Tokyo Haneda slot - how will Virgin Operate it?

[MEL_Traveller]

I wonder if they had not been selling the J seats on the inaugural flight until now, in order to reserve them for media, but have decided to now pull media activity around the launch so have just released those J seats for sale.

ah, yes. that seems logical! are the loadings in subsequent flights looking better?,

 

[justinbrett]

ah, yes. that seems logical! are the loadings in subsequent flights looking better?,

It's all over the place. The following Wednesday (launch date is a Wednesday) is J8. But other days are sold out, and others a mix in between.

Considering you've only got 8 to sell I would have thought they'd all be sold at this point, or at least all J1s / J2s.

You would expect weekend travel to sell better, which it seems to be in this case.

 

[henrus]

There are even business class award seats on the first flight. If I didn’t have prior commitments I’d be taking this for sure!

 

[Bagpuss]

Interesting, the two -700’s which will do the flight:

VH-VBY - In Abu Dhabi for maintenance since 15th April
VH-VBZ - Off to Singapore tomorrow (maybe then onto Abu Dhabi?) So guessing maintenance

Chances are VH-VBY will come out of maintenance as VH-VBZ goes in.

It all seems “tight” in case one of two go tech.

 

[henrus]

Chances are VH-VBY will come out of maintenance as VH-VBZ goes in.

I really hope they fit them with USB at the very least! 7hrs 45mins is a very long flight. In the marketing material VA promised USB, power in biz and wifi onboard of which the 737-700s have none.

 

[stm1sydney]

The only loser there is the consumer.

Hopefully, in the longer term, the consumer is the winner by VA denying QF those slots.

 

[Quickstatus]

VA denying QF those slots.

Except they are only a winner if VAcputs some real capacity into the slots

 

[BRIS_VA_HAWK]

Except they are only a winner if VAcputs some real capacity into the slots

Is a 737-700 not "real capacity"??

 

[Quickstatus]

Is a 737-700 not "real capacity"

Depends on point of view.
The QF A330 potentially has 100 more seats than the VA737M8 and 125-140 more than 737-700. Possibly more with load restrictions on the 737-700.

Also it might be that the CNS route can only support a 737M8 from management's POV

Real capacity = excess capacity reducing fares. Currently VA and QF are trying to maximise fares and not trying to increase market share. Just a cosy duopoly which does not necessarily benefit the customer

 

[BRIS_VA_HAWK]

Depends on point of view.
The QF A330 potentially has 100 more seats than the VA737M8 and 125-140 more than 737-700. Possibly more with load restrictions on the 737-700.

Also it might be that the CNS route can only support a 737M8 from management's POV

Real capacity = excess capacity reducing fares. Currently VA and QF are trying to maximise fares and not trying to increase market share. Just a cosy duopoly which does not necessarily benefit the customer

Juxtapose that with the situation of VA giving up the slot and leaving it to QF/JQ to take over. You'd go from a "cosy duopoly" to a monopoly. The customer is getting another option and the competition between VA & QF/JQ is better than the alternative IMHO.

 

[Bagpuss]

Just a cosy duopoly which does not necessarily benefit the customer

If airline operators mainly VA and QF are awake at the wheel, they will notice a lot of the duopoly stems from Sydney Airport. Once the new Sydney airport comes on line and when Newcastle kicks into a year, they will have to focus more on primary and secondary airports. At such point the duopoly will start to subside which will have a domestic and international impact. (They aren't going to run 15 / 30 minutes services from both Sydney airports to Melbourne. Though time will tell, the Avalon experiment hasn't been all cookies and cream.)

The best way VA to handle this this is cash injection and prepare it's fleet and product(s) accordingly to support when these changes happens. (Look I said that without mentioning an IPO )

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Mid range airline who wants to be big, but owners wont spend money on any larger aircrafts.
And with JH taking time off, things would probably be on a hiatus for while, ie, financially speaking, (big ticket spends)
Even when GWSA starts up, if VA does not get any A350s/B787s, they route is pretty limited, and have to rely on int partners.

 

[Bagpuss]

Mid range airline who wants to be big, but owners wont spend money on any larger aircrafts.

Rumor of the streets for many years contradicts that. They've done the leg work on larger aircraft and it's "paused" until the demand / requirements are there. (Hence commentary around returning A330's and B777's for a minimum 5 B787's)
Hence (in my opinion) they will use existing fleet to service markets, and one proven bring in the longer term fleet.

VA's future fleet is most likely:

737-MAX8 (on order)
737-MAX10 (on order)
787-X (paused)

737-700 (VARA happening ATM)
A32X (VARA already done)

 

[BNEFlyer]

Rumor of the streets for many years contradicts that. They've done the leg work on larger aircraft and it's "paused" until the demand / requirements are there. (Hence commentary around returning A330's and B777's for a minimum 5 B787's)
Hence (in my opinion) they will use existing fleet to service markets, and one proven bring in the longer term fleet.

VA's future fleet is most likely:

737-MAX8 (on order)
737-MAX10 (on order)
787-X (paused)

737-700 (VARA happening ATM)
A32X (VARA already done)

One point to note, the 737-700's aren't operated by VARA, they're Virgin Australia.

 

[simmomelb]

If airline operators mainly VA and QF are awake at the wheel, they will notice a lot of the duopoly stems from Sydney Airport. Once the new Sydney airport comes on line and when Newcastle kicks into a year, they will have to focus more on primary and secondary airports.

Although some said that about Avalon for Melbourne, look how that turned out
I would probably not fly to/from the new Sydney airport, purely based on its location alone, but of course, it'll be handy for people that reside out that way or those that are happy with a long commute into the CBD.
In saying this, another airport is an important move, it'll be interesting to see what airlines fly there.
And yes, it's good that QF/JQ has some local competition to Japan, even if it's not the ideal route (for now).

 

[Bagpuss]

One point to note, the 737-700's aren't operated by VARA, they're Virgin Australia.

The -700 Y class only are VARA as they're replacements for the F100.

 

[Quickstatus]

What ETOPS is the VA 737-700 allowed?

 

[SYD]

Spotted at SYD T1 while arriving this morning on QF12. Was this just delivered or have VA been doing certification flights and the like?

 

[AIRwin]

Spotted at SYD T1 while arriving this morning on QF12. Was this just delivered or have VA been doing certification flights and the like?
View attachment 328361

It may have been this?

Virgin 737 split scimitar winglets

Reports over on airliners.net that Virgin is going to get the split scimitar winglets on 20-25% of its 737 fleet (so 16-20 aircraft). First aircraft VH-YIV currently in CHC getting the refit, and believed the other YI* aircraft will also get it (these are mostly 2011-13 deliveries and equipped...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[SYD]

It may have been this?

Virgin 737 split scimitar winglets

Reports over on airliners.net that Virgin is going to get the split scimitar winglets on 20-25% of its 737 fleet (so 16-20 aircraft). First aircraft VH-YIV currently in CHC getting the refit, and believed the other YI* aircraft will also get it (these are mostly 2011-13 deliveries and equipped...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

Ah, that would make sense given I only just read the articles about the MAX delays.

I was aware of various winglet varieties but hadn’t realised that VA had gone down that modification route!

Having just flown a few MAXs in the US and seen many at various airports, it looked familiar.