New ATR routes announced

[Justchecking]

The thing with Sydney-Canberra is that frequency of service is the more important issue (allows flexibility for daytrippers etc). However, there aren't really sufficient passengers to justify the jets flying backwards and forwards all day.

I agree for short hops the aircraft type plays second fiddle to the schedule. I really only care about aircraft type when I have to sit in it for more than 2hrs. The longer the trip, the more important the type, amenities and service becomes. Which is why I've never flown LCC internationally. All the things I value on a long flight are missing on LCCs, something a lot of people forget when they spot the low fare.

 

[JRT]

To be honest, for flights under an hour I do not care if I am on a turboprop or a jet.

Not anymore, experience and limited time eventually overcome my fear of flying in small planes, and landing generally. First ever flight was on a little Fokker PQQ-SYD, with turbulence, so the experience shook me a little - as did some intra Thailand flights as few years later!
Recall from friends flying/working for AN back in the day that many of them would elect to drive to CBR from SYD rather than fly on a turbo-prop.
But, time really is money these days.

 

[MarkD]

Read, and will pass on to the team.




Pretty sure they haven't arrived in AU just yet. Maybe you saw an E-Jet?

Definite High wing / ATR, maybe another one from another operator in for some maintenance, who else operates them in oz? I must admit it looked unmarked, and the photos I have seen elsewhere have been in full VA Livery, so I guess that should have answered the question on its own

 

[winglets747]

I was wondering if it would be worth Virgin Australia keeping just one or two E170s for the CBR-SYD route?

Economics aren't there E170 vs. ATR, plus the ATR can do SYD-CBR 5-10 mins faster than jets due to navigation restrictions around CBR.

Was there anything said about aircraft interiors? I realise I shouldn't expect business, but I wonder what sort of interior fit out they'll get, and will it compare well with the jet interior or what QF does with the Q400's?

Single class with 68 seats, Virgin has said. To me that suggests a 31-32" pitch.

I really hope someone from Virgin is reading this reply. I work in Geraldton in WA but my wife is in Adelaide. The flight from Geraldton to Perth with Skywest is very expensive, it is always over $200 one way for such short flight yet my flight from Perth to Adelaide is always less than $200 one way. I have been paying more to Skywest than Virgin in the last 4 months or so.

I really hope you use the ATR to Geraldton-Perth route. Even though Skywest is your partner, more seats would still do some good for the fares. If you are going to use E190 and start up a Geraldton-Adelaide route, I will fly weekly.

You're asking an airline for lower fares?

I really only care about aircraft type when I have to sit in it for more than 2hrs. The longer the trip, the more important the type, amenities and service becomes. Which is why I've never flown LCC internationally. All the things I value on a long flight are missing on LCCs, something a lot of people forget when they spot the low fare.

Aircraft scaircraft. Tiger and JQ fly NBs across the coast, as do QF and DJ. JQ flies NBs across the Tasman, as does Jetconnect and ANZ. AirAsia X flies A340s and A330s, as do full-service carriers. There is no inherent service difference NB vs. WB. The soft service is subjective to an airline and its business/ancillary revenue plan.

 

[Justchecking]

I didn't say there was a service difference between wide and narrow bodies. I said there was an interior layout difference, not least of which are the number of bathrooms onboard, number of galleys which does make a difference to catering a flight and the availability of 2 abreast seating on some widebody types. I also mentioned there is a difference between service levels on full service and LCCs which is true. All things being equal I would choose a wide over a narrow body aircraft for long haul flights. Hence the reason I will not fly DJs narrow body to HKT.

 

[markis10]

Wonder when this starts?

I've got a voucher for a week on Heron Island and I've put off booking because of the horrendous cost of the Brisbane - Gladstone flights on QF ...

The costs to GLT are irrelevent compared to the transfers to Heron, given strategic have brought QF down to $70 for the special deals things are looking up for the locals, no more drives to ROK for flights at half the price.

 

[ossi]

and i am not payinf for QFF.

Signup for a Woolworths' Everyday Reward card and you can get QFF free

 

[nathanxu]

I guess none of these ATRs are coming to WA ways at this stage.

 

[Jack Melon]

I guess none of these ATRs are coming to WA ways at this stage.

Not yet, but they will! 18 they will have and these routes here are just done by 2!

 

[pauly7]

Not yet, but they will! 18 they will have and these routes here are just done by 2!

You know that for a fact or is that just an educated guess...?

Until QF bought Network Aviation they weren't operating turbo props in WA.

 

[Jack Melon]

You know that for a fact or is that just an educated guess...?

Until QF bought Network Aviation they weren't operating turbo props in WA.

Its been announced for a while now 18 ATR's the -500's will eventually be replaced by the larger -600's.

 

[Ansettaddict123]

Why exactly would VA need to operate them in WA?
They do after all have a codeshare relationship with Skywest, which services all the routes VA would operate anyway.

I would however say that it makes sense for Skywest to eventually replace its F50s with ATRs to save on commonality costs- we may even see it absorbed into the VA fold eventually...

Ansett 2.0 anyone?

 

[Jack Melon]

Why exactly would VA need to operate them in WA?
They do after all have a codeshare relationship with Skywest, which services all the routes VA would operate anyway.

I would however say that it makes sense for Skywest to eventually replace its F50s with ATRs to save on commonality costs- we may even see it absorbed into the VA fold eventually...

Ansett 2.0 anyone?

Nope, they have an alliance, The planes will be operated by Skywest crew, and the planes will be in Virgin livery. The ATR's will be added to the fleet, not replacing there fleet.

 

[Noob]

Nope, they have an alliance, The planes will be operated by Skywest crew, and the planes will be in Virgin livery. The ATR's will be added to the fleet, not replacing there fleet.

Ansett Addict means maybe in the future SkyWest will replace their F-50 fleet with ATR-72, and maybe in the future they will come under the Virgin Australia banner, which would be fantastic IMHO.

 

[pauly7]

Its been announced for a while now 18 ATR's the -500's will eventually be replaced by the larger -600's.

Um how does that even remotely answer the question? Or did you quote by mistake?

 

[Jack Melon]

Um how does that even remotely answer the question? Or did you quote by mistake?

It answered his question about the ATR types and how many. I only answered one part of the question, other part i have no idea, go to the previous page.

 

[pauly7]

It answered his question about the ATR types and how many. I only answered one part of the question, other part i have no idea, go to the previous page.

Then you did accidentally quote me and that is why your post makes no sense. Don't worry we all make mistakes

 

[Ansettaddict123]

Ansett Addict means maybe in the future SkyWest will replace their F-50 fleet with ATR-72, and maybe in the future they will come under the Virgin Australia banner, which would be fantastic IMHO.

Bingo!

Give the boy a star!

 

[Tuddy]

New Virgin Australia ATR services

From a variety of sources, I've managed to find the new ATR schedules...at this stage it doesn't look like they can be booked on Virgin's website - but at least the schedules are nice to know.
On some sites, the Sydney-Port Macquarie flight times have been changed from 19 October. Sourced from an Amadeus search, the times for new services are as follows...
Sydney-Port Macquarie
DJ1187 1234567 8:40/9:40
DJ1189 6 11:55/12:55
DJ1191 123457 16:25/17:25
Port Macquarie-Sydney
DJ1186 6 10:20/11:25
DJ1188 1234567 12:55/14:00
DJ1192 123457 17:55/19:00
From airliners.net Brisbane Expansion Civil Aviation Thread Reply 113...
Brisbane-Gladstone
DJ1709 12345 6:15/7:35
DJ1715 123457 15:40/17:00
Gladstone-Brisbane
DJ1712 12345 8:05/9:25
DJ1718 123457 17:30/18:50
Brisbane-Port Macquarie (Please note implication of daylight saving...)
DJ1766 1234567 10:00/12:25
Port Macquarie-Brisbane
DJ1763 123457 10:10/10:30
DJ1765 6 13:25/13:45

The only Canberra flights I can find seem to show an overnighting aircraft there. This was also found on Amadeus.
DJ629 Canberra-Sydney 7:15/8:05
DJ672 Sydney-Canberra 20:05/21:00

As I said before, these flights aren't yet bookable on the Virgin site, and there may be errors either from the given sources or a slip of the hand in typing...it looks like an acceptable enough schedule, although the Sydney-Port Macquarie schedule, in my opinion, isn't really accommodating to the business travleer (whom it seems Virgin are now chasing) as daytrips to Sydney aren't really possible with the proposed schedules - perhaps they need to overnight an aircraft in Port Mac? For the time being though, I wouldn't mind hearing your thoughts on it all...

 

[markis10]

Airline route is indicating the schedules have been loaded into the GDS:

Brisbane – Gladstone eff 17OCT11
DJ1709 BNE0615 – 0735GLT AT7 x67
DJ1715 BNE1540 – 1700GLT AT7 x6 DJ1712 GLT0805 – 0925BNE AT7 x67
DJ1718 GLT1730 – 1850BNE AT7 x6
Brisbane – Port Macquarie eff 19OCT11
DJ1766 BNE1000 – 1225PQQ AT7 D
DJ1763 PQQ1010 – 1030BNE AT7 x6
DJ1765 PQQ1325 – 1345BNE AT7 6
Sydney – Port Macquarie eff 19OCT11
DJ1188 PQQ1255 – 1400SYD AT7 D
Sydney – Canberra eff 30OCT11 (Below are flights currently loaded with ATR72 in Amadeus timetable display)
DJ632 SYD0805 – 0900CBR AT7 D
DJ642 SYD1105 – 1200CBR AT7 D
DJ664 SYD1805 – 1900CBR AT7 6
DJ627 CBR0630 – 0720SYD AT7 x67
DJ639 CBR0930 – 1020SYD AT7 D
DJ647 CBR1230 – 1320SYD AT7 D
DJ655 CBR1530 – 1620SYD AT7 D
DJ673 CBR2100 – 2150SYD AT7 5