MEL-LAX back! No more SYD-AUH

[NZflygirl]

I wonder if I can get my MEL-SYD-LAX J return rewards in May/ June 2017 switched to direct flights... That would make my day.

Would you get to choose the EY lounge as well instead of NZ? (MEL NZ lounge currently being revamped to open 2017). I guess that might depend on lounge opening times and flights but that would be cool.

 

[Bundy Bear]

A once a week day flight could be good from LAX-BNE,

and I think if Virgin can schedule a BNE-SYD-MEL to Perth flightS to connect to the AUH flight then that could be a winner.

My only concern is reliability, as it doesn't leave much time if things go wrong.

The new Perth Virgin Terminal makes the transfer easy.

 

[Ben6]

Tremendous news! Just flown MEL-BNE-LAX and the first flight and transit in BNE is a real pain. Let's hope it's possible to redeem some J reward seats!!

 

[Damien00]

This is great news and a much better utilization of aircraft for VA in my opinion - I'm a little biased though and happy to get the Mel-LAX back as an extra option. Plus sounds like they'll have much more frequency out of both Mel and BNE than they had last time the Mel-LAX route was in place

I wonder if they found that Syd-AUH really wasn't missed when they suspended the route during the J seat upgrade on the 777's?

 

[blackcat20]

Good news. I was on the second last service from MEL in 2014 and would love to do it again on the new J seats.

 

[Daver6]

How much does EY J normally cost? Would you pay that much if VA J was priced at the same level?

Not sure of just that sector. However I recently priced PER to JNB on EY metal in J. Came to just over $4k for a return ticket. Excellent value IMHO

 

[Daver6]

QF did come back to PER with SIN, but they only operate it with a 738. Is it a regular service or just seasonal - can't remember...

It's a regular service.

 

[Edge]

Hopefully VA can negotiate use of the Etihad lounge at Melbourne. Seems like a waste with only a couple of flights per day departing it. It's an awesome lounge.

 

[Cool Cat Phil]

This is great news and a much better utilization of aircraft for VA in my opinion - I'm a little biased though and happy to get the Mel-LAX back as an extra option. Plus sounds like they'll have much more frequency out of both Mel and BNE than they had last time the Mel-LAX route was in place

I wonder if they found that Syd-AUH really wasn't missed when they suspended the route during the J seat upgrade on the 777's?

No doubt VA have realised that it's better to utilise their frames on MEL > LAX than on SYD > M.E ( Middle East) with ballooning capacity from all ME3 carriers plus QF having A380's. VA would be squeezed quite badly if they remained on the route whereas MEL > LAX is ripe for growth exploitation.

It will be interesting to see if QF maintains 9 services a week on this sector ( QF increased from 7 to 10 services a week, as soon as VA pulled out from the route a few years ago. QF have since dropped back to 9 services a week).

This announcement is good news all round as it will keep both UA & QF on their toes in terms of price competition ex MEL, and at the same time VA has the opportunity to win back many of their customers Ex MEL, who didn't want a bar of a BNE or SYD transfer to LAX.

 

[Saab34]

Loving the Daylight flight LAX-BNE. A lot easier on the body!

BNE-LAX 1115-1815

 

[sausagefingers]

I love the new BNE-LAX time schedule, it means leaving the airport in the evening, getting to your hotel and checking in, having dinner and its Bed time rather than the current arrival time of 6:30am which throws me around on day1 every time..

 

[PLANT]

Bout bloody time...... J seat has my name on it......
Now will I allow BUFFET\GATES to be in my presence again.

 

[Muppet501st]

Great news, now I'm really interested in what and where they fly into China.

 

[Mattg]

I was just thinking the other day about the fact that there are 10 direct flights each day from the USA to Australia, yet they all depart between 10pm and midnight. Even if it's only once per week, the daylight flight from LAX to BNE will be most welcome!

Also, thinking about this from a fleet utilisation perspective...

Currently, SYD-LAX and BNE-LAX both require 2 aircraft. But if the new BNE-LAX times were made daily, both routes would only need 3 aircraft between them while maintaining a daily service. That would then free up a Boeing 777 for a daily flight to Hong Kong or Beijing (for example).

 

[MH_fan]

I'm guessing that these new PER-AUH flights using the A330s means that they won't have enough aircraft for other international destinations that they were hinting at now (China/HK).

 

[Mattg]

I'm guessing that these new PER-AUH flights using the A330s means that they won't have enough aircraft for other international destinations that they were hinting at now (China/HK).

See my post above.

I also suspect that they may remove another 1 or 2 A330s from routes between Perth and the east coast.

 

[MH_fan]

See my post above.

I also suspect that they may remove another 1 or 2 A330s from routes between Perth and the east coast.

737s for the transcon flights. Yuk! That makes row 3 on the 737s on a transcon flight a must!!

 

[davidj]

Clearly yields on SYD-AUH werent up to scratch either.

And

The PER-AUH move is a good one too

Not sure how such a comment makes sense? One would think the SYD market is significantly larger than PER?

 

[Pleb Status]

Moving the 77W from SYD-AUH to MEL-LAX is a no brainer IMHO. The daytime flight from LAX is also good if not flying on business (as it kills the business day otherwise) and will definitely be my flight of choice in any class. All positive for the Eastern side of the country.

PER-AUH is an interesting addition but I would say this will be the beginning of the end of the A330 on Coast to Coast flights. With the rumoured HKG/China flights coming up, PER-BNE v.v. may lose the A330 completely (my most common VA route) with trimming to the other two services.

VA could end up using the PER int QP which could be an interesting 'friendship'. When I flew EY from PER last it was a bit odd handing over my VA card to gain access into the QP.

 

[pangwen]

737s for the transcon flights. Yuk! That makes row 3 on the 737s on a transcon flight a must!!

I thought the earlier media releases indicated that HNA may lease some of their planes for the HKG/PEK routes (or something along those lines)?