Qantas A380 flights to be cancelled

[Alex T]

From: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/busi...1226814331064#

QANTAS is cancelling three Airbus A380 superjumbo return services on its Melbourne-Dubai-London routes over the next two months because of slow demand for the flights.

The flying kangaroo said yesterday the changes were ad hoc and it was not unusual for airlines to reduce flights in quieter periods.

The affected flights are QF9 and QF10 on February 17, March 11 and March 24.

"These cancellations represent 1.5 per cent of our total services to London in February and just over 3 per cent in March," a spokesman said.

The Australian revealed last month that Qantas A380s were sometimes flying half-full because the airline was struggling to fill them.

The situation was worse on Melbourne flights than it was on the airline's Sydney service.

Qantas axed Singapore as its transit hub to Europe last year and began flying to London from Melbourne and Sydney via Dubai as part of its alliance with the Emirates airline.

There have been suggestions people are opting for the Emirates flights rather than Qantas because of better connection times, and pilots have argued the airline would have more flexibility to reduce plane sizes to meet demand if the airline had acquired Boeing 777s.

A former Qantas executive said the switch from Singapore had made it harder to fill the big planes because they no longer get the passenger feed from planes arriving from cities such as Brisbane and Perth.

There had been speculation Qantas would have to cut flights during the runway works in Dubai from April 30, but the airline confirmed last week it had secured slots for all its services.

It said the only impact would be temporary timing changes between April 30 and July 19. These include a 90-minute departure delay for QF1 from Sydney and a delay of about four hours on most days for QF9 from Melbourne.

[Rory Delaney]

I find that hard to believe that they are flying half full aircraft to Dubai from Melbourne and that the Sydney flight is only just a little better. Most days they can't even get all of their staff on the flights..

[Radi K]

VA is also cancelling flights on the 777 in Feb & March due low loads.

[MarkR]

I think you will find its because they are one down for heavy maint.

[Radi K]

Yeah that's true but they are doing it during Feb/Mar because it's the quiet time of the year and the loads are down normally.

[Brad Myer]

Most airlines reduce some flying during the Feb/Mar period.

[Ryan K]

Would this have happened if QF were still flying to LHR via SIN? Think of all those extra QF pax from BNE, ADL and PER they'd be picking up. Such a shame to see what's happening to this once great airline.

[Mark Grima]

Originally Posted by Ryan K

Would this have happened if QF were still flying to LHR via SIN?

I have no evidence to support it, however, surely in all the time QF flew to London via Asia they cancelled some flights due to poor loads.

All airlines cancel flights or downgrade equipment in low periods, to be honest, I don't think this is even newsworthy.

Cheers

M

[Max C]

Happens every year guys... If QF weren't in the media so much right now, no one would've even noticed!

Have a read of http://airlineroute.net/ and look at how many airlines make seasonable adjustments to the schedule.

[Montague S]

Originally Posted by Ryan K

Would this have happened if QF were still flying to LHR via SIN? Think of all those extra QF pax from BNE, ADL and PER they'd be picking up. Such a shame to see what's happening to this once great airline.

what about the pax they pick up in DXB ex PER, BNE and ADL and fly onwards to London?