through and onto the plane.

 

[henrus]

I know the article is QF1 related but I flew QF2 from LHR-SIN back in January and was rather impressed. Initially booked as a cheap GVA-SIN-DPS Y ticket I got a bid upgrade (put in the lowest amount) in the second week on January which I was impressed by.

As a lowly gold the lounges at LHR both QF (only stayed downstairs at the gin bar) plus the CX J lounge upstairs were really good. It was my first time on a QF A380 and it was comfortable and surprisingly a good sleep in PE but what shocked me the most was the number of people flying the whole way through on QF2 to Sydney.

I'd say about 70% of PE were going the whole way to SYD, I stayed the night in SIN at Yotel and then picked up a 3K flight to DPS but the other shocking thing was the number of people on the 3K SIN-DPS the next morning that had also come off the same LHR-SIN the night before (or other AF/KL/AY flights).

 

[Lynda2475]

If you boarded again in 25mins how long after that did you take off?

15-20 minutes

Isn't that what the lounge is for? Stay in the lounge whilst the queue subsides and then arrive in time to walk straight through and onto the plane.

The lounge is more than 10 minute round trip from the gate (not counting any time spent in the lounge), the FAs were asking passengers not to go to the lounge due to the rushed turn around.

IME and of course YMMV if you want lounge time in SIN you need to have arrived on an earlier flight than QF1 (especially if its late)

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Looking back over the flight stats for the last 10 days there has only been one sub-2 hour turnaround, and that was 1hr55.

Even when the QF1 left SYD two hours late the turnaround was 2 hours in SIN.

SIN does have this annoying habit of ‘boarding’ like an hour before… which really means ‘gate open’. I think the trick is to arrive as late as possible, have zero security, and go straight on.

 

[jb747]

If you boarded again in 25mins how long after that did you take off? I would be surprised if they can refuel the A380 in less than 30 minutes for the long SIN>LHR flight!

I also thought there was brake & engine cooling times which meant the plane cant take off again so soon after landing - prehaps @jb747 can give us the low down!

I’ve forgotten how long it takes to refuel, but 30-40 minutes for that sector would be in the ball park.

Engine cooling was 5 minutes from the last application of power for shutdown. You can restart at any time, all that will happen is that it will have to be motored for a while for the temperature in the combustion chambers to get below 150º. So, the effect of that is simply that the start takes a little longer (but measured in seconds).

For the brakes, it comes back to how you used them on arrival. Into Dubai, they had a habit of putting another aircraft in quite close trail, so you needed to make a very early turn off; earlier than really desirable. That tended to get the brakes quite hot. But, they also had conditioned air available, and they’d play that onto the bogies as soon as we parked. In Singapore, or London, there was generally no need to brake heavily, so the temps would be low enough that they would cool sufficiently by the next departure. Singapore had the air if needed.

As an aside, I think I’ve seen more temperature put into the brakes by poor taxiing technique than the landing itself.

 

[Ade]

Is it just me or the J Saver and J Sale have swapped places? Sale needs less points that Saver?

 

[Peter Orange]

What to Expect Flying QF1 from Sydney to London via Singapore is an article written by AFF editorial staff:

What to Expect Flying QF1 from Sydney to London via Singapore

Are you flying on QF1, the daily Qantas A380 flight from Sydney to London via Singapore? This guide explains everything you need to know!

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

You can leave a comment or discuss this topic below.

Perhaps we could expect some decent levels of punctuality and reliability / schedule integrity with QF1 / QF 2 - the on time performance is at best poor and at worst abysmal. If QF were a European based carrier they would be paying out a small fortune in compensation under EU rules (which UK is still part of)

 

[AIRwin]

If QF were a European based carrier they would be paying out a small fortune in compensation under EU rules (which UK is still part of)

QFortunately there is a long turnaround time in LHR

 

[AFF Editor]

Is it just me or the J Saver and J Sale have swapped places? Sale needs less points that Saver?

View attachment 333826

I'm not sure what happened there. It should be correct now - thanks for pointing this out.

 

[Saab34]

As an aside, I think I’ve seen more temperature put into the brakes by poor taxiing technique than the landing itself.

Interesting to hear some more around that. People riding the brakes?

What is good taxi technique?

 

[Melburnian1]

Perhaps we could expect some decent levels of punctuality and reliability / schedule integrity with QF1 / QF 2 - the on time performance is at best poor and at worst abysmal. If QF were a European based carrier they would be paying out a small fortune in compensation under EU rules (which UK is still part of)

It's 'abysmal' today, with passengers having to front up at SYD at 0300 tomorrow to check in for a projected 0600 hours departure, as the A380 from QF12 isn't arriving in SYD tonight until just before curfew at 2300 hours, so 'the 1' is delayed overnight. Many (even J travellers) will be pretty tired, as a super early morning departure is not everyone's cup of tea.

Eventually, will QF management have to personally front LHR's managers to explain why it alone of the numerous major airlines that fly long distances (above eight hours' flying time) into and out of LHR is so terrible at timekeeping? IIRC, it had to do this a couple of years prior to COVID-19 commencing. Not much has changed, with 'the 1' frequently more than half an hour late arriving at LHR, usually not the fault of a holding pattern.

No one disputes that the technology is marvellous, but is QFi pushing these birds too hard?

 

[Melburnian1]

QFortunately there is a long turnaround time in LHR

True, but insufficient for today's departure, as by the time it reaches LHR some time (hopefully) at 2055 hours or later on Sunday evening 18 June, local time, it'll be delayed departing as QF2, which just happens to be scheduled out at 2055.

 

[AIRwin]

it'll be delayed departing as QF2, which just happens to be scheduled out at 2055.

It can still make it out before curfew

 

[Cheatah]

There are exemptions to the Heathrow curfew for "operational needs", there is a limit how many exemptions can be made but Heathrow can choose to allow a flight to depart under some wide ranging criteria. If todays QF2 needs to depart after 2300 I'm sure it wont be an issue.

(which was originally for weather related delays/exceptional circumstances but has morphed into really any issue - BA takes advantage given their regular problems i.e. basic IT stuff ups!)