New VA A330 J to launch 17 August on SYD-PER

[yohy?!]

looks great, has got to be an international future for these birds though as demand drops in the west - the sooner the better.

 

[beast_man]

Well spotted Pleb Status! Don't know how I missed the PER/MEL as I did look ... maybe they are loading slowly?

 

[robd]

Is there only 1 A/C at the moment? I've got some Plat upgrades to use (book) before end Oct. Apologies if it's listed somewhere already, but what's the timeframe for other A/C's to be up and running and likely routes ex MEL?

 

[Melburnian1]

I once praised the author below for another article, but the article below is contradictory as it admits that there is little growth in Australian domestic aviation passenger numbers at present (if he looked, he might discover that demand was actually dropping on the transcontinental routes at present, as AFF member yohi?! suggests above) but also talks of more demand for J class:

Virgin Australia's new biz seat is stynning, and scarce! | Plane Talking

I would have thought that for an airline like VA that lost (if I recall) A$69 million on international flying in the latest publicly reported period and which also lost more money before that on both domestic and international flights that not expanding the widebody fleet at present might actually be prudent.

Obviously some of these 'aviation authors' have a better crystal ball than most of us.

On another point, it would be a very popular read if an AFFer or two could travel in (as far as possible) an equivalent row in the 'new' QF and VA J class (say row 2) and not only take detailed photos but give a complete rundown of each trip, maybe with side by side comparative photos of the seats, bed and food. For a true comparison it would be best to have flights at similar times in the same direction but that might be a difficult at present given the limited availability of VA flights with the new equipment and how QF sometimes switches aircraft at the last minute.

 

[pythonisman]

That fitout looks excellent. Can't wait for it to roll out across their fleet, I hope it doesn't impact the Z class availability too much!!!

 

[Grimace1]

Is there only 1 A/C at the moment? I've got some Plat upgrades to use (book) before end Oct. Apologies if it's listed somewhere already, but what's the timeframe for other A/C's to be up and running and likely routes ex MEL?

Yes only one aircraft is refitted right now but the rest are meant to be completed in the next few months

 

[UpInTheAir:)]

And I just had to book my next PER-MEL flight (in September) in economy on a 737 with VA
I have been so spoilt lately I didn't realise this happened anymore...
I am on an A330 MEL-PER in J though.. will have to have an extra 2 glasses of champagne to compensate myself

 

[MarkD]

Expect more 737 services. There is no way these are being refitted for domestic flights. Enjoy it while you can, but its complete overkill for domestic aircraft

 

[BNEFlyer]

Expect more 737 services. There is no way these are being refitted for domestic flights. Enjoy it while you can, but its complete overkill for domestic aircraft

Why do you say that? Unless VA get 737's to replace the A330's, the A330's will continue to operate Coast to Coast. And as for being overkill... is it though? Is QF's new suite overkill? Is JetBlue's Mint and the new AA A321T F and J cabin overkill?

They're in a competitive domestic environment against QF so why not update the cabin? And The Business will be fitted to the 777's as well, which will be leaps and bounds ahead of all the Australia-North America J cabins currently flying (and the NZ 777's).

 

[MarkD]

Why do you say that? Unless VA get 737's to replace the A330's, the A330's will continue to operate Coast to Coast. And as for being overkill... is it though? Is QF's new suite overkill? Is JetBlue's Mint and the new AA A321T F and J cabin overkill?

They're in a competitive domestic environment against QF so why not update the cabin? And The Business will be fitted to the 777's as well, which will be leaps and bounds ahead of all the Australia-North America J cabins currently flying (and the NZ 777's).

Personal opinions are great hey, we all have them, which is awesome. And again my opinion is its overkill and i see the big birds going off elsewhere. They have already trimmed the schedules and i can already see the coughing and moaning on here when a 737 is subbed in.
They should have had a standard domestic business across the fleet. This bed in J for a 4 -5 hr flight is a wank

 

[Boof1]

Just a call out that XFH went tech in PER on Thursday and was ferried back to SYD so the only aircraft with the new interior is out of action at present. (It went via ASP and flew with the gear down so was limited to 20,000ft which is interesting in itself!)

Expect more 737 services. There is no way these are being refitted for domestic flights. Enjoy it while you can, but its complete overkill for domestic aircraft

I agree MarkD. I think eventually we will see a single daily A330 return service from BNE, MEL & SYD to PER and the slack in the fleet this creates would allow a mid-haul international destination to open up.

Why do you say that? Unless VA get 737's to replace the A330's, the A330's will continue to operate Coast to Coast. And as for being overkill... is it though? Is QF's new suite overkill? Is JetBlue's Mint and the new AA A321T F and J cabin overkill?

They're in a competitive domestic environment against QF so why not update the cabin? And The Business will be fitted to the 777's as well, which will be leaps and bounds ahead of all the Australia-North America J cabins currently flying (and the NZ 777's).

I'm not sure they do need extra 737's for this. Better utilization of the current fleet would help as there is a lot of parked jets across the country at times each day and with the current reconfiguring plus maintenance of the A330's VA don't have any trouble finding 737's for the west coast services.

Also don't forget that the QF product was as much about the international markets the A330 fleet serves as it was about the cross country routes. Fleet commonality has given QF the ability to serve the west coast with the suite.

Comparing the B6 Mint cabin and the AA321T fleets to the VA offering is difficult. B6 needed to find a way to get those that used B6 services up and down the U.S. Coasts but used other carriers for trans-con to fly with B6 across the country hence Mint was created. The A321 for B6 did that as it kept the Y cabin size similar to the A320 but gave B6 a J cabin hence the capacity growth was minimal on cross country routes as they replaced A320 services one for one (also admitting that they are using non Mint A321's to the Caribbean where they needed Y capacity growth).

The AA A321T fleet has replaced the 767's that have had 3 class service for a lot longer than we have had flat beds in Australia domestically. The fact that AA downsized to A321's says a lot about the market, as the Y cabin took the biggest hit.

VA's challenge isn't so much about filling the front, it's about keeping the other 200 seats down the back full enough to make money with the A330's overall.

Regards,
Boof

 

[UpInTheAir:)]

This bed in J for a 4 -5 hr flight is a wank

Maybe to someone that doesn't fly J to and from Perth very often... The fact that QF is following VAs lead suggests that people are voting with their cash.

 

[MarkD]

Maybe to someone that doesn't fly J to and from Perth very often... The fact that QF is following VAs lead suggests that people are voting with their cash.

Be interesting how much cash they actually make on it.

And yes, Im one who wouldn't pay the 1800 that they want to fly 4-5 hrs. I would do it on points, but only because it didnt cost me anything. Its a joke, and by the time they serve a meal and then snack before landing, what do you have maybe 1.5 - 2 hrs absolute max to lay down on a lay flat seat.

Lets see how it goes when the mining boom has completely wound up.

 

[smit0847]

Be interesting how much cash they actually make on it.

And yes, Im one who wouldn't pay the 1800 that they want to fly 4-5 hrs. I would do it on points, but only because it didnt cost me anything. Its a joke, and by the time they serve a meal and then snack before landing, what do you have maybe 1.5 - 2 hrs absolute max to lay down on a lay flat seat.

Lets see how it goes when the mining boom has completely wound up.

Who are the people actually paying for J on this? There are very, very few companies in Australia that will pay for staff to travel J on a 4 hour flight. Celebrities arent going to be going to Perth, and CEOs etc are going less and less as the mining boom ends.

Who is paying for these 100s of J seats every day?!

 

[dk4]

It will be interesting to see market reaction, once all fleets at both airlines have been upgraded.

When VA introduced 60" pitch in Business Class for Transcon, it was a true game changer and it slowly grew in popularity - as punters started to realise that an extra 22" of comfort could ply them away from; QFF, contracts or any other padded handcuffs Qantas had attached to them.

Now though, with QF and VA seats approaching detente, IMO the competitive product advantage is falling back QF's way. As Qantas is offering better frequencies and better lounges (soon on both sides of the country - once PER gets a J lounge). Plus QF has the x-factor of "experience": and IMO Virgin's "flair" simply doesn't stack up against that.

 

[UpInTheAir:)]

Who are the people actually paying for J on this? There are very, very few companies in Australia that will pay for staff to travel J on a 4 hour flight. Celebrities arent going to be going to Perth, and CEOs etc are going less and less as the mining boom ends.

Who is paying for these 100s of J seats every day?!

Footballers...

 

[toowongman]

Who is paying for these 100s of J seats every day?!

My suppliers for one, who accept Amex

 

[smit0847]

Footballers...

Okay, thats maybe 6 flights per week for 6 months of the year. What about the rest?,

 

[shuuy]

Me.

With the exception of the Monday Morning / Friday afternoon transcons, VA J is very very rarely full.
On QF, I've never seen a transcon cabin have more than 3-4 seats empty. (BNE/SYD/MEL-PER)

 

[Bagpuss]

Looks like VH-XFG re-entered service today making that two A330 "The Business" refurbs.
VH-XFE flew Perth - Melbourne yesterday and hasn't left since, so expect this is the next one to go under the knife.