Qatar Airways to acquire 25% of Virgin Australia

[MooTime]

completely off topic.

 

[simmomelb]

IASC how now received the application from Virgin Australia.

Definitely will be "Boeing 777-300ER aircraft configured with between 354 and 412 seats".

Qatar - 3 December 2024

The International Air Services Commission (the Commission) has received an application from Virgin Australia requesting an allocation of 28 frequencies per week in each direction, to operate passenger services on the Qatar route. From June 2025, Virgin Australia plans to operate daily services...

www.iasc.gov.au

 

[Mattg]

IASC how now received the application from Virgin Australia.

Definitely will be "Boeing 777-300ER aircraft configured with between 354 and 412 seats".

Qatar - 3 December 2024

The International Air Services Commission (the Commission) has received an application from Virgin Australia requesting an allocation of 28 frequencies per week in each direction, to operate passenger services on the Qatar route. From June 2025, Virgin Australia plans to operate daily services...

www.iasc.gov.au

Well, that rules out the ex-Cathay Pacific and unfortunately also the ex-Virgin Australia Boeing 777-300ERs.

 

[Bagpuss]

ET now has the flight schedules.

Seems Perth and Melbourne starts have switched, with Perth starting earlier and Melbourne later.

Virgin Australia reveals new international 777 flights

The airline outlines its schedule for new long-range flights...

www.executivetraveller.com

Sydney to Doha

• VA1 will depart Sydney at 2.50pm, arriving into Doha at 10.50pm (Boeing 777)
• QR909 (VA6131) departs Sydney at 8.45pm, arriving into Doha at 4.55am (Airbus A380)

Doha to Sydney

• VA2 will depart Doha at 9.15am, arriving into Sydney at 6.15am (Boeing 777)
• QR908 (VA6130) departs Doha at 10.05pm, arriving into Sydney at 5.10pm (Airbus A380)

Brisbane to Doha

• VA15 will depart Brisbane at 3.10pm, arriving into Doha at 11pm (Boeing 777)
• QR899 (VA6133) departs Brisbane at 10.15pm, arriving into Doha at 6am t (Boeing 777 with Qsuites)

Doha to Brisbane

• VA16 will depart Doha at 1.40am, arriving into Brisbane at 10.45pm (Boeing 777)
• QR898 (VA6132) departs Doha at 8.25pm, arriving into Brisbane at 5.30am (Boeing 777 with Qsuites)

Perth to Doha

• VA21 will depart Perth at 3.20pm, arriving into Doha at 9.50pm (Boeing 777)
• QR901 (VA6129) departs Perth at 10.45pm, arriving into Doha at 5.20am (Airbus A380)

Doha to Perth

• VA22 will depart Doha at 7.50pm, arriving into Perth at 11.55am (Boeing 777)
• QR900 (VA6128) departs Doha at 2.45am, arriving into Perth at 6.45pm (Airbus A380)

Virgin has yet to file its proposed flight timings for the Melbourne-Doha route.

 

[jrfsp]

IASC how now received the application from Virgin Australia.

Definitely will be "Boeing 777-300ER aircraft configured with between 354 and 412 seats".

Qatar - 3 December 2024

The International Air Services Commission (the Commission) has received an application from Virgin Australia requesting an allocation of 28 frequencies per week in each direction, to operate passenger services on the Qatar route. From June 2025, Virgin Australia plans to operate daily services...

www.iasc.gov.au

Pretty much the scheduled i guessed would be put forward.

Interesting - SYD, BNE and PER from June and MEL from December - this has changed, PER was originally planned for December and MEL for June.

 

[am0985]

So will we have a situation where Qatar Privilege Club members have earlier access to these Virgin Australia reward flights than Velocity members?

I would rather redeem through Qatar anyway with my Amex points as far fewer points needed, but it would be quite odd.

 

[simmomelb]

Interesting - SYD, BNE and PER from June and MEL from December - this has changed, PER was originally planned for December and MEL for June.

Yep, that's a definite flip between PER and MEL with the launch date, to what their ACCC application proposed.

Also interestingly from ET: "To that end, Virgin Australia will need to arrange its own lounge access at the international terminals of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth for its business class passengers and loungeworthy Velocity frequent flyers – something the airline says it is currently working through."

 

[jrfsp]

Also interestingly from ET: "To that end, Virgin Australia will need to arrange its own lounge access at the international terminals of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth for its business class passengers and loungeworthy Velocity frequent flyers – something the airline says it is currently working through."

I wonder if there’s a very slim chance they could announce a universal change to lounge access for all their intl flights - unlikely but never know!

 

[simmomelb]

I wonder if there’s a very slim chance they could announce a universal change to lounge access for all their intl flights - unlikely but never know!

I'd say that is highly likely and that we'll know within the next week or two.

My guess only

 

[Bagpuss]

One of my flights next year has a stopover time of 9 hours 45 minutes in Doha and I have successfully been given an STPC (Stopover For The Purpose of Connection).

If they flipped me to a new Virgin Australia flight the connection time would reduce to 3 hours 5 minutes.

Interesting how it plays out. This wouldn't affect the STPC eligibility as the new flights wouldn't strictly be classified as "operated by Qatar Airways" as they'd mostly likely be "Virgin Australia International operated by Qatar Airways".

 

[oz_mark]

Yep, that's a definite flip between PER and MEL with the launch date, to what their ACCC application proposed.

It's because they have secured a slot for Perth but not Melbourne.

We have secured the required slots in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth, with Melbourne to follow next scheduling season.

 

[Bagpuss]

It's because they have secured a slot for Perth but not Melbourne.

I think it's also that there's only 1 Qatar flight into Perth which is an A380. With the extra flight they could utilize the A380 elsewhere if it is too much equipment for a daily A380 and B777. Add on Emirates has just announced more capacity into Perth and I expect Scoot / Singapore Air to pay attention, Singapore Air is really the dominant international carrier out of Perth. If Virgin / Qatar wait on Perth they will need to out muscle the rivals harder most likely.

I believe with Melbourne they will be re-aligning capacity so there's not such an urgent need.

To add:
Perth's international inbound seat capacity has fully recovered compared to 2019 and has achieved 29 per cent monthly growth compared to the same time last year.

Dubai-Perth: Twice-Daily Flights Begin This Month

Second daily flight launches between Dubai and Perth from DecemberEmirates flight to bring extra 129,000 inbound seats to Western Australia per

www.miragenews.com

 

[jrfsp]

It's because they have secured a slot for Perth but not Melbourne.

Stand space is a real issue at MEL T2 especially at peak times.

 

[HS-TQE]

Well, that rules out the ex-Cathay Pacific and unfortunately also the ex-Virgin Australia Boeing 777-300ERs.

QR seems to be using the x3 ex VA 77Ws largely on medium haul leisure destinations to South East Asia, mostly Vietnam, Bangkok and sometimes Bali.

 

[WilsonM]

So will we have a situation where Qatar Privilege Club members have earlier access to these Virgin Australia reward flights than Velocity members?

I would rather redeem through Qatar anyway with my Amex points as far fewer points needed, but it would be quite odd.

Generally it's up to the operating carrier to 'release' seats, as thats when all fare class availability is loaded in - AA's booking window doesn't open until 330 days out, so thats when QF can access their seats. My guess would be the same.

Also, Qatar could use their partner table for VA flights, which is actually worse than VA for longhaul (QR partner chart is the same as the BA partner chart - 154,500 Avios for SYD-DOH vs 95,500 VA, if they use the same award chart as currently published).

Lastly, if the reward seats on VA are sold only with VA flight numbers, then it's possible that to get to Europe it'll effectively be a per segment price. Currently, this is what VA does with VA + partner awards - it's the VA price added onto the partner price.

For example, we could see SYD-DOH at VA pricing, then DOH-EUR at QR pricing. So 95,500 + 74,000 = 169,500 VA points for SYD-DOH-LHR once the new pricing comes in (for QR).

 

[ben95]

It's because they have secured a slot for Perth but not Melbourne.

Can VA not can one of the milk run flights and use that slot for the Doha service? Or would international slot be separate from a domestic slot?

 

[The-Aviator]

Overnight stay on the ground and then some for the VA flight into BNE. Could we see a "VAI operated by Qatar Airways" morning run down to SYD and back?

 

[justinbrett]

Can VA not can one of the milk run flights and use that slot for the Doha service? Or would international slot be separate from a domestic slot?

People use the term slots to mean lots of different things.

I assume here they mean access to an international gate. VA could certainly use an actual slot (ie, take off or landing) from its domestic ops, which is why I think they mean access to an international gate.

Likely strategy is that QR will just can the ADL-MEL flight and replace it with a new VA service direct from MEL, and they probably didn't want to start with that in case that wasn't popular with the regulators. I find it hard to believe MEL couldn't squeeze in a new service for VA.

 

[MooTime]

People use the term slots to mean lots of different things.

I assume here they mean access to an international gate. VA could certainly use an actual slot (ie, take off or landing) from its domestic ops, which is why I think they mean access to an international gate.

Likely strategy is that QR will just can the ADL-MEL flight and replace it with a new VA service direct from MEL, and they probably didn't want to start with that in case that wasn't popular with the regulators. I find it hard to believe MEL couldn't squeeze in a new service for VA.

Slots...

 

[henrus]

It's amusing as each airport has a different issue. In regards to Melbourne the issue is gates rather than a runway slot or immigration.

Melbourne only has 11 bays that are 777 compatible, 9 at the terminal and two remote. 4 of the terminal gates and both remote stands also split into two when not being used for a widebody and can service 2x 737s or A320s at the same time.

In regards to Sydney it's based on slot times for the runway. Sydney has 22x 777 compatible bays at the terminal and 16x remote bays but a hard cap on the number of movements per 60 minutes (currently 80 movements).

Brisbane on the other hand has 17 777 compatible bays including 14 at the terminal and 3 remote (well not fully remote as no bus is needed just stairs) so no major issues however there is an movement cap of 2400 per hour which in the morning would get close in the 6am block with several A330s, 787s and the EK A380.