Wider horizons
Published: 21/05/2008 - Filed under: Ask Alex »
Dear Alex,
I am planning a trip to Australia for later this year and would like to know when Qantas will start to operate its Airbus A380s on flights from London Heathrow. Will the superjumbos be flying to Sydney via Bangkok or via Singapore? How do you think Qantas’s business class product on the A380 will compare with SIA’s?
Kristian Munthe, Oslo, Norway
Alex replies: Qantas’s first A380 has being built and is poised to undergo acceptance trials with Airbus in Toulouse. Assuming all goes according to plan it will be delivered to Qantas in August and is expected to enter commercial service on the transpacific Melbourne to Los Angeles route in October.
Later, Qantas will be using its A380 on its flagship Sydney-London kangaroo route services. Logically, the A380 should go via Bangkok (the routing currently taken by prestigious flights QF1 and QF2) but Qantas might opt for the Singapore routing because Changi airport, unlike Bangkok, is already experienced in handling the A380.
Both Qantas and its rival SIA will be offering some of the best business class products on their A380s. Qantas is fitting 72 fully-flat business class seats (an improvement compared with the angled
lie-flat seats fitted to its B747-400s), while SIA has installed 60.
Both these carriers set high standards and I feel that when it comes to “the best”, much will depend on your own likes and dislikes. Some will prefer Qantas’s Australian style of service over the Asian flavour of SIA. It’s the same with the seating. Qantas’s seats major on length, whereas those of SIA offer more width, but at the expense of legroom. For more information and a full review of SIA’s business class product on the A380 go to businesstraveller.com/tried-and-tested.
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COMMENTS »
LingMeiWoo - 03/06/2008 00:15
That's very diplomatic with you Alex.
My view is that it's Singapore Airlines all the way. OK, you can aruge service culture differences but genearlly SIA offers a much higher standard of service across the board than Qantas.
Furthermore, the seat and bed is currently the best in the sky and is a truly innovative product with a fantastic A380 cabin and individual seat ambience. Legroom is not really an issue when you can lounge quite comfortably in a variety of positions, and that is not to say that the legroom is poor on the SIA A380 Business Class because it really isn't.
And it's not forseeable at the moment when Qantas will bring the A380s to the UK anyway, despite their misleading TV adverts depicting a fully flat SkyBed
BusinessTraveller - 03/06/2008 15:02
Alex replies:
Thanks for the comments. One point I forgot to mention was the matter of pricing. Will Qantas maintain its same prices in first and business class for the A380 on the kangaroo route (as it does now for its B747 flights) or will it follow SIA’s lead in adding a premium class surcharge?
One complication may be the fact that Qantas flies between the UK and Australia under a Joint Services marketing agreement with BA. So will Qantas be obliged to charge the same as BA even though the latter will not take delivery of its A380s for a few more years?
FrequentTraveller - 06/06/2008 22:19
I agree with the comments from LingMeiWoo. Singapore Airline's A380 business class seating is fantastic and service from the cabin crew is outstanding. To say the Singapore Airlines seat has less leg room, is true when just looking at the raw statistics. But that ignores the innovative shape to the seat, especially when converted into a bed. Providing much more lying down space than the Qantas seat. The length of the bed needs to quoted in diagonal lying down position, as that represents the true distance available.
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Communication breakdown 18/11/2008
Dear Alex, My experience of flying from London to Johannesburg last Christmas will be of considerable interest to readers everywhere. I booked a first class electronic Star Alliance RTW (round-the-world) ticket with the journey starting in Zurich on December 23. On the same day, I had booked a connecting flight to Zurich from London with British Airways. But when that day dawned, the south of England was covered in fog. Most short-haul flights (like my connecting service to Zurich from London City) were cancelled, although some long-haul services were due to operate, including SAA (South African Airways), which flies non-stop from Heathrow to Johannesburg. Due to the general chaos that day, I couldn’t contact Swiss by phone (even though I tried over a period of at least six hours) to advise them of my predicament. However, I managed to reach SAA which, like Swiss, is a member of Star Alliance. SAA (which is based at Terminal 1) offered me a business class seat provided I could get my ticket electronically endorsed over to them by Swiss at Terminal 2. In the event, that was impossible. Due to the chaos that day, T2 was barred by security men and closed to everyone unless they could prove they had a flight which was being called from that terminal. No amount of pleading would persuade them to let me in. Subsequently, over at T1, SAA telephoned all known numbers for Swiss but their calls went unanswered. As it was a Sunday, I couldn’t contact my travel agent. I therefore had to pay SAA £3,607 for a one-way business class ticket to Johannesburg. Swiss does not deny it cut off communications on December 23 but claims that a) it was doing its best to deal with passengers in person and b) in any event this was caused by “force majeure”. So far, Swiss has not settled my claim for the cost of the new ticket I had to buy. Can you get any sense out of them? Robert Crichton, London — full story »
Hong Kong-Bangkok 18/11/2008
Dear Alex, I regularly fly between Hong Kong and Bangkok with Thai Airways. Recently, I tried Emirates but found this carrier wasn’t in the same league. The service was much slower. I had to wait 95 minutes before being offered food or a soft drink. I had to ask specifically for an alcoholic drink because the flight attendant told me: “It’s not company policy to offer drinks on this route.” Is this the best one of the world’s top airlines can offer? Neil Appleby, Hong Kong — full story »
Check and check again 26/09/2008
Dear Alex, Last spring I booked online with LOT Polish Airlines to fly from Wroclaw to Milan via Warsaw. I verified the dates and flight itinerary on my PC, paid for the ticket and printed out the confirmation. However, I admit I then neglected to read the printed confirmation. When I checked in for my return flight at Milan Malpensa, the agent told me that my return date was a month later than I had booked. LOT wouldn’t change the ticket so I had to buy another one to get home. While this was taking place, another LOT passenger was having a similar problem with his online booking. I have asked LOT for a full refund because of a fault in its booking system, but the airline will only offer a partial refund and this does not cover the cost of the new ticket I had to buy. Your comments please. Andrzej Wojtas, Wroclaw, Poland — full story »
