[craigwatson]

Sorry LeTigre my post above was in response to some peoples plans to use the A380 for short intra europe flights during the day, that just wouldnt work.

In respect to your other comment “it can be back at the hub in time to operate other flights quickly” again that is the same argument as intra europe flights, without many more A380s they cant operate that aircraft the way they do other types, once they aquire more aircraft they will be able to increase the utilsation, but until then it just wont work.

just wanted to edit to say this is ALL just my opinion, I have no facts to back any of this up, merely speculation.

[paulkaz]

On a per kilo basis BAA charges Qf less to park an A380 than Macquarie Bank charges us to park at Syd.
LeTigre’s comments are all so logical yet Qf has 2 A380 s at Lhr all day, same at Lax ,and Syd is groaning with heavies parked from dawn to mid afternoon.
I wish a Qf rep could post the economics behind this as clearly they know all the costs and utilisation possibilities and are attempting to maximise their returns. Such a puzzle to us lay people.

[LeTigre]

So in a single phrase, the cause of Qantas’ sizeable loss can be summarised as:

Parking Fess

I don’t know whether to laugh or scream.

[craigwatson]

Its the same with all airlines and all aircraft types, wide bodies fly through the night and have downtiome during the day, and single aisle fly throughout the day and are parked up overnight. The 2 biggest costs to an airline are fuel and crew, both of which are absent during the downtime, so that mitigates the lost revenue somewhat.

Do you really think if there was a workable solution to better utilize these aircraft that QF/BA/LH/AF etc… wouldnt be doing it?

[craigwatson]

and add EK to that as well, just noticed their A380 lands in SYD at 0605 and sits on the ground all day departing at 21:10, and MEL is even longer waits.

[LuganoPirate]

Just to respond to a few points.

I also prefer day flights and if a day flight will fly either business or sometimes First. If a night flight it will always be in F for the bed etc.

I think Emirates get away with 2 / 3 am departures as they are usually cheaper than direct flights. Personall I prefer Qatar’s timings which have you getting in around 11 pm and out around 0100.

As to parking costs, there are price lists and there is what is actually paid. Carriers can and do negotiate discounts. Also night parking is free.

The grounding of aircraft is always distressing and not unique to Qantas. Even Lufthansa went on strike not so long ago delaying people’s travels. While inconvenient and often troublesome, that is what insurance is for and is one of the hassles us regular business travellers have to contend with.

[paulkaz]

Ah Craig Ek’s A380 goes to Akl in that time.i think the same is true of the A380 in Mel but it goes to Chc.I read somewhere that Ek’s does nt make much on the passenger revenue of these flights but the freight is very profitable. However the 22.05 arrival from Dxb sticks around for the 6am return next day.

[craigwatson]

Ah ok, thanks for that, i stand corrected

[LeTigre]

As QF operate to both Frankfurt and London, they could always operate one of BA’s 8 daily London-Frankfurt slots with the A380 (AF provided a model of this will LHR to CDG on A380 in 2009, which sold loads of seats) then they could operate A380s to/from Frankfurt whilst saving time on the ground. Admittedly, Frankfurt is not currently served by A380s but could be and when codeshares with Air Berlin begin in earnest, German traffic should be quite a bit higher.

[LuganoPirate]

LeTigre, FRA is served by 380’s from Lufthansa, or did you mean not served by Qantas’s 380’s?

[Binman62]

I can’t see how anyone can complain about a lack of competition between London and Australia. There probably isn’t another route in the world where there is so much choice of carriers and routings.

The above is true however there are just 3 UK and Australian carriers on the route every other carriers does so on the basis of transit with no through flight numbers.

What is the importance of this?

When the time comes that non stop operations are possible choice will be limited to just those 3 and 2 operate a legal monopoly.

With the demise of BMI choice for onward connections on through tickets and with bags now also further limited especially is using LHR.

BA/QF have worked to bring about  a doubling and more in fares in the last 3 years and their actions have been followed closely by the so called competition. The recent reductions in capacity is already ensuring that a M class return at peak time even booking now is in excess of £2000 each.

[LuganoPirate]

Just thinking, LHR – SYD is 10,573 miles. At £1,000 each way that’s just 9.5 pence a mile. That’s probably less than a London bus and you get a bed, booze and 5 meals thrown in, not to mention a nice lounge before departure.

Not bad value really if you think about it!

[PaulRWoods]

Ozavanti: There are two airlines which I am not flying with – LH and BA.
When working in West Africa I have to fly with either SN Brussels or KLM which are both not top. When having to fly to SE-Asia or beyond as on my current assignment then yes Asian airlines are my choice.

[LeTigre]

The stated fare of £2000 is in economy/premium economy, so the actual cost of flights with beds and decent meals etc., is £3000 in biz with Malaysian via KUL with reasonable transit times.

That makes 14p/mile.

[LuganoPirate]

Still not bad really. My local minicab in London is 50p a mile I think!

[Author]

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