Qantas to start flights from Darwin to Singapore

[XWu]

Now, in what I would personally describe as an embarrassment and entirely within QF control, as a WP seated in row 1, my first choice of meal was not available

There was also an insufficient supply of Lindt balls which meant they were being rationed

View attachment 437644
Photographers waiting presumably for the dignitaries and a small gift from Changi on arrival

In summary, some work to be done

@nancypants
Good that the inaugural flight left on time, although ROFL on your experience with (lack of) preferred choice of meal while seating in Row 1. Did you ask for the least likely choice (salt and pepper tofu….. I don’t think you will get that on any menu in Asia except in the swankyist “fusion” restaurant run mostly by an Aussie or British expat.)?

You might have mentioned it somewhere, but what was actually in the welcome bag? Not the amenities bag I hope

 

[jase05]

I'm aware of that but I don't think it's a bold assumption that their 737 seat isn't any better than their A350 seat.

For J don't think it's all that important for a 4 hour flight (same as SYD-DRW), more important factors like time of day, connections, lounges etc. For some that will be SQ but for many I suspect oneworld options will be better for them.

SQ was a fair bit cheaper in J at the dates i looked and for me the seat is the single most important aspect of the J experience.
QF J in a recliner would need to be at least $500 cheaper to even consider it personally.
DRW-SIN timings look ok for both and the return both also seem workable altyid probably prefer the SQ timings

Interestingly the same flights I was looking at yesterday are now $800 cheaper than SQ in J which is much more sense and would make it worth considering

 

[justinbrett]

SQ was a fair bit cheaper in J at the dates i looked and for me the seat is the single most important aspect of the J experience.
QF J in a recliner would need to be at least $500 cheaper to even consider it personally.
DRW-SIN timings look ok for both and the return both also seem workable altyid probably prefer the SQ timings

Interestingly the same flights I was looking at yesterday are now $800 cheaper than SQ in J which is much more sense and would make it worth considering

I dare say a lot of DRW residents will be using it to go beyond SIN, which is what I was getting at. QF to LHR/CDG, QF/JL to HND, QF/CX to HKG, QF/AY to HEL, QF/EK to DXB and beyond; even QF/QR to DOH.

And SQ offers many connections as well so there is a lot of factors at play - not just the seat type in J.

 

[nancypants]

@nancypants
Good that the inaugural flight left on time, although ROFL on your experience with (lack of) preferred choice of meal while seating in Row 1. Did you ask for the least likely choice (salt and pepper tofu….. I don’t think you will get that on any menu in Asia except in the swankyist “fusion” restaurant run mostly by an Aussie or British expat.)?

You might have mentioned it somewhere, but what was actually in the welcome bag? Not the amenities bag I hope

Apologies I did take a photo but was underwhelmed so didn’t bother to upload
There was a cuddly merlion bag charm, a bag tag with Singapore branding, and a map of Singapore

 

[XWu]

Apologies I did take a photo but was underwhelmed so didn’t bother to upload
There was a cuddly merlion bag charm, a bag tag with Singapore branding, and a map of Singapore

Thanks nancypants, definitely not even worthy of the fancy looking bag

 

[dajop]

I dare say a lot of DRW residents will be using it to go beyond SIN, which is what I was getting at. QF to LHR/CDG, QF/JL to HND, QF/CX to HKG, QF/AY to HEL, QF/EK to DXB and beyond; even QF/QR to DOH.

Not forgetting the non one world services that QF seem to have a stronger affinity with than their one world partners - including 3K services, AF/KL to CDG and AMS, MU to PVG. It’s really just replicating the similarly timed arrivals from PER, MEL, SYD and BNE.

And I bet sometimes it might even be cheaper to transit SIN to get to the east coast.

 

[markis10]

Backpackers = low yield, not going to work for QF. JQ tried a small hub for Asian flights but that didnt work out.

There is a fair bit of FIFO traffic, some of whom prefer to reside overseas. The biggest visitor numbers to the NT actually come from the US by a significant margin and spend $2k each on average, wonder when we see UA direct flights

 

[Chrizztofa]

I dare say a lot of DRW residents will be using it to go beyond SIN, which is what I was getting at. QF to LHR/CDG, QF/JL to HND, QF/CX to HKG, QF/AY to HEL, QF/EK to DXB and beyond; even QF/QR to DOH.

And SQ offers many connections as well so there is a lot of factors at play - not just the seat type in J.

AF, AY, EK, KL and UL codeshare on the route (at least according to the Changi airport website). Slightly surprised BA haven't put a code on it yet.

There is a fair bit of FIFO traffic, some of whom prefer to reside overseas. The biggest visitor numbers to the NT actually come from the US by a significant margin and spend $2k each on average, wonder when we see UA direct flights

I wonder if that's related to the presence of US marines in Darwin.

 

[justinbrett]

AF, AY, EK, KL and UL codeshare on the route (at least according to the Changi airport website). Slightly surprised BA haven't put a code on it yet.



I wonder if that's related to the presence of US marines in Darwin.

BA doesn’t codeshare with QF from Singapore as it conflicts with their JV with QR.

 

[thebmw]

BA doesn’t codeshare with QF from Singapore as it conflicts with their JV with QR.

You sure about that? On Flightradar, QF72 shows as BA7466, and QF52 is BA7406. I haven't gone looking for any others.

 

[jrfsp]

BA doesn’t codeshare with QF from Singapore as it conflicts with their JV with QR.

Not to SYD but it does to other ports.

 

[dajop]

You sure about that? On Flightradar, QF72 shows as BA7466, and QF52 is BA7406. I haven't gone looking for any others.

The Changi Airport website also lists codeshares on QF’s MEL and PER flights. Not SYD as that would compete directly with BA metal service.

 

[justinbrett]

You sure about that? On Flightradar, QF72 shows as BA7466, and QF52 is BA7406. I haven't gone looking for any others.

Interesting, I was wrong about that.

But looking at the fares looks like you’re not getting through pricing from London, so a BA fare to SIN and what QF charges BA for the second leg (haven’t looked at the fare in detail but just an assumption based on the huge price). So very expensive compared to routing via SYD or DOH.

 

[nancypants]

There is a fair bit of FIFO traffic, some of whom prefer to reside overseas. The biggest visitor numbers to the NT actually come from the US by a significant margin and spend $2k each on average, wonder when we see UA direct flights

Are we certain that’s not just “US marines”?

 

[markis10]

Are we certain that’s not just “US marines”?

Nope, given there are 2500 of them a year which is a small fraction. I suspect a lot come in via the sea rather than air.

 

[nancypants]

God is that all? Feels like more than that!

Nope, given there are 2500 of them a year which is a small fraction. I suspect a lot come in via the sea rather than air

 

[lazblue]

Not to SYD but it does to other ports.

BA doesn’t codeshare with QF from Singapore as it conflicts with their JV with QR.

Just to clarify, BA does codeshare with QF between SIN and SYD - just not on QF1/2. A search on BA’s booking engine shows BA7495 on QF81 (operated by Qantas on Fridays) and QF292 (Finnair for Qantas on other days).