British Airways Rumoured to be Axing Historic London-Sydney 747 Route
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at 09:17 by Macattack.
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VintageKrugParticipantOperated under the terms of the Joint Service Agreement (JSA) with Qantas, British Airways’ dedication to an historic link to one of the farthest outposts of the Commonwealth is rumoured to be not long for this world.
Having pulled out of Brisbane and Perth many years ago, and ended direct services to Melbourne in 2004, after a previous hiatus in 1999, last year BA reduced SYD flights via SIN to 777 only, when previously both SIN and BKK flights where served using gas-guzzling but passenger friendly 747s.
At the summit of the International Air Transport Association Willie Walsh publicly stated that BA will mothball aircraft this winter, with oil at $130 a barrel that seems a prudent management decision. And this mothballing is believed to be focussed on older 747 and 767 longhaul aircraft.
But his musings point more to a reduction in frequency rather than an all out route elimination:
“We will be looking at some routes to see if we can take out some frequency,” he said. “We are in uncharted waters.
“I see no option but to take capacity out. It doesn’t make sense with oil at $130 a barrel to operate flights which have not made a contribution to our cash situation.”
With the oneworld agreement coming up for renegotiation in October this year, Qantas is becoming noticeably more distant from its oneworld partner at LHR.
The Australian carrier now uses its own handling agents and check in staff. Moving out of T4 to T3 without being invited to share T5, it seems that close relationship may be up for grabs as well. So this potential reduction may well be simply posturing in order to gain agreement to continue the lucrative oneworld/JSA agreement. But maybe not.
BA needs to save fuel, so it is the longer, less lucrative services which will be looked at first, and particularly those using the 747 fleet.
Removing the 747 BKK-SYD service has the advantage of not impacting the airline’s slot use at LHR which under the use it or lose it rules must be kept in action despite the fleet reduction.
Axing these services could allow the removal of 3 747s from the fleet, mothballed until the oil price stabilises; they may or may not be replaced by 777s.
However available 777 aircraft are scarce in the BA fleet, having lost a hull of one of their more modern -ER planes in the BA 38 incident and currently taking one aircraft out of service on rotation from October to fit http://www.newclubworld.com, and with only 15 777s in the fleet correctly kitted out with the required crew rest bunks for such long haul sectors, there may be difficultly finding replacement aircraft for this route, resulting in reduction of frequency or an outright cessation of service.
Not great if, like me, you have already booked your December Sydney flights with British Airways.
The SYD route makes a lot more sense using the more efficient A380 and 787 Dreamliner aircraft, but with these not entering the BA fleet until 2010 at the earliest, it may be a while before the economics of a BA link to Australia make sense once again.
Any confirmation the BT team can get on this story would be most welcome.
4 Jun 2008
at 16:37
BusinessTravellerKeymasterBusiness Traveller replies:
Nobody can predict for sure what will happen but consider that:
– The BA/Qantas Joint Services Agreement (JSA) runs until 2010. Penalty clauses may preclude any changes until then.
– The JSA means that BA and Qantas will operate their Australian flights at T3 when they move across from T5 sometime next year. The reason why Qantas will be in T3 is because that’s where the other Oneworld carriers will be based.
– It’s not just the fuel costs that are a problem with London-Sydney. BA’s costs are also inflated by the low revenue from premium fares (consider that London-Sydney is three times the distance of London-New York yet fares aren’t three times the price) and poor aircraft utilisation. The latter means that BA needs one plane to maintain a daily service to say Dubai or Bombay whereas the same frequency to Sydney would tie up three or four planes.
(Note: The BA/Qantas Joint Services Agreement (JSA) allows both airlines to coordinate schedules and pricing on services between Europe, Asia and Australia. The one exception being London-Hong Kong).
5 Jun 2008
at 14:43
BusinessTravellerKeymasterThe Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has “a draft determination” approving the extension of the JSA for a further five years. The full story can be read at:
http://www.businesstraveller.com/news/ba-qantas-joint-services-agreement-to-be-extended
5 Feb 2010
at 10:23
VintageKrugParticipantOver three years ago, I set out the bare bones of today’s “New Spirit” announcement as it impacts BA services to SYD.
Nothing if not prescient, though it’s good to see BA working much more closely than I anticipated with its country cousins, Qantas, even if this is done in spite of other opportunities rather than because of any desire to work with BA.
16 Aug 2011
at 15:36
theworldtravellerParticipantI wouldn’t be surprised in IAG bought Qantas once the regulatory hurdles have been sorted.
At least there is still an ‘upper deck’ to go on for the BA Sydney flight!
16 Aug 2011
at 15:51
HippocampusParticipantRegarding Qantas joining IAG, Willie Walsh did speak about this after the aborted merger talks between Qantas and British Airways. In comments that some might find surprising he felt it was unlikely that any merger talks would be renewed as he felt that British Airways and Qantas were pursuing diverging strategies. Whilst significant potential synergies between the two were identified, Willie felt that the move by Qantas to a twin brand strategy and growth in the LCC sector (affirmed today by the investment by Qantas in Jetstar and the cuts to Qantas International) and BA maintaining its premium positioning (I know some may question that) meant that future talks between IAG and Qantas are unlikely.
All that said, the potential involvement of IAG in the forthcoming Qantas Asia carrier (whether through codesharing or something more substantial) will be interesting to watch.
16 Aug 2011
at 16:56
VintageKrugParticipantI don’t think IAG would purchase QF, but a closer alignment with another carrier on the route is almost inevitable given the basket case QF has become….it looks like it is heading only in one direction, which is a great shame.
Interesting that according to the link above the JSA lasts until 2015. I assume corporate activity could be a break point….
30 Jul 2012
at 19:59
JohnPhelanAustraliaParticipantIAG (in its current form) could not buy QF. The Qantas Sale Act requires that the majority of shares in QF be owned by Australian-based entities.
31 Jul 2012
at 01:45
MontysDoubleParticipantI’m NOT claiming the same model could be used at all, but IAG was structurally built for getting around hurdles like that.
31 Jul 2012
at 02:12
first_class_pleaseParticipantI wonder if QF reasoning is from Malaysian joining Oneworld ?
They already serve
Australia – Adelaide Brisbane Melbourne Perth Sydney
New Zealand – AucklandCathay already a Onewrold member so maybe too many carriers serving the home market?
31 Jul 2012
at 04:23
VintageKrugParticipantIndeed it did:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/httpwwwflickrcomtiger94/5517911887/
Charles Sebastian Thomas Cabot (6 July 1918 – 22 August 1977) was an English film and television actor, best remembered as the gentleman’s gentleman, Giles French, opposite Brian Keith’s character, in the sitcom Family Affair (1966–1971). He was also known for playing Dr. Carl Hyatt in the series Checkmate (1960–1962) and for voicing Bagheera in The Jungle Book (1967) and his narration for the first four films in Disney’s Winnie the Pooh series.
31 Jul 2012
at 06:26
MacattackParticipantVK. wow now a film buff. I remember being on the last mel/lhr flight on ba in ’99. A most distraught Melbourne manager.I seem to remember that this flight was via Perth to Singers. anyway: BA/qan will finish their so called special relationship.Both airline groups are on their way out. The middle eastern airlines are creaming it, albeit with censored films. bty, anz will follow, although not the Kangaroo Route.
31 Jul 2012
at 22:59
VintageKrugParticipantI actually see a bright future for QF’s longhaul arm if more closely aligned with a Middle Eastern carrier; that was always what was missing, as well as getting rid of the outdated protectionist approach of the government and unions which have left QF flabby and not fit for the competitive landscape we see today.
I also think the BA transformation into IAG (IB, Open Skies, former bmi) will deliver very positive synergies and while it’s early days yet, there is also a bright future ahead; I’d specifically expect a middle east announcement shortly, which might not lead to an end of a JSA between BA and…..
1 Aug 2012
at 11:24 -
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