Features

Route of the month

25 Feb 2010 by Alex McWhirter

Alex McWhirter looks at how new services can benefit business travellers

London-Melbourne

This month the spotlight shines on Melbourne. The capital of Victoria has seen a boost to its European air services over the past six months, with more capacity, new products and new routes.

First up was Singapore Airlines (SIA), which upgraded one of its three daily flights out of Singapore to an A380 aircraft in September. Three months later, Qatar Airways launched a daily non-stop service from Doha using a new long-range B777-200.

January saw Qantas upgrade two of its 14 weekly flights from London Heathrow from a B747 to an A380, while February saw Emirates re-route one of its three daily flights from Dubai via Kuala Lumpur. Emirates has traffic rights between the Malaysian capital and Melbourne so it has become another stopover option on the Kangaroo Route. This flight is being operated by an A340-500 with a relatively spacious eight-across (2-4-2) layout, compared with Emirates’ B777s, where the economy seating is a denser ten-across configuration.

Of these four carriers, only Qantas links London to Melbourne with the same plane service. The others offer connections to various mainland European cities via their respective hubs. Qantas is also the only one to offer a premium economy cabin.

Qatar Airways takes off

This is the most significant new service. Qatar is flying non-stop from Doha with B777s configured for business and economy. There are 42 fully-flat seats in business class disposed six-across (2-2-2), and 217 seats in economy with a nine-across (3-3-3) layout. It would be better still if Qatar was to offer first class on this 13-hour, 40-minute sector, but the decision was to install two classes in these aircraft. Note that unlike its rival, Emirates, Qatar operates its B777s in a more spacious economy class layout.

Overall flight times are among the best, although cautious travellers may feel the connecting time in Doha on the way out, while achievable, is rather tight should flights be delayed for any reason. Note that Qatar’s flights between Heathrow and Doha are operated by A340-600s with first class.

Qatar’s flight QR12 departs Heathrow at 1505 and arrives into Doha at 2359. It connects with flight QR030 at 0050, reaching Melbourne at 2155. Heading back from Melbourne you take QR031 at 2325, which lands in Doha the following morning at 0615. Passengers transfer to flight QR11 at 0750 and land back in Heathrow at 1315. There is a premium terminal at Doha but transfer passengers will have little, if any, time to use it.

SIA changes A380 roster

Up until March 28, SIA passengers bound for Europe can fly the A380 when booking flight SQ228 at 1700, which reaches Singapore at 2135 in time for connections to the UK and mainland Europe. It means that passengers heading to Heathrow (with flight SQ322 at 2345) or Paris Charles de Gaulle (with SQ334 at 2355) can fly the A380 all the way.

But that happy situation is about to end. Starting March 29, SIA will reschedule the A380 for its morning flight SQ238, which departs Melbourne at 1110 and reaches Singapore at 1610. So Europe-bound passengers will need to make a Singapore stopover or hang around the airport for ages if they wish to continue with the A380.

In its place, SIA is rostering a B777-300, which the airline insists will have the latest medium-haul seating (see feature, page 42).

Note that the Singapore-Melbourne A380 service continues as before. Flight SQ227 (out of Singapore at 2100 and into Melbourne at 0620) still links with the previous night’s departures from Europe.

What you pay

Flight prices Down Under fluctuate according to when you book and travel. Here are examples of lead-in return fares from London for a week’s stay during mid-March (sourced from netflights.com):

  • Qantas – first £4,259, business £2,869, premium economy £1,672, economy £1,133.

  • SIA – first £6,278, business £3,673, economy £843. Note that passengers booking A380 flights will pay between 10 and 20 per cent more for a Suite (SIA’s first class branding for the A380 and business class seats).

  • Emirates – first £5,175, business £3,225, economy £872.

  • Qatar Airways – business £2,883, economy £853.

Check for seat sales and other promotions at the time of booking.

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