og

So EK sees QF undermining its desired position to take (most) traffic between Oz and Europe with 789 services skipping DXB.

Qantas' globe-spanning plans could change alliance: Emirates boss

EK must be doing so badly out of this threat that they are increasing flights into SYD (according to the SMH). If only QF had acquired 777s a decade ago, the story may have been completely different.

Blackcloud

Laughable.. EK's network is vastly superior than what QF could ever sustainably create, let alone the product offering as well. With QF returning to SIN and the use of PER I do wonder if the Alliance will continue past its current approval but IMO it will but the commercial terms more likely just codeshare rather than codeshare/revenue share.

number_6

Posturing to get approval for more EK flights into Oz

nzkarit

The writing was on the wall for the alliance when QF move DXB to SIN.

Comes down to do Aussies want to do Aus City-PER-Euro "capital"*-OneWorld "domestic" or Aus City-DXB-Euro City (and later SYD/MEL with PER as a hub to Europe)
*London, Paris, Frankfurt, etc

Which is more convenient? Most people fly on price not on which gets most points. EK will likely be cheaper and have more Euro cities and Africa open to it.

og

Hmmm, EK 380s to every mainland State (soon). EK goes where QF fears to tread. Where will the QF circus go when the music stops?

Dave Noble

Even if price is the same - for Europe, QF will be conveniant for a 1 stop service from SYD-LHR or PER-LHR. Most other places in Europe will involve flying past the destination and then backtracking across the continent, whilst EK provides a 1 stop service to a lot more places in Europe without any backtracking

Kiwi Flyer

EK is also upgauging 777 to A380 on some Australian flights, and dropping trans-Tasman legs frees up more seats for Australia.

moa999

Plenty of people not flying to London that will fill EKs A380s
I suspect EKs share of SYD/MEL-LHR is relatively small compared to QF anyway

And I think EK still recognises the power of the QF FF program, and QF recognises that EK has a network that it will never be able to match. At best it might add CDG to LHR over the next 5-10 years.

libertyuk

It would be astonishing if the talk of more PER-EUR routes were more than CDG and FRA. The routes need to be relatively high yielding, and QF's OW partners in Europe only have hubs at LHR, MAD, HEL and DME. Doubt any of those other than LHR are useful.

lokijuh

QF could certainly do with some more centrally located partners in Europe, trouble with oneworld is that, geographically it's hubs are in the outer ring.

None of them (MAD, HEL, DME) would seem useful out of PER. But I do wonder if SYD to HEL would be a possibility at least in short term, as it is 1100 mi less than SYD-LHR , is an easy place to connect in and AY is well linked to key ports in Europe. But the challenge would be it still being one stop and business class travellers would have to adjust to the idea of long flight + short flight (90%/10% split) vs the current common scenarios of between 70/30 and 50/50 splits. (when travelling in J ... i do like the ultra long hauls, having done SIN-EWR or vv numerous times).

libertyuk

SYD-HEL O/D traffic would be minimal, and AY wouldn't be too keen on QF bypassing its own services to the hubs in SIN, HKG, NRT, etc. Frankly, unless PER-LHR is a big success, there wont be more of them.