JeCCo

Well there you go...

Surprised that CX chose to put the roughly 100 extra seats on the CX138/139 rotation. Always found CX139 to have the most availability in Y because the schedule means you burn a full day on the plane. CX138 was always full up front in J but down back it's the most painful option out of the 4 flights a day so from a peak / holiday season perspective it's usually the last one to sell out.

Perhaps 77G aircraft availability played into this as normally the CX110/111 or CX100/101 flights are sold out / reduced to full-fare Y the quickest.

QRC3288

that's awesome! I'm surprised to see 77W, but given it's going to SYD I think the 77G makes far more sense than the 77H. I'm not familiar with EY yields, but I do know that it is very tough to justify sending F and 13 extra J seats down to Australia on 77H.

Either way I think SYD bound pax get a benefit. No doubt cheaper fares from EY yields (unless CX/QF are cutting capacity on other flights?), PEY gets an increase in capacity (although after 33G reduction in PEY maybe not) and the Cirrus J seat in 77W is bigger and more comfortable than the 33G version.

Metropolitan Airlines

It makes sense for CX to add extra capacity to this service as being the only Red Eye service between Sydney and Hong Kong. And this decision has proven there's an increasing demand for Red Eye flight from Sydney to Hong Kong in that direction.

There has been no other airlines currently offering similar alternative between these 2 big cities giving CX 138 an monopoly to offer this exclusive service, no wonder they are being popular during peak hours in summer.

CX 138 can connect flights to China early in the morning Northbound and it saves travellers heaps of time by sleeping overnight on this service and arrive Hong Kong in the morning.

Currently for all other airlines you will need to spend the entire day to travel from Sydney to Hong Kong due to no red eye flight available in that direction, or in the case of Singapore Airlines (and other SE Asian carriers), having no red eye flights from SE Asia to Hong Kong is a terrible mistake. I hope they will notice the demand and introduce red eye flights as it becomes available.

freakinflyer001

We can't currently say for sure whether this up gauge is seasonal, as the schedule is only updated for the W14 season that runs until MAR15. It is possible that the 77W would remain for S15

JClasstraveller

Very interesting.

After a couple of posts in the thread above about why CX probably wouldn't, they've decided to pull the trigger.

QF is going down to 744 daily from 5x380, 2x744 operation (except over the summer holiday season when they're back on the current 5x380 operation) but CX138/139 is not a directly competitive flight time.

Admittedly I haven't flown CX138 for about 7 years but I did fly CX139 about 3 years ago at the beginning of October. It was full (maybe 10 empty Y seats). I suspect there were quite a connections from Europe like I was. I note that flights from AMS, CDG, MXP, LHR, FRA and soon to be ZRH all arrive in that morning timeslot and can connect with CX139. There are also connections from DXB, SFO, JFK and LAX (the latter 2 is a long way but there are people who do it).

This I didn't particularly think of. It actually allows them to increase yields because I'm sure there are a few O&D pax who want to fly the daytime flight. If CX139 is full of connections such that they can't sell many O&D fares on that flight, then the yields are far worse.

CX828

Wow very interesting - and exciting! Something other than an A330 in Australia!!!

But how are they able to fit this in 77W schedule with all the recent N. American service increases (Potential BOS too), announced AMS/CDG/FCO/ZRH/MAN 77W services . . . they must be so tight on 77W capacity.

Out of interest, does anyone know what the revised 77G subfleet numbers will be? At one pint it was only going to be 9, but I am sure its going to be more now.

rpsandiego

Yeah, it doesn't make sense. I flew from CEB to HKG in June and it was a 777. It looks like they're still doing the same thing this month...

http://www.orbitz.com/flights/from-C...o31700.d29244/

jimyvr

Services operates on Day 357 from 03DEC14 to 30JAN15, not alternating days.

Fragharb1

CX139/8 is operated by HK based flight crew, other SYD flights are operated by Aus based crew all of whom are Airbus rated.
Someone also mentioned the increased connection capacity, both from early morning Europe/USA arrivals to SYD and for the morning wave of CX/KA flights after arriving in HK at 5am.
Mostly I think it has to do with the increased belly cargo capacity of a 777 over the 330 as CX may be looking to cut the twice weekly 748F over the Aus summer period.

HKGglobaltrotter

There is no Australia based crew. All Oz flights are operated by HKG based crew I believe.

QRC3288

are you being serious or sarcastic? First off, Surabaya gets just about everything from CX. A340, 77W, 772, 773, etc. And yes, CX rotates 77W through to regional destinations like MNL, Surabaya, Taipei, etc. Some of them are part of regular rotation schedules for the long-haul aircraft. This is well understood and is how any airline will try to maximize aircraft utilization hours. But CX also flies its regional 773s and 772s and A340s to Surabaya. It's frankly irrelevant to pricing what product goes down there and hence its a merry-go-round to help a.) CX utilize aircraft and b.) make sure particular frames are in position for preferred long-haul routes. SYD is a different ballgame as a long-haul destination, with a protected product type. Not to mention a 3rd cockpit crew, multi-night stays for crew, etc.

I think where we missed the mark was the cargo hold. Someone on here was speculating maybe CX will cut down 747 freighter service to Oz. I don't know, but cargo was certainly an angle nobody on here - myself included - had considered.

Either way, at least it is 77G and not 77H. Then I would've been completely confused. Out of the two 77W configs, at least 77G makes sense because it doesn't dump J capacity (and introduce F) into the market. I'm not privy to EY yields - someone was saying they were under pressure - but maybe CX knows something about EY demand and/or supply changes that we don't.

deadinabsentia

You believe wrong.

Like most on this forum, relying on the few for info.

Cathay has bases in BNE, MEL, and SYD. All A330.

busdriverpnw

Actualy Cathay have pilot bases in BNE,PER,ADL,MEL & SYD not all A330 as there are some 747 (cargo) pilots based there as well.

There are no Cabin Crew based in Australia, I believe the previous poster was probably referencing cabin crew as when referring to crew it seems most people are talking about the cabin crew. All SYD flights are normaly crewed by SYD based pilots apart from one of the flights. The relief pilot (SO) is always from Hong Kong on all flights as SO's are only based in Hong Kong

fakecd

I have takencx138 3 time sin July in econ... It seems flight is always full... When I take ex type J, cx138 never has I fare availability within two weeks timeframe. It's a perfect flight for commuter belt who have family in Sydney and work in HK... If u do math of hk salary and syd cost of raising family it adds up.

I am surprised this is happening but I am happy with the change

percysmith

http://www.ausbt.com.au/cathay-pacif...dney-hong-kong