Will Qantas Ever Fly To China Again?

[firewater]

In July, Qantas cancelled their services to China due to low demand. Do you think there's a chance they might resume flights to China in the near future?

 

[defurax]

I don't have an answer, but I imagine the removal by China of visa requirement for short visits for citizens of many countries including Australia may have an impact on demand. Time will tell...

 

[moa999]

Cough Hong Kong.

But I doubt it to mainland China - yields pretty low thanks to cheap competition from Chinese carriers with low costs bases, and the China market seems to prefer any of the I think eight or nine domestic carriers on the Aus routes.
Arguably similar situation with Malaysia just with less airlines.

Singapore, Korea, Taiwan on the other hand have more equivalent cost bases.

Probably even less likely if say China Southern joined oneworld (but that's complicated with the whole Air China/ Cathay cross-ownership and veto powers)

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Cough Hong Kong.

But I doubt it to mainland China - yields pretty low thanks to cheap competition from Chinese carriers with low costs bases, and the China market seems to prefer any of the I think eight or nine domestic carriers on the Aus routes.
Arguably similar situation with Malaysia just with less airlines.

Singapore, Korea, Taiwan on the other hand have more equivalent cost bases.

Probably even less likely if say China Southern joined oneworld.

Yeah. The chinese carriers are offering $450 return from AU to mainland china… often on non-stops direct to the city people might want to go to - rather than have to connect.

It doesn’t seem to make financial sense to try and compete with fares at that level.

 

[drron]

And where would the planes come from. A wet lease with one of the Chinese airlines?
I don’t see this happening.

 

[downtheback]

And where would the planes come from. A wet lease with one of the Chinese airlines?
I don’t see this happening.

Why not? If Virgin/Qatar can do it.......

 

[drron]

Because their FAs are already up in arms about being lied to about their Finnair wet lease.

 

[elanshin]

In July, Qantas cancelled their services to China due to low demand. Do you think there's a chance they might resume flights to China in the near future?

Near future? No.
This isn't just a Qantas thing. All western carriers have reduced or stopped their Chinese services.

Eventually? Yes.

There's quite a few reasons. 1) Western demand to and from China is probably at an all time low in the last 20 years. (Mainly corporate and business).
2) competiting against the Chinese airlines is a race to the bottom, where they have a lower bottom. And for Chinese consumers, the Chinese Airlines offer better familiarity and services.

3) none of the western airlines have built out dedicated apps in wechat/alipay which is where everything happens now.

 

[brokenagain]

Yeah. The chinese carriers are offering $450 return from AU to mainland china… often on non-stops direct to the city people might want to go to - rather than have to connect.

Not to mention with newer aircraft and arguably better on board service than QF. It’s disgusting to see how far QF has been driven into the ground by greedy management decisions over the years.

 

[tomlee1986]

I don't see the demand from China to Australia or Australia to China to sustain services

 

[markis10]

I don't see the demand from China to Australia or Australia to China to sustain services

Demand for QF or in general, China is our number 4 country by traffic surpassing USA and the UAE



China Eastern had 82% loads in September, China Southern 93% and all the other Chinese carriers were above 80%

 

[elanshin]

I don't see the demand from China to Australia or Australia to China to sustain services

Please don't let your bias cloud things.

The demand is there.
The WESTERN demand is not there.

There is a huge mainland Chinese descent population in Australia that are permanent (PR or citizen) who goes and visits family and friends and vice versa.
That demand will increase even more with the visa free situation.

Like take SYD-PVG after QF drops it. MU goes and adds another service. There's going to be another airline doing the direct route too. (Also MU for SYD-PVG direct was not cheaper than QF by any means before).

 

[SYD]

QF had fantastic J Sale fare that we booked SYD-PEK (ret) for about $2k for travel over Easter 2020. But then they canned that route and rebooked QF/CX - oh, well more SCs we thought…

Then the world went pear shape and visiting China was the first of many cancellations…

Just rebooked during a CX J sale for next year.

But as above, if QF see sales (codeshares) to mainland China going up, they’ll return when they have the aircraft.

 

[firewater]

For anyone who've flown both how do Chinese Airlines compare with Qantas overall? Is communication done in English and do they cater for an Australian crowd?

 

[elanshin]

For anyone who've flown both how do Chinese Airlines compare with Qantas overall? Is communication done in English and do they cater for an Australian crowd?

I assume firstly when you say Chinese airlines, you don't include Cathay, China Airlines, EVA or Starlux (HK, TW based).

Of the mainland based airlines, they'll have competent English speakers on board of varying fluency from passable to fluent.

Hard product, comparable to QF in all aspects and has usually a PE class too. IFE is usually a miss so I'd BYO.

Food can be hit or miss. Its solidly in the average to just below average range. Service generally is also fine but it differs from airline to airline.

In terms of catering to Aussies, no nothing specific or specially for Aussies (but then is even Qantas catering to Aussies).

If you need to go somewhere in China and time is of the essence, pick the most direct route and carrier. If you can justify layovers and want the best deal, pick the cheapest (they're all not that far apart overall). If you want more western catering, go cathay or Singapore Airlines.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Agree with elanshin. Some video blogs show amazing service on some mainland carrier business class, some showing dire food and entertainment in the main cabins and premium economy.

It can be really hit and miss and you need to do your research… or just go with low expectations and possibly be surprised!

But full service - bags and food - for $450 return… not much scope to be disappointed?

 

[markis10]

IFE is a low light but not a deal breaker for me, did 6 trips this year. 2 x23kg bags, very good food, flights were punctual and service adequate. You won’t get drinks beyond a beer with a meal, customers tend to ignore the seat belt sign even when about to land and it’s a bit weird when you get the security dude (ie the 2nd officer with a body cam) filming the cabin inflight.
What you do get is multiple departures so a day flights are possible ex Syd to CAN and back, and very low prices.

 

[Lynda2475]

I don't see it happening anytime soon given QF are short of international aircraft, and have moved the limited fleet to more profitable routes.

I see them returning to South Korea or adding another European or US city before China when the fleet grows.

 

[jakeseven7]

Yes if they can pay their staff Chinese wages, get Chinese rates to service their aircraft and Chinese prices on all their inputs so they can compete from a price perspective.

Clearly that won’t happen.

Plus Western corporates have abandoned mainland China and QF pulls a lot of money from corporates….

Jetstar maybe?

 

[DC3]

In July, Qantas cancelled their services to China due to low demand. Do you think there's a chance they might resume flights to China in the near future?

No-one here would have any real insight into when QF may resume those flights. You will most likely just get conjecture.