Virgin Australia & Newcastle Airport

[kpc]

Does NTL have C + I?

 

[DavidFlynn]

Confirmed: NTL-AKL, thrice weekly as a seasonal Boeing 737 service from 22 November 2018 to 17 February 2019.

Virgin Australia to launch Newcastle-Auckland flights

 

[AIRwin]

I had heard that international flights out of NTL were on the cards. No idea if that's what this announcement is about, but if so, my guess would be NTL-AKL.

Can I borrow your crystal ball?

 

[Saab34]

Where is the MOST LAZY AND UNHELPFUL POST OF THE MONTH rating button when you need it?

I’d say it more pointing everyone in the right direction. I’d hate to reveal details ahead of embargo, they have the right to come after myself (has been done on forums before)

 

[pauly7]

Well at least they are trying new things!

 

[Princess Fiona]

Nope, I’ll still drive down the M1 and depart from the Flounge at SYD thanks

 

[Cool Cat Phil]

Give credit where it’s due, Flights times are pretty good EX NTL to maximise time in NZ for a long weekend without taking additional time off work.
I wonder if “seasonal” will become “permanent” though?

 

[nonscenic]

I wonder whether these evening flights to NZ from eastern Australia that arrive in NZ in the small hours of the morning aren't done because its cheaper ground fees to park an aircraft in NZ than in Australia, or at least keep them in the air earning revenue rather than have them parked up for the night. This was the same economic timetabling as the red eye specials from PER and DWN.
Good that people on the NSW Central coast and Port Stephens region have access to NZ without having to negotiate the M1 and SYD "Seamless transfers. If VA and Air New Zealand hadn't split up, a morning flight from NTL would have connected better with Air New Zealand flights to the US and the South Pacific but I guess that's not as important now for VA

 

[Dr Ralph]

Flights to NZ are a good start. But this needs to expand significantly to be successful.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Ugh, on a 737 no less.
Ugh.
Maybe if a 330 flew the route NTL - AKL, I would fly ADL - NTL and do an overnighter, and then over to AKL, but not on a measerly 737, ta.
Still going with (Air)NZ direct from ADL, even if no lounge access after Oct.
Bad enough seeing SYD's international xray departure process, even with expresspath, nak.
VA can keep that.

 

[DavidFlynn]

Ugh, on a 737 no less.
Ugh.
Maybe if a 330 flew the route NTL - AKL, I would fly ADL - NTL and do an overnighter, and then over to AKL, but not on a measerly 737, ta.
Still going with (Air)NZ direct from ADL, even if no lounge access after Oct.
Bad enough seeing SYD's international xray departure process, even with expresspath, nak.
VA can keep that.

Yeah, I'm gonna take a stab in the dark and suggest that ADL-based flyers are not Virgin's target audience for the NTL-AKL service...

 

[justinbrett]

This route would make a lot more sense operated by Air NZ (or Virgin pre-breakup)

I think there would be a big market for one-stop services to the US via AKL. Flying to LAX, SFO, HNL, IAH, ORD plus YVR with an “on the way” stop in Auckland, that’s actually appealing.

I’m not sure of the stats but I’m sure I’ve read that unless routes are offered daily they’re destined to fail. Just like the NTL-ADL route will.

 

[Mattg]

I’m not sure of the stats but I’m sure I’ve read that unless routes are offered daily they’re destined to fail. Just like the NTL-ADL route will.

I think this is very route-dependant and would depend on lots of factors (including competition, demand etc.). Qantas' SYD-SCL flight is 4x weekly, for example, and is almost always full.

I think 3x weekly is about right for this route. There wouldn't be enough demand to fill a daily 737, and anyone that needs to fly during one of the other 4 days in the week can fly via BNE or MEL.

I agree that this route would be more successful with onward connections from AKL available, although the timing is not suited to this anyway.

 

[justinbrett]

I think this is very route-dependant and would depend on lots of factors (including competition, demand etc.). Qantas' SYD-SCL flight is 4x weekly, for example, and is almost always full.

I think 3x weekly is about right for this route. There wouldn't be enough demand to fill a daily 737, and anyone that needs to fly during one of the other 4 days in the week can fly via BNE or MEL.

I agree that this route would be more successful with onward connections from AKL available, although the timing is not suited to this anyway.

Qantas codeshares on LATAM which is also a ow airline so it’s not a fair comparison - there’s options for business travellers to change date/return early using the other airline.

As for flying via BNE/MEL - they probably won’t. Most Novacastrians would elect to fly out of Sydney in this instance. It would be just as quick and definitely cheaper.

Also I thought it would be obvious when I suggested Air NZ operated this route, that they would time for connections to the US. Leave AKL at around 0900 arrive NTL around 1030, leave again 1230 arrive 1730. Perfect times for US connections.

 

[DavidFlynn]

I think this is very route-dependant and would depend on lots of factors (including competition, demand etc.). Qantas' SYD-SCL flight is 4x weekly, for example, and is almost always full.
I think 3x weekly is about right for this route. There wouldn't be enough demand to fill a daily 737, and anyone that needs to fly during one of the other 4 days in the week can fly via BNE or MEL.

Yep. Starting 3x/week or 4x/week is not uncommon for new routes where there is less empirical data on loads (compared to where an airline might be able to parse records of passengers connecting from X to fly to Y, for example). It's also a matter of travel patterns and how long people will likely spend on the ground. It's trickier for a business travel audience, eg when QF SYD-SFO was only a 3-4 days a week, because corporate travellers prefer a daily frequency – as much as I loved trips to San Francisco when I was a tech journo doing regular US trips, it was always a bugger trying to rejig my schedule around that of Qantas. But NTL-AKL is seasonal, it's for the leisure market, and doing 3x/week with high loads (fingers crossed!) is smarter business and far less risky than running a daily service with much lighter loads.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Does NTL have C + I?

They would have to upgrade the airport, will cost a lot of money to put in the infrastructure, ie, the internationl checkin systems, signage, international xray and full body scanning, customs and immigration staffing both outgoing and incoming, $$$$$.
If this falls down in a heap later, someone would have made a good financial "killing" so to speak.
All the best of luck for VA.

 

[justinbrett]

They would have to upgrade the airport, will cost a lot of money to put in the infrastructure, ie, the internationl checkin systems, signage, international xray and full body scanning, customs and immigration staffing both outgoing and incoming, $$$$$.
If this falls down in a heap later, someone would have made a good financial "killing" so to speak.
All the best of luck for VA.

The airport was upgraded for this a few years ago - fitted “for not with”, so they have the setup but just not the equipment.

As for border force staffing, this would be on demand - as what already happens for international RAAF flights from the same airfield. For three flights a week they’ll just come up from Sydney.

So In actual fact this won’t cost much at all.

 

[AIRwin]

Inaugural flights next week are only half full:
New Zealand flights not yet full but airline happy with response

 

[henrus]

Inaugural flights next week are only half full:

A route like AKL-NTL does not justify a 737.

Something like an E190, A220 or even the smaller 737-700 would be better for the route and make it more sustainable. The Smaller aircraft are easily able to cross the Tasman but could open up more ports like Hobart, Newcastle, the Sunshine Coast or even Townsville to New Zealand.

 

[Major]

Air New Zealand has operated a MCY-AKL service for several years but it is seasonal, from July to the end October.

It is usually operated by an A320