Qantas battles Perth Airport, dumps Jumbos and buys more Dreamliners

Qantas pressures Perth over terminals
Airlines usually pick fights with airports over landing charges. But Qantas has weighed into Perth Airport over its refusal to allow Qantas to use its new T3 international wing for its proposed South Africa service.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce has suspended expansion of Perth as a hub over the terminal issue, saying “the concept of a western hub is a great one, it has great viability, we just need a co-operative airport to help expand it.”

Qantas has just launched its historic Perth-London nonstop service – the first between Australia and Europe – and plans to start its Perth-Johannesburg in December.

The problem arises because the new T3 international precinct, next to Qantas' domestic operations, is on the other side of the airport from T1 – the main international terminal.

Qantas says it wants passengers from all its domestic flights – and its seasonal Auckland service – to switch to international services without having to change terminals. Expansion plans include nonstop services to Europe, including Paris and Frankfurt or Berlin. Perth’s T1 international terminal has 18 carriers, including Air New Zealand.

Qantas dumps Jumbos, adds Dreamliners
Qantas has firmed options on six additional Boeing 787-9s and announced that it will retire its 747 fleet by 2020 – pictured is a B747-238. Once delivered, the new aircraft will take the Dreamliner fleet to 14 units, all of which feature a common 236-seat configuration. Qantas has four 787s in service and four more due for delivery by the end of the year. The new batch will be delivered from late 2019 to mid-to-late 2020 when Qantas will retire its remaining 10 Jumbos – four 747-400s and six 747-400ERs, the oldest of which is 25 years old.

Singapore heads for Big Apple again
Singapore Airlines plans to reclaim the world’s longest commercial passenger airline flight, Singapore-New York City, by the end of the year. It will use an Airbus A350-900ULR (Ultra Long Range), which has had its first test flight. Previously the airline flew the route (business class only) using an A340-500 until 2013.

Airbus has modified the standard A350-900 by increasing the maximum takeoff weight and reducing the payload t0 allow for the extra fuel required for the 19-hour flight time. Singapore Airlines has ordered seven of these aircraft for the route and will have business class as well as premium economy class.

Ryanair boosts Boeing order
Boeing and Ryanair have completed a deal for another 25 high-capacity B737 MAX 8 aircraft worth $US3 billion at current list prices. This increases the firm order to 135 B737 MAX 8s, which have eight more seats than its 189-seat NG (next generation) models. Ryanair is the world’s largest B737-800 customer and the largest Boeing operator in Europe. Last month, Ryanair took delivery of its 500^th B737-800NG and has now ordered more than 650 Boeing aircraft.

Qatar adds Cardiff to network
The first Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Cardiff touches down to traditional airport greeting, giving New Zealanders – particularly rugby fans – a one-stop option to reach the Welsh capital.  Although the inaugural flight was an Airbus A350-900, the daily Cardiff service uses a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. It is in a two-class configuration with 22 seats in business class and 232 in economy. Incidentally, wings for the A350-900 are built in Wales. Meanwhile, Qatar says its “super wi-fi” high-speed broadband connectivity using Inmarsat’s GX Aviation technology is a first for the Gulf-based airlines. It is being installed in all Boeing 777 and Airbus A350 aircraft. The first hour of use will be free.

Air NZ’s Chicago codeshares
When Air New Zealand starts it new Auckland-Chicago service on November 30, it will have a codeshare with United Airlines on 94 domestic US routes. These include flights operated by United Express carriers. The new service will operate three days a week.

Route news of the week
Hainan Airlines has opened reservation for its planned Shenzhen-Vienna service. Initially, Boeing 787-8 aircraft will operate this route twice a week from October 20, and will switch to a B787-9 from November 1. Hainan will launch its third route to Israel from August 2. The Guangzhou-Tel Aviv service will also use a B787-9 three times a week. Cathay Pacific Group’s regional airline Cathay Dragon will introduce two new services to Davao City (Philippines) and Medan (Indonesia) from October 28 and 29, respectively. The Hong Kong-Davao City (Mindano) route will be served four times a week; while Hong Kong-Medan (Sumatra) will run three times a week.

All content copyright NBR. Do not reproduce in any form without permission, even if you have a paid subscription.