Direct flights from Britain to Australia could be confirmed within weeks

[-:Undertaker:-]

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

Direct flights from Britain to Australia could be confirmed within weeks


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/Travel/2016/September/december-perth-AP-TRAVEL-large.jpg
The Australian city of Perth could be just one flight away from the British city of London within weeks


The first non-stop flights between Britain and Australia could be confirmed within weeks, according to Alan Joyce, the chief executive of Qantas.

The Australian airline yesterday unveiled details of its new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, which would be capable of making the 8,990 miles (14,470-kilometre) schlep from London to Western Australia, and Mr Joyce confirmed that negotiations with Perth Airport were underway and a final decision was “imminent”.

“This aircraft allows us to fly routes that we could only imagine in the past,” he told The Australian. “It ­allows us to fly from Perth to London, from Sydney to Chicago or Melbourne to Dallas.

Referring to the London-Perth route, he added: “It's such a great opportunity for Western Australia it would be a shame if we couldn't close a deal. It's so game-changing ­because Australia has never been connected with Europe with a regular passenger service.”


http://www.thenational.ae/storyimage/AB/20131216/GALLERY/131219321/AR/0/AR-131219321.jpg



While an announcement may be close, the first flights won’t take place until late 2017 at the earliest. The first of eight 787-9s will be delivered to Qantas in a year, it said yesterday.

The aircraft will have room for 236 passengers, including 42 in business class and 28 in premium economy.

Features include new two self-service bars - one in business and one in economy, a “foot net” to provide extra support for weary limbs, and fully redesigned seats. The aircraft will feature a new Qantas logo, too.

Business class seats will recline to 80 inches, while seat pitch in economy will be 32 inches. Other features typical of the Dreamliner include high-tech cabin lighting, with a simulated sunrise to “gently wake customers on morning flights”, and larger windows that can be adjusted using electronic controls.

That's pretty cool. Coupled with talks about visa and immigration relaxations between the two countries...

I'll likely make use of this if it comes in the future. I have family in Australia who moved there over a decade ago who still visit back home but we haven't visited over there (so expensive for how many of us there are) so in all likelihood when I do eventually visit Australia i'll be visiting Perth as that is where they live - well except for cousin who is now in Melbourne as he's in the Royal Australian Army. The crazy thing about Australia is that it's so vast you can't just buy a cheap flight from one side of the country to the other: my family who moved there had a family member who lived on the other side and they didn't visit him for years because it's so expensive just for an internal flight given the huge distance. :P

Thoughts?

[AgnesIO]

Can already get flights for £600ish to Perth with only a one hour stopover. Cool that it would be direct, I guess, but more than happy to have a short stopover personally - reduces cost hugely (I usually stop in the Middle East - Abu Dhabi), and avoid direct simply because it is sometimes twice the price.

[FlyingJesus]

Wouldn't be any use to me since my sister's up near Sydney but nice concept, 787 is an excellent machine too

[Lucy]

This would make it unbelievably convenient for myself business wise, have been following this closely for a while now.

[AgnesIO]

This would make it unbelievably convenient for myself business wise, have been following this closely for a while now.

I really don't see this. Literally saves a couple of hours, maybe, which (as someone who travels for business), isn't too big a deal as I would work on the flight anyway.

The (likely) cost difference makes it less worthwhile to me.

[Lucy]

I really don't see this. Literally saves a couple of hours, maybe, which (as someone who travels for business), isn't too big a deal as I would work on the flight anyway.

The (likely) cost difference makes it less worthwhile to me.

Yeah I suppose you have a point, I meant to add it will really depend on the cost they place on it, I always fly through Dubai and have Lounge Access and will be honest it is nice to have a shower and relax a bit.

[AgnesIO]

Yeah I suppose you have a point, I meant to add it will really depend on the cost they place on it, I always fly through Dubai and have Lounge Access and will be honest it is nice to have a shower and relax a bit.

Absolutely agree re lounge access. Almost essential to me to be able to have a wash before the destination - although normally because I have to travel a fair distance just to get to the airport in the first place (before the stop over :P ).

[Cerys]

I really don't see this. Literally saves a couple of hours, maybe, which (as someone who travels for business), isn't too big a deal as I would work on the flight anyway.

The (likely) cost difference makes it less worthwhile to me.

Eliminates the risk of missing your connecting flight too

[Lucy]

Eliminates the risk of missing your connecting flight too

To be honest I have flown a lot and never missed a connection, I always make sure I have atleast 2.5-3 hours in between flights on the long haul Perth > Europe.

[AgnesIO]

Eliminates the risk of missing your connecting flight too

True, although I have never actually had that issue myself.

[xxMATTGxx]

Nice to see the Boeing 787 opening more of these new routes that weren't done before hand. Going to be a long one for sure!

The stop over are good to have a good streach and walk around though. All depends on ticket cost I suppose.

[Firehorse]

Scoot airlines is also introducing a direct flight between Melbourne and Athens. Don't know if I'd want to be on a plane for so long! Prefer to stop over to stretch the legs!

If there's plenty of demand for these flights, it could certainly knock down the ticket prices. Much more efficient if you can stay in the air the entire way and don't need to waste all that extra fuel taking off from a halfway point, not to mention all the associated fees that come with landing at an airport becoming avoidable.

[Matt]

I actually don't mind the stopovers, especially on long haul flights. Means I can walk around a bit and stretch my legs. It's not like the flight will be any quicker, will it? Yeah it's convenient but I've done the trip from Perth > London London > Perth about 5 or 6 times and never missed a connection. Depends who you fly with really.

I'll be very interested to see the price they put on it. Would definitely put Qantas ahead of other airlines.

[Firehorse]

I actually don't mind the stopovers, especially on long haul flights. Means I can walk around a bit and stretch my legs. It's not like the flight will be any quicker, will it? Yeah it's convenient but I've done the trip from Perth > London London > Perth about 5 or 6 times and never missed a connection. Depends who you fly with really.

I'll be very interested to see the price they put on it. Would definitely put Qantas ahead of other airlines.

You'll probably shave about 4 hours off the average flight from Australia to the UK by not having a stopover. You don't just lose however many hours you have to wait between flights for bags to be transferred or the plane to be refuelled, but the route would be more direct (not adding an hour for each leg to fly via a hub like Hong Kong), and you would lose all that time needed for the landing and take-off procedure. I'd still probably want to stretch my legs after about 10 hours though.

[AgnesIO]

Scoot airlines is also introducing a direct flight between Melbourne and Athens. Don't know if I'd want to be on a plane for so long! Prefer to stop over to stretch the legs!

If there's plenty of demand for these flights, it could certainly knock down the ticket prices. Much more efficient if you can stay in the air the entire way and don't need to waste all that extra fuel taking off from a halfway point, not to mention all the associated fees that come with landing at an airport becoming avoidable.

It makes economic sense for most airlines to have stopovers, though. Hence why the Middle East airlines operate almost all of their flights with stopovers in their respective hubs

[Matt]

I'd still probably want to stretch my legs after about 10 hours though.

We last did the trip in 2014 and flew via Jakarta. From Jakarta to Amsterdam it was 14 hours and that's by far the longest long-haul flight I've been on. Now that I'm older I tend to just sleep which isn't so bad, but still that went for ages. We only had 45 mins in Amsterdam and even then that was such a relief (although the flight to Gatwick was only like 50 minutes or something).

We're flying again this December with Emirates and we haven't been with them for a while.

My tummy goes weird after 10+ hours on a plane :(

[Firehorse]

It makes economic sense for most airlines to have stopovers, though. Hence why the Middle East airlines operate almost all of their flights with stopovers in their respective hubs

Not always:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlIdzF1_b5M

[AgnesIO]

Not always:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlIdzF1_b5M

Good video, although some of the points back up mine. Also, there is a reason I said most - and my point is true for most of the world's largest airlines. That is (as the video highlights) potentially changing over time, and is obviously demand dependent.

I fly one of the low demand direct routes that video highlighted at least four times a year, if not more. The price to fly direct for flights I have just booked is £570. I booked mine for £440 - and could have paid as little as £370, but prefer to use the same airline.

That's a difference of up to £200 per person - which for the average traveller is a huge difference.

The model that is currently still most popular is to have the huge fuselage's fly to the main hub, and then split to different destinations.

[Firehorse]

Good video, although some of the points back up mine. Also, there is a reason I said most - and my point is true for most of the world's largest airlines. That is (as the video highlights) potentially changing over time, and is obviously demand dependent.

I fly one of the low demand direct routes that video highlighted at least four times a year, if not more. The price to fly direct for flights I have just booked is £570. I booked mine for £440 - and could have paid as little as £370, but prefer to use the same airline.

That's a difference of up to £200 per person - which for the average traveller is a huge difference.

The model that is currently still most popular is to have the huge fuselage's fly to the main hub, and then split to different destinations.

So what exactly are you trying to say here? You're talking about prices and saying you paid a certain amount less than another figure but haven't given the context. I'm assuming your booking has a stopover and the price difference is what you're trying to highlight?

The direct flight is more expensive because demand is lower and therefore for the flight to break even the seats that do get sold have to cover the operating costs for the seats that do not get sold. It's a balancing act between price per seat and people per aircraft. As an airline you decide between flying a larger, half empty aircraft at a higher price per seat, or sending passengers via a hub in a smaller aircraft where you can more easily guarantee a return on investment as well as be more competitively priced.

The new development here is that airlines no longer have to gamble on whether to fly a big aircraft (which might not be fully booked, hence the higher prices for a plane less full) from a smaller destination, or to send passengers on smaller aircraft via a hub (again when the planes are full they are making a profit). These newer aircraft remove that dilemma. They are smaller, meaning they are easier to fill up, and they are much more fuel efficient which allows them to travel the distances that only the bigger planes could previously achieve.

This is still very new. As in last year or two new, and still in the very early stages of emergence. Of course the hub and spoke model is mostly cheaper at the moment as these new aircraft like the 787 dreamliner are still quite rare, and airlines are not going to just ditch all their other very expensive aircraft in an instant, the process of change takes years. The bigger planes will definitely still operate on the high demand routes, but a lot of that demand will be removed as it becomes unnecessary to route journeys via a hub for business to be viable or competitive. This is exactly the reason the Airbus A380 has had such poor sales figures recently and has even seen major airlines failing to renew their leases on the aircraft.