QF97 BNE-HKG to become red-eye

[NM]

:evil:

See QANTAS reschedule Brisbane/Perth – Hong Kong S10 AIRLINE ROUTE UPDATES for details.

This is bad news for me. Looks like my regular HKG trips will all be via SYD, meaning a long travel day with a very early morning start.

Oh, and not good for PER-HKG either.

 

[ChrisBNE]

Thats better for outbound AY connections. Stange change as QF has no other flights going out at that time of the night.

 

[NM]

Thats better for outbound AY connections. Stange change as QF has no other flights going out at that time of the night.

given that the QF97 will arrive into HKG at 6:05am, and QF98 departs at 23:15, they must have plans to use the morning arrival aircraft for a daytime flight back to Australia, perhaps to SYD or MEL. I can only assume this change is to improve aircraft utilisation as its not going to be attractive for many passengers.

There is no way I will be choosing to fly a red-eye to HKG, arrive around 6am and head straight to the office for work! Especially with an economy travel policy :evil:.

 

[MDC]

given that the QF97 will arrive into HKG at 6:05am, and QF98 departs at 23:15, they must have plans to use the morning arrival aircraft for a daytime flight back to Australia, perhaps to SYD or MEL. I can only assume this change is to improve aircraft utilisation as its not going to be attractive for many passengers.

There is no way I will be choosing to fly a red-eye to HKG, arrive around 6am and head straight to the office for work! Especially with an economy travel policy :evil:.

Catching a red-eye and going straight into the office / meetings isn't fun at all. The company I work for not only has an economy travel policy but a "travel out of office hours" policy. :evil:

 

[dajop]

I can only assume this change is to improve aircraft utilisation as its not going to be attractive for many passengers.

QF97 now would feed into QF29 to LHR, giving a second option for getting to Europe for BNE pax, competing with the late night SQ, CX, EK, TG etc services (without having to go via MEL). Obviously not the same on return though for QF30 (a long in day in HKG to connect on the way back!) Also I guess it provides better connections into mainland China (same with PER departure).

 

[samh004]

Strange from a transport point of view too, as the AirTrain stops running late at night anyway, so it’s difficult to get the train to or from the airport that late, especially from the Gold Coast.

I hate driving up to drop someone off at night or collect them too, it’s bad enough with some of the CX flights. CX157 is it?

 

[dajop]

Strange from a transport point of view too, as the AirTrain stops running late at night anyway, so it’s difficult to get the train to or from the airport that late, especially from the Gold Coast.

Not really strange, QF certainly wouldn't care, or factor Airtrain operating times into their scheduling. Quite a few other flights operate late night out of BNE as well.

(going OT, but frankly it's ridiculous that Airtrain stops operating so early, given the number of domestic arrivals after it ceases operating)

 

[Bang4Buck]

What about switching to CX102/103?

Good arrival and departure times. Hard and soft product in J is ok (fishbone layout). Don't know about Y, but surely you could upgrade using points, if necessary.

 

[mannej]

The change of time (QF67) is great if connecting to another flights, as the current timing does not allow that, but can be a pain if heading to HKG and staying there.

 

[NM]

QF97 now would feed into QF29 to LHR, giving a second option for getting to Europe for BNE pax

I would prefer, and have taken a few times, the current daytime QF97 to HKG, overnight in a hotel, and take the morning QF29 HKG-LHR. Seems much more civilised to me.

If going to fly overnight, I would be happy to go via MEL. Take an evening flight to MEL, visit a real F Lounge for dinner/preparation, then take a 744 MEL-HKG-LHR.

 

[markis10]

A330 line maint and IFE maint is done by Haeco HKG, having two birds sitting on the ground for 12+ hours might help facilitate that as it appears that the SYD/MEL A330 flights also arrive early morning as an A330 before turning around and operating a day flight return.

 

[NM]

What about switching to CX102/103?

Good arrival and departure times. Hard and soft product in J is ok (fishbone layout). Don't know about Y, but surely you could upgrade using points, if necessary.

Unfortunately corporate travel policy "prefers" QF and results in QF flights being quite a bit cheaper than CX flights. But given the choice of QF Y red-eye vs CX Y daytime, the change may be justified. I will certainly consider that for future trips.

 

[docjames]

If going to fly overnight, I would be happy to go via MEL. Take an evening flight to MEL, visit a real F Lounge for dinner/preparation, then take a 744 MEL-HKG-LHR.

Which is what we are doing so we can get Y+ seats.

Minus the F lounge unfortunately :mrgreen: (anyone travelling on 30/5 want two guests in the Flounge??)

 

[Bang4Buck]

Unfortunately corporate travel policy "prefers" QF and results in QF flights being quite a bit cheaper than CX flights. But given the choice of QF Y red-eye vs CX Y daytime, the change may be justified. I will certainly consider that for future trips.

My last flight was CX103 late November. I know it's late but a good chance to have drinks with friends in HKG (i recommed e.g. red bar near central). As you probably know they issue "fast track" customs clearances in J and literally I was in my car 20mins after touchdown.

CX102 meanwhile has a sturdy daylight schedule.

 

[fiscal]

I was told that the changed QF PER-HGK times were to deliver better onward connections to China. The aircraft on the HKG-PER return leg, I understand, will just lay idle until the next evening departure back to HKG.

Allegedly, the change of the PER departure times from daytime to night time is due to the increased traffic to China, by mining company personnel and the like - boom times in Perth.

That's Ok if you are a J class pax, but not so good on Y class.

 

[ChrisBNE]

I was told that the changed QF PER-HGK times were to deliver better onward connections to China. The aircraft on the HKG-PER return leg, I understand, will just lay idle until the next evening departure back to HKG.

Allegedly, the change of the PER departure times from daytime to night time is due to the increased traffic to China, by mining company personnel and the like - boom times in Perth.

That's Ok if you are a J class pax, but not so good on Y class.

Makes sence I think they were losing alot of traffic to SQ ex PER and BNE into China due to overnight stop in HKG.

 

[NM]

Makes sence I think they were losing alot of traffic to SQ ex PER and BNE into China due to overnight stop in HKG.

I would prefer the overnight stop in a hotel than an overnight flight.

 

[Emkay]

This change is lousy for me, too. If my destination is HKG, I don't want to arrive at 6:00AM. What a great day that promises to be, even if not working, it means trudging around until i can check into a hotel at 2PM or so. And it's NOT more convenient when connecting with a Europe flight, as i usually use BA 026 (dep HKG 23:15) (better J beds than QF), with just few hrs in the Lounge to kill.

I have a booking that was:
BNE-HKG on May 6 QF97 11:10 - 18:10
HKG-LHR on May 6 BA026 23:15 - 05:05 (+1 days)
LHR-TLS on May 7 BA372 07:50 - 10:45

It NOW says:
BNE-HKG on May 6 QF97 23:05 - 06:05 (+1 days)
HKG-LHR on May 6 BA026 23:15 - 05:05 (+1 days)
LHR-TLS on May 7 BA372 07:50 - 10:45

Gets me to London an hour before I arrive in HK! Looks like I will have to call to sort this out, but i guess I might have to leave BNE the night before, and kill 17 hrs in HKG on the 6th - alternatively get to London a day late? Or, use the QF morning HKG-LHR flight on the 7th and spend an unwanted night in London? AND, to complicate things further, my wife is travelling with me on a J award ticket, so what's the bet this makes one or all of these alternatives impossible because award seats are unavailable on the alt flights?!

 

[kamchatsky]

I am probably one of the fewer people who prefers red-eye to HKG, even in Y. For a lot of casual flyers who go to HKG for holiday or visit families in HKG, they "save" a day to visit HKG and also save 1 night's accommodation. The flight is long enough for me to have some nap and then wake up arriving in HKG.

Since SYD has the dreaded curfew, I prefer to fly CX138 to HKG, even if arriving at HKG at 4 or 5 am (depending on daylight saving), once touch down I go to one of the airport cafes to have breakfast. Then I have the whole day to do in HKG. Sometimes my wife flew QF to HKG via MEL red-eye instead. Of course, coming back I also prefer red-eye where there are plenty of options (QF/CX/VS).

However, I understand if you are going to LHR, you prefer day flight to HKG then overnight to LHR. You really don't want to have 2 red eyes in a row. Last year, I did CX270 AMS-HKG, arriving at HKG at 7:10am, then CX101 HKG-SYD leaving at 23:55pm on the same day (all in Y). I arrived in SYD almost like a zombie. I have learnt my lesson to never fly 2 red-eyes in a row.

 

[markis10]

Since SYD has the dreaded curfew, I prefer to fly CX138 to HKG, even if arriving at HKG at 4 or 5 am (depending on daylight saving), once touch down I go to one of the airport cafes to have breakfast.

4 days a week you will have the option of QF87 at 10PM ex Sydney, another A330!