There has been a significant amount of chatter about possible Qantas interest in a middle east carrier. Etihad who are partners with Virgin Australia were not a contendor. Emirates had been a possible favourite but seemed to announce they only wanted a quick codeshare. Yesterday, Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar al-Baker suggested that they were very interested in a Qantas tie up and would meet with Qantas management in Sydney soon. Qatar was awarded top airline status in 2011. They have been flying into Melbourne from Doha for two years and this week will launch Doha to Perth. To have Qatar feeding passengers into…
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Qantas Refitted 747s
A video of Qantas refitted 747-400 with A380 features including new seats, cabin mood lighting and espresso machines. The 747-400 has 58 Business Class seats, 36 Premium Economy, 270 Economy seats and no First Class. Seat layout plan is here. Five have been refitted now. Three more 747s will be refitted by October 2012. It is great that the 747 is going to look great but it is of concern that Qantas are continuing to fly an aeroplane that should be retired. Not only will it cost Qantas more in excessive fuel consumption, but older planes cost more to maintain. I am curious that they are…
Not Wanting the Cheapest Fare?!
As a Qantas Frequent Flyer, there are some categories of American Airlines Coach tickets that earn me points and status credits. These are: GLMNSV Discount Economy and BHKY economy. Other fare classes do not earn me any points or status credits eg OQ. I don’t overly care about the points but Status Credits are important to me as I want to keep my priority check in, higher luggage allowance and lounge access. Often the difference in price between a Q and a N fare is very, very slight but the outcome is,of course, very different. The obvious…
ANA 787 Biofuels Flight
787 launch customer All Nippon Airlines (ANA) received their newest 787 this week. It completed a transpacific biofuel flight from Boeing’s Delivery Center in Everett, Washington to Tokyo Haneda Airport. The plane was powered by a mix of regular aviation fuel and used cooking oil! ANA currently have five 787s; four are flying domestically and one is flying Tokyo-Frankfurt. They will begin flying Tokyo to Seattle from July 25 with a 777 , and some time in the year, will switch to a 787. The ANA 787 has 158 seats (46 Business arranged 2/2/2 and 112 Economy arranged 2/4/2). The airline itself, announced a record…
Qantas gets back Nancy
April 21 saw the formal handing back to Qantas of their Airbus 380 named Nancy Bird Walton. This is the plane that dramatically “lost an engine” in a mid-air blast off Singapore in November 2010. I have previously blogged about how dangerous the incident was.. The incident dented both the reputation of Qantas as one of the world’s safest airlines (despite the fact the crew managed to nurse the plane into a safe landing) and the reputation of the giant plane. (The concerns some have about the 380 have been further heightened by hysteria over the wing cracks that have been found recently. Qantas is denying they are considering suing Airbus over the cracks but they are in…
Trying Spirit-First Time
A lot of miles to cover this week. Seven flights to three countries with four airlines. Qantas: Melbourne to Auckland, NZ via Sydney Virgin Australia: Melbourne to Los Angeles in Premium Economy product. Any Virgin Australia 777 flyers have any recommendation as to the better Premium Economy seats? Spirit: I chose Spirit deliberately so I could see what they are like as I have never flown them. Wish me luck for that flight! Spirit are supposed to be a little like Ryanair (who I hate flying with). I am fascinated to see. Related Posts Why is…
Malaysian Kids Free Zones -Wacky or Wise
I have flown 842 times. In that time, one child has kept me irritated for an entire flight. As he bounced up and down the seats with his oblivious mother staring at her video screen, an exasperated fellow passenger asked if she had brought anything for her child to do. She looked up and shrugged her shoulders, saying “No” and went back to watching her screen. A few babies have disturbed my takeoffs and landings but not enough for me to want children removed from my aeroplane. Most I have met on board have been well behaved or in awe…
This Week: 19th to 25th March
I fly from New York to Melbourne via Los Angeles and Sydney (United and Qantas with a sector on my beloved 380!) bringing my flights for the year to 25 from 22 airports in 9 countries on 4 continents with 10 airlines! So much for flying less in 2012! On my Qantas flight to Sydney, my total miles will exceed 1, 200 000 air miles flown in my life (five times between earth and moon) and a scarey 17 weeks inside planes! Check out myFlightmemory for more information. Home briefly before heading to Perth, Western Australia (flight 26 for…
Farewell BA Bangkok – Sydney Trip Report
This is the fourth time I have flown British Airways on this sector- and my last. BA will cease flying this route from this Friday March 3rd. Qantas will terminate its Bangkok to London services on March 26th and its planes will turn around in Bangkok. Instead both airlines will “swap” passengers at Bangkok. The same thing is happening with their Hong Kong flights. Both airlines will maintain their services via Singapore (the “Kangaroo Route”). This shorter “hop” will be where all through Australia-London passengers will be fed. Passengers going via Hong K and Bangkok will be choosing to stop. I have some disquiet about how…
Qantas Shrinking Growth
In response to an 83 per cent fall in its first-half net profit to $A42 million to December 31 and as a part of a half a billion dollar cost cutting measure. Qantas is pulling out of two more routes in May and cutting 500 jobs in catering, engineering and heavy maintenance. The sectors being lost are: Auckland, New Zealand (AKL) to Los Angeles, USA (LAX) QF25 and 26 Singapore (SIN) to Mumbai (India) (BOM) QF 50 and 51 These cuts are in addition to the previously announced withdrawals in March from the Hong Kong-London…
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