Fill-in jets on the way

[NM]

From Herald Sun on-line:

QANTAS will get two 300-seat Airbus passenger jets to help overcome some of the problems arising from the delayed delivery of its new fleet of A380 super jumbos.


Qantas chief financial officer Peter Gregg said yesterday that two A330-200 jets were being acquired and would enter service about the same time as the first 550-seat A380.

The A330 deal emerged at an aviation summit yesterday in Brisbane and follows weeks of talks between Qantas and the troubled European aircraft builder.

So I wonder how they will be operated, and if they will be fitted with AVOD and Skybeds?

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

From Herald Sun on-line:
So I wonder how they will be operated, and if they will be fitted with AVOD and Skybeds?

If the a/c are only temporary (presumably leased for a year or two like SQ's deal) then would they bother with the time and cost to fit them out the same?

 

[Dave Noble]

If the a/c are only temporary (presumably leased for a year or two like SQ's deal) then would they bother with the time and cost to fit them out the same?

It will have to be fitted out with something won't it? Why not do it as per any other 330?

Dave

 

[oz_mark]

It will have to be fitted out with something won't it? Why not do it as per any other 330?

Dave

or at least something akin to the -300 configuration (assuming they get -200's with strong floors). At the end of the day, it depends on how they intend to deploy them.

 

[Standby]

As these aircraft are being supplied by Airbus as part of a compensation package I'm sure QF would be saying pretty strongly "I think we'll have the with skybed and AVOD or the comp bill might be a fair bit higher"
Now if only the govt were smart enough to get these delay penalties built into the collins class sub , non flying helicopters etc..may next time defense want to spend money we get Peter Grieg to run his eye over the contract

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

I didn't see anything in the article saying the 2 A330's will be brand new.

 

[NM]

Or maybe deploy the temp A330-200s on domestic ops and free up some more 767s for international routes? That way they don't need the strengthened floors to installed Skybeds and have a different product.

 

[thadocta]

Or perhaps QF is using the A380 delay as a way of getting the extra two A330's for JQ(INT) at no cost?

Remember that JQ(INT) is getting the four A330-200's from QF, and will be starting with six A330-200's. Where are the other two coming from?

Dave

 

[oz_mark]

Or perhaps QF is using the A380 delay as a way of getting the extra two A330's for JQ(INT) at no cost?

Remember that JQ(INT) is getting the four A330-200's from QF, and will be starting with six A330-200's. Where are the other two coming from?

Dave

Are they the same two? I thought the order for the extra two for JQ had been done a few months back.

 

[Standby]

I believe they are 4 Qantas mainline. Lots of regional..read asian opportunities to get a better product than 767's at someone eleses expenses only to be replaced effectively when 787's become avail
given interest rates etc not pushing the growth button next year may actually work in their favor

 

[serfty]

QF NB's a poster on FT with some pretty good contacts:

He maintains a thread: Qantas Fleet Information Thread [updated regularly] in the Qantas forum there.

Here is an excerpt from the thread's first post (taken today), which if pans out explains things nicely ...:

Airbus A330-201 - CityFlyer

VH-EBA	A330-201	Cradle Mountain		38J/265Y	M4
VH-EBB	A330-201	Albany			38J/265Y	M4
VH-EBC	A330-201	Surfers Paradise	38J/265Y	M4
VH-EBD	A330-201	Traralgon		38J/265Y	M4

NB: Effective early OCT 2006, Qantas will begin taking the 332s 
out of service from Domestic routes. The Aircraft will have the 
Jetstar International livery applied and will be refitted with 
leather seats. Power points and other features will also be 
installed. It is rumoured the 332s will be reintegrated back 
into the Qantas Domestic/International fleet after Jetstar Int' 
receives their first 787s. Qantas will take delivery of an extra 
2 fill-in-aircraft in 2007 due to the lengthy A380 delays being
experienced. Gregg has confirmed that the extra two 332s would
be used to service ports such as BOM and PEK, where the existing
333s (which operate these routes) are severly payload restricted.

 

[serfty]

The First of these for Qantas is to be delivered very soon.

There is a thread on FT on this which has some interesting links/info: First Pic - Qantas A330-200 VH-EBG

Qantas has published a seat map .pdf: Airbus 330-200 Seat Map for 36J + 199 Y


Blackcloud of FT has posted the following:

A friend of mine just sent me this link to the Airbus site showing the construction of the 5,000th Airbus.

QF A330-200

Oh here is the official press release.

5,000th Airbus aircraft to be delivered to Qantas

 

[Evan]

If the a/c are only temporary (presumably leased for a year or two like SQ's deal) then would they bother with the time and cost to fit them out the same?

I think they are purchased (cheap price though) and will remain with the QF/JQ fleet for many years to come.
E

 

[oz_mark]

I think they are purchased (cheap price though) and will remain with the QF/JQ fleet for many years to come.
E

'twas my understanding as well. It would seem that they have a place in the fleet based on its size/range.

 

[pauly7]

The First of these for Qantas is to be delivered very soon.

There is a thread on FT on this which has some interesting links/info: First Pic - Qantas A330-200 VH-EBG

Qantas has published a seat map .pdf: Airbus 330-200 Seat Map for 36J + 199 Y


Blackcloud of FT has posted the following:

WOW fantastic video - the paint room is amazing.

Thanks for posting.

 

[Standby]

WOW fantastic video - the paint room is amazing.

Thanks for posting.

A mate at MEL airport phoned me to say the the new A330-200 is flying its first commercial legs tomorrow on the Dom network
MEL-SYD QF418 at 9am return in the evening on QF457 at 1745.
Its also scheduled to provide some extra cap for Xmas on Dom services until entering INT service on or around 1st Jan.
Have to admit the 2 J cabins of 3 rows 2x2x2 look a lot more pleasant to travel in than the 330-300

 

[serfty]

EBG is also flying (MEL-)SYD-BNE-SYD(-MEL) (QF524 & QF537)

 

[Tooner]

I think they are purchased (cheap price though) and will remain with the QF/JQ fleet for many years to come.
E

Now I know Airbus and Boeing do everything they can to avoid revealing how much anyone pays for an aircraft (ever notice how when a total cost is mentioned it usually involves a number of aircraft types or some spare parts as well), but I'd hazard a guess that QF would be paying something in the region of $1 for these aircraft, given the situation with the A380

 

[Evan]

Well i think we can be sure there was no profit in these 4 aircraft for Airbus.

Was there not going to be 6 extra A332's ? or maybe the number depended on delivery times for the A380, or the more it slips the more 330's it costs

I see on EF next year they are flying QF21 NRT-SYD

 

[serfty]

EBG is also flying (MEL-)SYD-BNE-SYD(-MEL) (QF524 & QF537)

Not a good start today; it's initial flight departure has been put back ¼ hour. Perhaps the Bigwigs at the ceremony were running late over their Latte's.

Tomorrow it's scheduled MEL-SYD-MEL-SYD-MEL-SYD.

Interestingly, there's as little as 1 hour scheduled for a turnaround.

I expect the refueling problems Qantas experienced with the original 332's (now with JQi) has been rectified.