Qantas Delays/Cancellations

[Melburnian1]

On Sunday 12 January, QF19 with A332 VH-EBS arrived MNL an unlucky 13 minutes early at 1717 hours.

The music then stopped, as redeye QF20, the 1900 hours, has been delayed overnight to push back at a suggested 2100 hours on Monday 13 with SYD arrival at 0825 hours on Tuesday 14, 1565 minutes late. Hoteliers love such delays as while they may have contracts with airlines to provide rooms at cheaper than 'normal' individuals can buy, it's still profitable, and there may be some ancillary revenue as well.

I do not know if the aircraft is defective or whether another cause such as a crew member taking sick resulted in the long delay.

One of the AFF aviators amusingly referred to operations centre staff as playing 'video games' but jokes aside, it means QF has to find a substitute aircraft for one of the A330 departures ex SYD on Monday. Given it is school holidays and busy, in a worst case this may mean some domestic flights are cancelled due to an A332 being 'pinched.'

 

[milehighclub]

I do not know if the aircraft is defective or whether another cause such as a crew member taking sick resulted in the long delay.

Or Volcano....

 

[Melburnian1]

Or Volcano....

Yes, upon checking Taal Volcano about 80km to Manila's south erupted at some stage on Sunday, later in the day.

Flights into and out of Manila NAIA were suspended - cancelled - from 1822 hours on Sunday 12 January for arrivals, and from 1900 hours on Sunday night for departures. QF20 departs daily at 1900 hours, so that is why it may depart tonight. MNL airport reopened midmorning on Monday 13.

As of about 1000 hours Philippine time on Monday, about 200 flights have been cancelled.

I am in Manila, transiting. The 'smog' (ash etc.) is noticeable from high up, but many residents and visitors are yet to don face masks. I visited three pharmacies this morning: two had sold out of all face masks, although one had children's masks available. Weather yesterday early arvo was beautiful but not so today.

At least 6000 residents have been evacuated, a wise move. Taal is close to the usual flight paths to and from Oz. i have hiked on its island but it is now a no go zone. There were also some minor earthquakes reported in the area.

Just as there has been in lower east coast Oz due to bushfires, expect a rush on face masks in MNL as air quality deteriorates. School classes have been cancelled.

The Filipino seismological institute has warned of a possible imminent explosion. Were this to occur many aircraft between Oz and HKG plus mainland China and of course Philippines would have to divert, or in some cases further flights might be cancelled.

Competitor PR207 operated normally on Sunday 12 January, departing MNL two minutes late at 1647 and ariving MEL on Monday 13 at 0401, nine early, but it was scheduled to depart 135 minutes earlier than QF20.

Expect chaos for MNL flights for the hext few days, given ongoing cancellations and a large passenger backlog.

Ash apparently reached MNL NAIA's ramp area but by Monday midmorning had been cleared.

 

[Melburnian1]

Also on Monday 13 January, QF63, the 1135 hours late morning SYD across to JNB B744 pushed back 122 minutes late at 1337 so expected arrival is 1806, 91 late. This will delay the overnight QF64 back to SYD.

QF19, the Monday 1225 hours SYD - MNL is deferred until 1235 hours on Tuesday 14, the slight change in timing probably because it will operate as QF19D and hence having it depart 10 minutes later may mean there's an off-peak slot available but also lessens confusion for passengers on the 'normal' Tuesday QF19. As noted previously, QF20 ex MNL on Sunday night 12 January iOS delayed an expected 26 hours.

 

[bigjobs]

How long do they expect the Taal volcano activity to last and the knock on to flight paths? I notice the east coast to Tokyo services today are flying to the west of the volcano, adding a bit of time to the flights.

 

[Melburnian1]

How long do they expect the Taal volcano activity to last and the knock on to flight paths? I notice the east coast to Tokyo services today are flying to the west of the volcano, adding a bit of time to the flights.

God knows. Mere mortals do not, but media indicates there were IIRC 34 or so eruptions during super early morning of Monday 13 January.

MNL has reopened but obviously there are significant delays.

The overnight delayed QF20 should be OK to depart tonight at 2100 as amended, although the MNL airport will be extremely busy.

Previous Indonesian volcanic activity has at times affected flights on and off for days - remember all those affected JQi passengers - but I am no vulcanologist. However the message might be 'expect the unexpected' in the Pacific Ring of Fire.

UPDATE: See below for a further delay to the Sunday evening QF20.

 

[Silvia]

Ongoing delays in Melbourne this afternoon due to low visibility due to bushfire haze. This has meant aircraft on holding pattern and reduced operations in Melbourne.

Some diversions were QF797 ASP-MEL (B738 VH-VXG) which diverted to CBR.
QF621 BNE-MEL (B738 VH-VZM) also diverted to CBR.
QF445 SYD-MEL (B738 VH-VXN) had to return to SYD.

Cancellations
QF453 SYD-MEL 17 00 hours
QF467 SYD-MEL 19 30 hours
QF696 ADL-MEL 19 25 hours
QF452 MEL-SYD 17 00 hours
QF693 MEL-ADL 17 55 hours
QF458 MEL-SYD 18 00 hours
QF464 MEL-SYD 19 30 hours

There are some delays out of Melbourne even longer than 3 hours from original scheduled time.

 

[Melburnian1]

The Sunday 12 1900 hours MNL - SYD QF20 was to depart at 2100 hours on Monday 13, but has been further put back to an estimated 0900 hours on Tuesday 14, meaning SYD arrival at about 2025 tomorrow evening, and hence missed connections to smaller destinations as by the time passengers make it through immigration and customs, and transfer to the SYD domestic terminal, final QFd evening flights to all but a handful of destinations will have left. Those connecting on the last flight to MEL that departs at about 2210 hours should make it provided the flight is not delayed on the MNL runway for an inordinate time.

MNL airport is very congested, so this may have played a part in the further delay to 'the 20.' PR207 to MEL was to depart three hours late, roughly, at 1940 but by 2015 had not, and heaps of others such as PR213 to SYD are hours late. At least they're running, unlike Cebu Pacific (5J) that cancelled huge numbers of flights today.

The Monday evening QF20 should depart at 1910 hours on Tuesday evening.

Air quality in MNL still seems poor as at 2300 AEDT on Monday evening but the winds have changed and are blowing the ash away. I have not had any success in chasing down a face mask with media suggesting hardly any drug stores, as chemists are typically known up here, have stocks.

 

[Melburnian1]

The Sunday 12 January 1900 hours MNL - SYD QF20 was meant (as amended a couple of times) to depart at 0900 hours on Tuesday 14 but did so at 1031 hours, so SYD arrival tonight should be 2158 hours instead of the usual 0620 on Monday. This will result in even passengers bound for MEL or BNE missing the last flight of Tuesday night, so another night of gratis hotel accommodation presumably looms, albeit with a midnight or after check in.

QFi has a notice on its flight status page for these flights QF19 and 20 that Ninoy Aquino International Airport has suspended flights. This was true until midmorning on Monday 13 January but flights then resumed, albeit many having at least two, three or four hour delays. FR24 indicates QF19 is operating on Tuesday and subject to a hold approaching very busy MNL, it is only a few minutes late.

 

[Basaka]

My QF405 today was cancelled due to Mechanical issues... First flight they could book me on was the 10am one... Luckily I booked a 2 day work trip instead of a FIFO... still annoyed I had to wake up at 4:30am for nothing!

 

[Melburnian1]

Bushfire smoke haze was noticeable at MEL when I was there earlier on Wednesday 15 January: clearly the airport and surrounds such as Broadmeadows are worse affected than the inner and outer southern suburbs, but by about 1115 the situation had worsened, so MEL closed one runway, the east-west I gather.

Cancellations include QF2283, the 1150 hours MEL - LST, the 1200 'high noon' MEL - SYD QF430, QF432 (1230 hours on the same route) and QF820, the 1440 hours MEL - CBR. Later, QF442 (mid afternoon 1500 hours MEL up to SYD) is also to be ditched, so that is getting up to a minimum of a few hundred northbound passengers that the airline will be searching for seats on other flights.

Expect more flights to get the flick while delays for those that operate will affect many other aircraft even if they've not been today in MEL, due to connecting passengers and crew rosters, plus tardy MEL flights into and out of other airports, missing slots where these exist.

 

[Melburnian1]

In further on 15 January, QF35, the timetabled 1210 hours MEL up to SIN is expected to shortly push back at 1415 with arrival estimated as 1900 hours this evening, 115 minutes late.

Earlier, the MEL - NRT QF79 departed 41 minutes behind the schedule at 1001 hours with arrival likely 57 late at 1837.

At 1124 hours, the MEL to LAX QF93 pushed back 44 minutes past the timetable with an 0659 hours, 49 late arrival the prediction.

The SYD - MNL QF19 got away at 1313 hours, a similar 48 minutes tardy with arrival forecast at this early stage as 1806, 36 late.

 

[KSC]

The last 3 days QF35 has been delayed, does anyone know why? is this due to the smoggy air ?

 

[serfty]

Maybe check here:

www.theqantassource.com

Other than that, QF35 is normally operated by the LAX A380 aircraft- there's a reasonably tight turnaround period at MEL.

 

[Quickstatus]

This flight is prone to delays due to delays from LAX

The aircraft that operates QF35 MEL-SIN is usuallt the same aircraft that operates QF94 LAX-MEL

The turn around is fairly tight.
Scheduled arrival of QF94 into MEL is 0940 and departure as QF35 is 1210 which is 2hr 30 min. Barely enough time to turn around an A380.

Today QF94 diverted to SYD before completing its journey SYD-MEL at 1206hrs.
The other days QF94 arrived late after a late departure from LAX

There are some delays at MEL but current visibility is 5km with no clouds.
Possibly Single runway operations?:
Runway 34 in operation but Winds are 340 at 20-30 knots . Runway 27 might be difficult to use due to wind direction not smoke.

@Melburnian1

 

[KSC]

Thanks for the detailed reply @Quickstatus

 

[henrus]

It's good to know it's been marked as free.

I'm yet to come across an airline that charges customers for delayed flights (but I better not give the EU budget carriers any more ideas).

 

[AV8]

QF 12 LAX - SYD on 14 Jan has been delayed from 22:30 dep to 15 Jan 10:00 dep - reason unknown.

 

[NM]

It's good to know it's been marked as free.

I'm yet to come across an airline that charges customers for delayed flights (but I better not give the EU budget carriers any more ideas).

Fixed the [Free] tag while merging with this thread about QF flight delays . As you said, lets not bring such options to the attention of those that might consider it a business opportunity.

 

[nonscenic]

MEL is experiencing delays at present due to thunderstorms around Melbourne. Inbound flights are being held circling in several different areas, with some holding patterns being out of use due to the fires over eastern Victoria, and others south of Melbourne being affected by thunderstorms. It would appear that QF is getting lower numbered tickets in the deli counter queue than VA.

There are some delays at MEL but current visibility is 5km with no clouds.
Possibly Single runway operations?:
Runway 34 in operation but Winds are 340 at 20-30 knots . Runway 27 might be difficult to use due to wind direction not smoke.

@Melburnian1