jk156

The only additional 'kangaroo route' that would possibly be appealing to BA in terms of volumes would be to MEL. Obviously a continuation on from HKG, SIN, KUL or BKK would be logistically straightforward, but hard to see why would bother. Of those four hubs, only BKK is currently poorly served for OW connections to Australia. And for a OWE, connecting on to CX or QF at HKG or SIN is about the best transfer experience going (SIN even more so than currently once the new QF F lounge opens.)

And although the QF Project Sunrise routes to MEL/SYD will be exciting if they happen, given the premium it's likely to attract then if I'm paying for my own flight and/or in Y then the higher price and loss of a tremendously pleasant HKG or SIN stopover to stretch the legs is unlikely to offset the benefit of shaving 4/5 hours off the door-to-door time. When you're travelling that far, the difference between a 23 hour journey and a 26-27 hour one is surprisingly immaterial!!

alex67500

In that case its BA1/BA2 that you should look at. That's a vanity route if there ever was one. Nothing suggests the SYD flights are struggling...

Nicc HK

About 7/8 years ago the third BA flight was a daytime 77E which was never that popular. Didn't help the aircraft always appeared clapped out. In contrast the day time CX flights to LHR are nearly always full, especially with Aussies and Kiwis, because they can fill it with overnight downunder/early am Asian connections which BA could not tap into. In itself that flight was a replacement for the daytime QF 744 HKG-LHR flight, which I found really enjoyable.

Then if you go back to the early 1990s the previous third BA flight was a daytime 744 but routed via Delhi. At the same time there was the UA Round the World Service which operated HKG-DEL-LHR but no traffic rights HKG-LHR.

At the time Air China also had a short lived 2 or 3 times a week daytime 744 from HKG to LHR.

And if you went back to the 1980s BA also operated Manchester–Munich–Dubai–Bangkok–Hong Kong on Tristars, though again was not daily. And to go even further off topic there was LHR-Anchorage-Narita-HKG which provided the aircraft that was then used for the HKG-Mauritius-JNB flight.

Back to Australia, Willie Walsh did say he could see Melbourne returning, it may be genuine, or maybe just polite words, but BA just does not have enough aircraft at the moment.

Supersonic Swinger

The last time I flew them on the route, they couldn't even provide mid-flight snacks from the galley on LHR-SIN. The flight crew were really apologetic, saying that management had instituted all sorts of cost cutting and they literally had nothing for hungry economy pax between meals. With little touches like this, in the face of Asian and ME carriers, I'm surprised this route continues.

SKRan

I am going to assume that the Singaporean sixth freedom requires a flight to be kept.

Nicc HK

I do not know, however sometime ago I had an interesting discussion with a Singapore Government official who was explaining that Changi Airport is seen as a strategic asset which is why they do not seek to protect SQ from competition.

A P Yu

But most of this is due to the LHR-SIN Bit

Globaliser

Do you have a source for this?

A P Yu

The source is BA. SIN is a very important route for the airline. On the Staff Ipad App theres a breakdown of the revenue per cabin for each flight. Theres a clear difference.

In response to some of your other questions: The effect of non-stop services on the one stop services is based on QFs learnings since introducing the LHR-PER service

My own personal interest in the route is that I travel the route on staff travel tickets 3+ times a year. We always get Club on the SIN/SYD sectors - but on the SIN sectors I'm normally just glad to get on.
If we take family with us, the J or F fare to SYD isn't normally that much more than the same class fares to SIN, which I think also shows where the value lies..

We agree the SYD route makes profit. We differ on our views on how big that profit currently is.

BrianDromey

Airline route management is a strange old beast and while loads rarely mean anything, A P Yu makes a point that LON-SIN-SYD fares aren't much less than LON-SIN. The route must make sense for BA, or it would be long gone.

Given the revenue from cargo and SIN-SYD bookings it must make sense for BA to continue to offer a daily service to SYD. QF or SQ will want real money for the SIN-SYD leg, somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 the fare, so dropping the route may lead to revenue erosion and the BA options will be less visible on the GDS.

Just today AA have announced LAX-Christchurch - on the face of it a route that seems highly unlikely. It's low frequency, at thrice weekly with zero feed on the NZ end.

allturnleft

I read an article that Virgin is looking to expand massively from LHR if the 3rd runway goes ahead

They plan to expand their route network and a return to Australia is in their sights

Globaliser

Does the iPad show the revenue from the payload that requires assistance with loading but no cabin service?

SKRan

However, if you compare ARN-SYD and LHR-SYD on BA, you will realise that the fare is more affected by demand and POS.

JAXBA

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianDromey

Just today AA have announced LAX-Christchurch - on the face of it a route that seems highly unlikely. It's low frequency, at thrice weekly with zero feed on the NZ end.

The AA press release mentions QF/JQ connections, such as they are…

Quote:

Originally Posted by AA.com
LAX to CHC creates unique one-stop connections to the South Island not previously available by any other carrier. Qantas and Jetstar will connect passengers from CHC on to Wellington and Melbourne — some of the most popular destinations in the Pacific.

Tobias-UK

I’m intrigued, why would crew need to have/know that information?