Qantas A380 refurbishment news and updates

[RSD]

Remember we are down to about 18 months before the first long range A350-1000 and I suspect the first few will arrive in pretty rapid succession so QF can establish daily schedules.

They will be used on schedules used by the B787's currently - no doubt an A350 doing daily SYD-LHR will replace the current B787 PER-LHR service, and an A350 SYD-JFK service will replace the current B787 SYD-AKL-JFK service

 

[elanshin]

They will be used on schedules used by the B787's currently - no doubt an A350 doing daily SYD-LHR will replace the current B787 PER-LHR service, and an A350 SYD-JFK service will replace the current B787 SYD-AKL-JFK service

I believe the expectation is the sunrise first route (SYD - LHR) is an addition not a replacement. It will probably take the tag of QF1/2 but the 380 via Singapore is likely still kept and the 9/10 per - lhr is also kept.

JFK on 3/4 however will certainly replace the current AKL.

 

[RSD]

I believe the expectation is the sunrise first route (SYD - LHR) is an addition not a replacement. It will probably take the tag of QF1/2 but the 380 via Singapore is likely still kept and the 9/10 per - lhr is also kept.

JFK on 3/4 however will certainly replace the current AKL.

Ah OK - interesting. QF must have some unused slots available then.

 

[justinbrett]

JFK on 3/4 however will certainly replace the current AKL.

They want to keep both. I think we'll see both operate on different days of the week until QF has a better understanding on pax loads.

via AKL is doing really well with the ex-NZ market, and is going to be a better experience ex-BNE/MEL bypassing the SYD terminal transfer.

Ah OK - interesting. QF must have some unused slots available then.

For LHR they have 4 pairs, 2 in use and the other 2 on lease to BA, which I believe they have already given notice to recall them.

For JFK, expectation is they'd be able to get a second pair fairly easily, it's slot controlled but nowhere near the level of LHR. But as above they'd probably just sure the single pair between non stop and via AKL until they decide if two routes are feasible.

 

[markis10]

Ah OK - interesting. QF must have some unused slots available then.

They leased some to BA for use in the interim.

 

[arrow]

via AKL is doing really well with the ex-NZ market, and is going to be a better experience ex-BNE/MEL bypassing the SYD terminal transfer.

It will be interesting to see how it goes post Sunrise. Auckland is not designed as a mass transit airport and queues at the transit area can be very long. I’d do Sunrise over the AKL connection

 

[justinbrett]

It will be interesting to see how it goes post Sunrise. Auckland is not designed as a mass transit airport and queues at the transit area can be very long. I’d do Sunrise over the AKL connection

Compared to the SYD terminal transfer process, AKL is a dream at any time of the day.

I don’t think it would be competitive ex SYD but different story for BNE/MEL, or more importantly, ex AKL.

 

[mviy]

If PER-LHR loads remain high I wouldn’t be that surprised to see it upgraded to the A350 eventually maybe in a second order after the initial 12.

 

[mviy]

Three different aircraft models flying to LHR would make for poor fleet utilization. If all routes keep flying I think PER-LHR will be upgraded to A350 and/or SIN-LHR will get downgraded from A380 to 787/A350 perhaps from BNE with A380 flights from SYD and MEL to SIN to connect to it

 

[moa999]

I wouldn’t be that surprised to see it upgraded to the A350 eventually

Qantas has previously said that referring to the Sunrise (ie. First 12) aircraft, but the latter ones might not arrive until 2029/30.

I think QF will still fly the A380s to London - afterall they still have to fly them somewhere, and the theory at least is Sunrise flights will increase Qantas share on the Kangaroo routes by grabbing the most premium (or time poor) travellers from other airlines.

 

[justinbrett]

Three different aircraft models flying to LHR would make for poor fleet utilization. If all routes keep flying I think PER-LHR will be upgraded to A350 and/or SIN-LHR will get downgraded from A380 to 787/A350 perhaps from BNE with A380 flights from SYD and MEL to SIN to connect to it

They currently fly A330-200, B787-9 and A380s to LAX.

 

[elanshin]

Three different aircraft models flying to LHR would make for poor fleet utilization. If all routes keep flying I think PER-LHR will be upgraded to A350 and/or SIN-LHR will get downgraded from A380 to 787/A350 perhaps from BNE with A380 flights from SYD and MEL to SIN to connect to it

At some point in the 2030s when the 380s are retired, I'm sure we'll see LHR end up being a b787/a350 port.
Until then we'll probably see it as a mix because each aircraft serves for a different purpose.

 

[Feech La Manna]

Is there really enough demand for 4 x daily flights to LHR? 2 x Sunrise flights (MEL, SYD) and a flight each from Perth and Singapore(starting either in Syd, Mel or Bne)

Some of the current SIN-LHR QF1/QF2 traffic is already fed from flights from Perth, Melbourne and Brisbane. Much of that premium traffic will go via Sunrise.

2 x daily A350-1000s, plus 1 X 787 from Perth and 1 x A380 is a huge amount of capacity. Probably more premium capacity than the days when QF had 4 x 744s to LHR.

Yes QF will want to push sunrise, but they are also quite conservative with capacity. I will be surprised if they continue sending the A380 to LHR once the Mel and Syd sunrise flights commence.

 

[moa999]

there really enough demand for 4 x daily flights to LHR

Per prior posts.

and the theory at least is Sunrise flights will increase Qantas share on the Kangaroo routes by grabbing the most premium (or time poor) travellers from other airlines.

 

[justinbrett]

Is there really enough demand for 4 x daily flights to LHR?

Considering how many flights EK, QR, SQ and others are flying daily, I would say yes, as long as QF can have a point of difference.

Sunrise services will be in their own category and will have a price surcharge associated with it, PER is already operating without much feeder traffic from the East.

SIN will be the only flight for East Coast pax that want an intl stop and/or not pay the sunrise surcharge, so I expect will remain popular. Perhaps yes it will be downgraded to A350 (if they want to retain F) or 787.

 

[elanshin]

Considering how many flights EK, QR, SQ and others are flying daily, I would say yes, as long as QF can have a point of difference.

Sunrise services will be in their own category and will have a price surcharge associated with it, PER is already operating without much feeder traffic from the East.

SIN will be the only flight for East Coast pax that want an intl stop and/or not pay the sunrise surcharge, so I expect will remain popular. Perhaps yes it will be downgraded to A350 (if they want to retain F) or 787.

It could also be QF decides to run MEL - SIN - LHR instead of SYD and have SYD - SIN be the feeder

 

[mviy]

It could also be QF decides to run MEL - SIN - LHR instead of SYD and have SYD - SIN be the feeder

Possible, I MEL does have the advantage of not having a curfew unlike SYD and LHR but there’s likely to still be significant demand from SYD to SIN at least, though one would imagine that a sizeable number of J/F customers that fly QF1 all the way from SYD to LHR would move to the new nonstop QF1 flight.

 

[mviy]

They currently fly A330-200, B787-9 and A380s to LAX.

The longer flight time to LHR makes this worse and service recovery difficult if a plane breaks down. If SIN-LHR demand collapses or PER-LHR demand remains strong after Sunrise I expect QF will consider their options as to how to redeploy aircraft and what to place firm orders for.

 

[justinbrett]

It could also be QF decides to run MEL - SIN - LHR instead of SYD and have SYD - SIN be the feeder

Or BNE so they can sell single flight number services from the four major capitals. However they do it they can still time the other cities to connect so it’s really a three for one.

The longer flight time to LHR makes this worse and service recovery difficult if a plane breaks down. If SIN-LHR demand collapses or PER-LHR demand remains strong after Sunrise I expect QF will consider their options as to how to redeploy aircraft and what to place firm orders for.

I would argue recovery from LHR is easier just due to the number of oneworld and EK options plus you now have QF into CDG. Whether you have three aircraft of the same type or three different types doesn’t make it any easier, planes will break at outstations and QF will deal with it as it always has.

As above I don’t think the via SIN services will struggle as there will be about a 20% discount compared to sunrise services, which is compelling for both business and economy pax. That’s the beauty of QF’s plan they have a range of options to get people to LHR.