Qantas to operate 2 evacuation flights from Lebanon via Cyprus to Sydney

[Comoman]

VH-ZNC is operating Ausy1528 SYD direct to LCA with an expected flight time of 17.23

Live Flight Tracker - Real-Time Flight Tracker Map | Flightradar24

View flight ASY1258 from Sydney to Larnaca on Flightradar24

www.flightradar24.com

Interesting flight number…..

Not QF 6xx_

 

[kangarooflyer88]

VH-ZNC is operating Ausy1528 SYD direct to LCA with an expected flight time of 17.23

Live Flight Tracker - Real-Time Flight Tracker Map | Flightradar24

View flight ASY1258 from Sydney to Larnaca on Flightradar24

www.flightradar24.com

One has to wonder here what the logistics of this trip is? The press release indicated that this flight is scheduled to depart Larnaca in the evening. Well if they're flying now and arriving at around 4:30 PM local time, how will they be able to fly out the same day? I should think crew will need rest especially after flying that mammoth 17+ hour leg. Presumably all the same crew rest regulations apply for repatriation flights? Now maybe they did rest in the cabin rest area between portions of the flight and are thus legal to fly the leg back. But I always thought there was a requirement somewhere where they must get 24 hours of R&R on the ground before resuming. Alternatively, I suppose they could have flown pilot and crew to Cyprus in advance of this mission.

The other question too will be the logistics of things like catering. For instance, did they cater out of Sydney? Alternatively, if they catered out of Cyprus it could make for an interesting trip report. Then again, is anyone on this forum fortunate enough to score a ticket on this flight?

-RooFlyer88

 

[markis10]

I would expect the off duty crew would have access to the j cabin and that catering maybe loaded in Syd. QF asked for volunteers and I don’t suspect they had issues filling spots, kudos to the crews that put their hand up.

In terms of rest, there are a number of Eba’s in place for cabin crew that vary considerably. Long haul crew can be new to the job and have short turnarounds. Some of the cabin crew that did an awesome job recently (albeit with a load of 50 pax) on QF26 arriving at 2000 a few weeks back were operating QF1 the next day, going from A330 equipments to A380.

 

[craney]

Doesn't the press release on the first page of the thread say that Qantas is providing the flight to the government at no cost (as well as being free for passengers)?

"The national carrier will operate these assisted-departure flights free of charge for the Australian Government, with no cost to those travelling on the flight."

...which makes the previous 8 pages of whinging and griping about spending tax dollars evacuating citizens and permanent residents from a war zone a bit redundant.

Hat-tip to Qantas for going out of their way to help.

 

[jase05]

Doesn't the press release on the first page of the thread say that Qantas is providing the flight to the government at no cost (as well as being free for passengers)?

"The national carrier will operate these assisted-departure flights free of charge for the Australian Government, with no cost to those travelling on the flight."

...which makes the previous 8 pages of whinging and griping about spending tax dollars evacuating citizens and permanent residents from a war zone a bit redundant.

Hat-tip to Qantas for going out of their way to help.

Yes, no problem with what QF are doing and hats off to them.
There is no such thing as a free lunch though and I’d fully expect QF to claw the cost back somehow and I wouldn’t have an issue with that

 

[DejaBrew]

There is no such thing as a free lunch though and I’d fully expect QF to claw the cost back somehow and I wouldn’t have an issue with that

Most likely during the next DSC promotion period…

 

[jase05]

Most likely during the next DSC promotion period…

Easier just to add a $5 levy to every ticket sold, the punters wouldn’t even notice

 

[justinbrett]

Doesn't the press release on the first page of the thread say that Qantas is providing the flight to the government at no cost (as well as being free for passengers)?

"The national carrier will operate these assisted-departure flights free of charge for the Australian Government, with no cost to those travelling on the flight."

...which makes the previous 8 pages of whinging and griping about spending tax dollars evacuating citizens and permanent residents from a war zone a bit redundant.

Hat-tip to Qantas for going out of their way to help.

There’s also the cost of the “military” flights out of BEY (which looks like HiFly charters) and the cost of deploying military and other officials to operate the evacuation centre. So even if QF are free (I imagine the government is covering the fuel and airport fees) there’s still a cost.