DREAM HYPOTHETICAL TIME
WIth the SYD/DFW non-stop A380 flights I've been wondering about non-stop Europe flights from Oz. By comparing flight distances and the cheaper costs of JetConnect I've been thinking about how awesome it would be for Qantas to set up dual hubs in Perth and Auckland to run Jet Connect A380's.
I'd have 6 routes in mind.
JFK-AKL-PER/AKL-PER-BER (6 times per week)
DFW-AKL-MEL (4 times per week).
AKL-PER-MXP/FCO (4 times per week)
LAX-AKL-PER/AKL-PER-CDG (5 times per week)
Qantas to build its own hub in Perth, enabling smooth domestic to international transitions for the Adelaide, Sydney, Melb, Brisbane connections.
The Auckland/Perth legs are filled in both directions with Auckland/Perth passengers going to Europe.
The LAX-JFK flight could be dropped in favor of the Qantas hub switch in Auckland instead, making it a smoother stopover. Reducing cost considerably by flying JetConnect and generating more New Zealand customers to fill the A380 vs 747.
You could effectively have 2 AKL-PER return flights per day by flying these routes 15 times per week.
The additional passengers on the PER-AKL flights come from Kiwis returning from Europe AND Perth people heading to the US (plus the existing load of A330 flyers).
The additional passengers on the AKL-PER leg come from Kiwis flying to Europe and Perth people heading home from the US.
The PER to Europe legs are topped up by domestic connections, particularly from Brisbane and Adelaide but could also put pressure on QF1/2.
The existing 6 flights to the US (HNL, 3x LAX, 1 LAX/JFK, 1 DFW)
become 8 (HNL, 4xLAX, 1 JFK, 2 DFW) but with a lower cost structure and more Kiwi customers and slightly lower frequency.
We can but dream with what Qantas could have done with the A380!