LHR to PER direct

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Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 67 total)

  • HedgeFundFlyer
    Participant

    The Daily Telegraph is reporting that Joyce has been hinting heavily that this will be a new 787-9 route.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/oceania/australia/articles/direct-flights-from-uk-to-australia-qantas-perth-london/

    Three questions:

    -Would you fly it?

    -Can they make money on it?

    -Should the ME3 feel threatened by it?

    For me: yes I would but only in business. I couldn’t face that long in economy or premium economy although I am 6’3. I love Perth and WA and would welcome the chance to visit for a few nights or longer on the way to Sydney.

    I have no idea if the airline economics work but it must be a great opportunity for Perth and WA to become a gateway to Australia.


    AMcWhirter
    Participant

    Qantas has been talking about flying this route non-stop for some time. In fact we reported on this one year ago.

    Would I fly it ?
    No.

    Can Qantas make money on the route ?
    That’s an impossible question to answer as it depends on fuel prices, currency values and so on. Ultra long-haul flights are fuel-inefficient (as Thai and SIA found to their cost with their A340-500 operations some years ago) but making money may not be a priority for Qantas on this particular route. Qantas may wish to gain the prestige of operating one of the world’s longest non-stop flights.

    Should the Gulf airlines feel threatened by it ?
    No.

    Australia is considered a low-yield destination with many/most passengers travelling for leisure/VFR. Would the latter be prepared to pay more for a non-stop flight ?

    Most travellers would, I believe, be quite happy to fly indirectly if the fare were lower.

    Just as with Hong Kong-Europe there are many indirect options for Perth-Europe.

    Qantas to fly B787-9 from Perth to London?


    TheLion
    Participant

    I think they will make money on it. First consider Perth’s large based resource sector, wealthy population, diaspora and overall business ties. I’ve also found out that it’s not as far as we all think.

    I did a little research and discovered that QR’s upcoming DOH-AKL service (launching 5 Feb 2017) would surpass LON-PER as the longest flight by distance, clocking in at 9032 miles, 23 miles longer than Qantas’s proposed UK-AU non stop.

    Further, the DOH-AKL flight’s block time is actually just 16h10 westbound (17h30 eastbound), so given that both flights would take a similar route direction, the LON-PER flight might actually be less than 18 hours.


    JohnHarper
    Participant

    I travel often to Aus but never to Perth. I can’t see the attraction of traveling on an ultra long sector to then change to a domestic, often red-eye sector to get to the east coast when I can fly via SIN or AUH and enjoy better service on EY or SQ. The 787 is also a plane I now seek to avoid, it’s inferior to the A350 and I detest the feature that allows the crew to control the window dimming, one of the worst things ever invented (first world problem).


    Cloud-9
    Participant

    You also get fewer TPs/SCs going direct 😉 !


    GivingupBA
    Participant

    Would I fly it? Absolutely no, if I ever had a choice, and I’m lucky enough to have a choice. Of course LHR-PER in Y or Y+ would be intolerable, to me, but even in J, no. I am able to always break journeys up and I always do, whether business or pleasure, to reduce stress and also to enjoy life a bit more: e.g. if flying SIN-AMS-LHR, I’ll always stop for an enjoyable break in AMS, relax, see the sights. Or for LON-SYD, I’ll break it in HKG or SIN for a short time. Personally I want to enjoy life a bit as well as do business: I know everyone does, but that’s one way I do it.


    drflight
    Participant

    I would only fly direct on this route if travelling in business class or first.

    I have consistently found the easiest way to travel to/from Perth is via Singapore and breaking the journey at Changi Airport, probably the most enjoyable to use airport in the world.

    One of the great advantages are the airside transit hotels at the terminals. I book the flights to give a decent length of time and book an airside transit hotel. I can then either spend time relaxing at Changi or even nip into Singapore for a quick drink at Raffles! Then back to Changi, crash out in one of the transit hotel and take the first morning flight to Perth arriving with no jet lag whatsoever.

    In reverse, flight to Singapore late afternoon/evening. Get a decent night’s sleep in transit hotel, fly morning flight to Heathrow which chases the sun and you arrive feeling pretty good, despite the long flight.

    Whether a direct route would make money is an interesting question. I doubt there are sufficient business/first passengers and most of my flights in the past have had lots of visiting friends and relatives traffic with many elderly passengers who, I suspect, would be put off such a long flight.

    On the other hand, if the price was right – well, aviation history shows people will put up with anything!

    Perth, and Western Australia as a whole, is an amazing part of the world and well worth exploring. There are stunning beaches and Perth is a lot more laid back and enjoyab;le than some other Australian cities in my humble opinion.


    rferguson
    Participant

    I find this route an interesting one. The 787-9 is designed for ‘long, thin’ routes and I guess LHR-PER would fit the bill in that sense. I believe QF are in discussion with the Perth Government and Airport to enable it to operate the hypothetical LHR service from it’s domestic terminal which is apparently a deal breaker in the route being launched. The international terminal (as in many Australian airports) is a distance from the (airline owned) domestic terminal and as the users of the airports is much smaller than other multiple-terminal airports transport between them is infrequent and often expensive (anyone that has had to get to the domestic airport from the international airport in SYD and not on a QF—->QF connection will know what I mean). I imagine the WA government is VERY keen to have a non stop route to europe so will likely agree to whatever QF desires in that sense.

    Would I fly it? As others have said, in Business, yes. What I find really disappointing is it’s Economy product. It simply has to be the most OVER-hyped media announcement ever. The Qantas CEO was making comments in the lead up to the media announcement that Qantas would be offering something extremely industry leading and comfortable in it’s economy cabin. Some had predicted the yet to be tried staggered Y class seating. And Alan Joyce himself said the 787 would have ‘some very good seat pitch for economy seats given the lengths we’ll be flying’. Though it was never assumed that they’d be the only other airline to JAL that would go eight abreast instead of nine for me ‘very good seat pitch’ would be in the region of 34″. What has been revealed is a seat pitch of 32″ and a seat width of 17.44″ – in other words identical to the BA 787-9’s. And 32″ is standard across QF’s competition on the Oz routes such as SQ and MH. Korean has up to 33″. JAL 34″ on their 787’s.

    Will be interesting to see their still to be revealed Premium Economy product.


    Flightlevel
    Participant

    Not practical except Business or First unless they make Economy all plus with good seats to sleep in and you will probably need a hotel sleep before onward travel in all classes.Perth is only a small town with industry nearby though pretty for tourists. It may work in 789 since QF never bought the 772(LR) that can also do the route.


    TheLion
    Participant

    [quote quote=771622]What I find really disappointing is its Economy product. [/quote]


    @rferguson

    +1. Totally agree. 32 inch pitch isn’t much with which to persuade people to fly 16-18 hours. The ability to have a more flexible cabin and increase pitch might help Qantas here as they could kit out a changeable number of frames with better pitch in Y according to their needs.


    icenspice
    Participant

    I would rather do a bungee jump. And don’t get me started on that colour scheme!


    icenspice
    Participant

    Edited to add:

    At which point does a longhaul flight become an ultra longhaul flight? After 14 hours?

    I think these tickets should be issued with a serious health warning for passengers in economy.


    LuganoPirate
    Participant

    [quote quote=771687]Edited to add:

    At which point does a longhaul flight become an ultra longhaul flight? After 14 hours?

    I think these tickets should be issued with a serious health warning for passengers in economy.

    [/quote]

    I tend to agree. Even in C or F I think it’s too long without a break. I’m flying JNB – NYC next week,23 hours, but with a 4 hour stopover in FRA which makes the journey just about bearable.

    18 hours non stop, no thanks!


    turx
    Participant

    I would fly this route. Reason being that when one wants to get to Sydney or melbourne this would be ideal as one can connect to cheap flights by jetstar and virgin australia


    AMcWhirter
    Participant

    turx – Sounds logical until you realise there’s not a great price difference in flying LHR-PER as against LHR-MEL/SYD.

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