Qantas v Perth Airport

[Brian Noldt]

It is being reported that Qantas has given Perth Airport a matter of weeks to accept its proposal to use their domestic terminal for the direct Perth to London route using the 787 aircraft.
Perth Airport want Qantas to use the T1 international terminal which is on the other side of the airport.
The domestic terminal would need a $25m upgrade for customs etc.
Alan Joyce has said that if the decision is not forth coming he will take the allotted 787 to the eastern states and it will delay 10 years for the proposed route.

Story here:

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/west...=1479840234230

[Dave Dale]

I just wonder how many customers living in east Australia would travel west to Perth and fly to London? And the benefits of not flying over Singapore or some other intermediate hub?

[Kent Broadhead]

More what are the benefits of hubbing in Perth rather than one of the others?

I see little benefit for the eastern states. The route would be primarily O&D, apart from the psychological "non-stop from Australia".

[Rowan McKeever]

It is believed (though obviously not confirmed) that QF is not permitted, under the terms of its EK alliance, to operate Aust to/from EU via any point other than DXB, thus ruling out SIN, HKG, BKK, India, etc. If true, this would mean that to do something different QF has to fly non-stop out of Australia.

Now, I completely agree with Kent. I actually argue that DRW would be a better port for a non-stop QF to Europe, because:
* DRW already has domestic and international operations under one roof;
* political geography aside (i.e. just on a pure great circle route), DRW is around 600+km closer than PER to LHR;
* DRW isn't much more than 30mins further (if that) than PER from both ADL and MEL, and is closer to SYD and all points in Qld, so the only non-WA city that is better served by PER-LHR than by DRW-LHR is CBR which has a non-stop PER but not a non-stop DRW; and
* the PER-LHR is, I would imagine, horribly unattractive to anyone in Qld as it's such a big backtrack.

[Dave Dale]

Originally Posted by Rowan McKeever

It is believed (though obviously not confirmed) that QF is not permitted, under the terms of its EK alliance, to operate Aust to/from EU via any point other than DXB, thus ruling out SIN, HKG, BKK, India, etc. If true, this would mean that to do something different QF has to fly non-stop out of Australia.

* the PER-LHR is, I would imagine, horribly unattractive to anyone in Qld as it's such a big backtrack.

I agree with last statement. Why on Earth Qantas would give away its right to fly to Europe over Singapore is quite silly. Singapore is much better than Dubai. But again, the Perth to London escapes me on how it would be attractive for anyone on Australia's east coast.

[MarkR]

Originally Posted by Rowan McKeever

Now, I completely agree with Kent. I actually argue that DRW would be a better port for a non-stop QF to Europe, because:
* DRW already has domestic and international operations under one roof;
* political geography aside (i.e. just on a pure great circle route), DRW is around 600+km closer than PER to LHR;
* DRW isn't much more than 30mins further (if that) than PER from both ADL and MEL, and is closer to SYD and all points in Qld, so the only non-WA city that is better served by PER-LHR than by DRW-LHR is CBR which has a non-stop PER but not a non-stop DRW; and
* the PER-LHR is, I would imagine, horribly unattractive to anyone in Qld as it's such a big backtrack.

All of that is somewhat East Coast centric, overlooking the demand locally as well as current feeder services from the east coast and their frequency. Perth already has high traffic to the Middle East which presumably heads to Europe in the main (circa 75k a month), that's not too far from Sydney with its 115k of pax. A direct flight on own metal would be a game changer for Qantas, its somewhat ironic that Qantas has a sticking point their competition avoided by moving. Transfers to VA are pretty easy in their new environs.

Direct services and a current customer base of 75k where you have an advantage of avoiding the sandpit is pretty hard to argue against, especially when there are no current services on offer with QF metal.

[Kent Broadhead]

Perth to London would provide another option. For the east coast, it's not a game changer, just another option - if your preference is QF metal and a long second leg after an aussie stopover, then its good news.

[Todd Hendry]

Originally Posted by Kent Broadhead

Perth to London would provide another option. For the east coast, it's not a game changer, just another option - if your preference is QF metal and a long second leg after an aussie stopover, then its good news.

QF Carbon ??????? 😉

[Kent Broadhead]

Originally Posted by Todd Hendry

QF Carbon ??????? 😉

Too true......

[Phil Stevens]

From a UK perspective, I know many folk who would be potential tourist candidates for a London to Perth route, but none who would be keen on London to Darwin. If QF is looking for a point to point market, rather than just another stopover point, then Perth is definitely the winner for traffic originating from the UK.