Since the changes below Greg regularly crews Qantas planes to Dubai with 30 or less patrons on board... let alone the
half full ones from the stories below 18 months ago..
It is the timing of the European links that make tghis route unprofitable... Joyce knows it.. all the employees know it...
and they now know why he persisted with the timetable for so long.
http://www.smh.com.au/travel/blogs/travellers-check/dubai-deal-shakes-up-qantas-network-20120910-25n...
Flyers who think Qantas has suddenly extended its reach in Europe are going to be disappointed. The idea that, from next year, youโll be able to fly to Dubai with Qantas and change to an Emirates jet to access 33 European destinations just isnโt going to happen โ unless youโre prepared to stop over in Dubai in either or both direction.
Qantas's new services to London via Dubai from Melbourne and Sydney from April 2013 will simply be existing services transferred away from Singapore, arriving in London at 5.40am London time (from Melbourne) and 6.35am (from Sydney) โ timings which are geared to the crucial business market.
But their transit through Dubai around midnight (Dubai time) means they will provide relatively poor connections, with a only handful of continental European destinations flown by Emirates and requiring a stopover of three to five hours.
The vast majority of travellers heading for continental Europe will catch later Emirates flights from Australia, which arrive in Dubai at breakfast time.
Those flights may or may not have Qantas flight numbers under the new Qantas-Emirates joint venture, but you will fly on them end to end in both directions - probably without seeing the insides of a Qantas airliner.
That's because the dominant "wave" of aircraft arrivals at Dubai is between 5am and 7am to catch onward flights to Europe, Middle East and Africa between 7am and 10am
However, Qantas's abandonment of its daily service to the German business capital Frankfurt means most business travellers from Australia to continental Europe will now travel on Qantas's Asian competitors to arrive at the start of the business day.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/aviation/qantas-struggles-to-fill-a380-super-jumbos-during-...
QANTAS A380 super jumbos heading from Dubai to Australia sometimes leave half full as the flying kangaroo struggles to fill the giant planes in quiet travel periods.
Figures obtained by The Australian show some 484-seat A380s heading to Melbourne in November and early December had more than 200 of their 406 economy and premium economy seats unfilled a day before departure.
In one case, more than half the business class cabin's 64 flat-bed seats were also without paying customers as were eight of its 14 high-yielding first-class seats. The figures do not include staff travel or other subsidised tickets.
The situation was less dire on Dubai-Sydney routes where one plane had 131 unsold economy and premium economy seats and another 111.
There were 11 business-class seats spare on one flight and just one on another while six and eight of the first-class suites were registered as available.
The figures back up comments from pilots and flight attendants about empty seats on Qantas A380s, including one report that passengers from two of the big planes were accommodated on one after a breakdown.
Some industry observers, many of them pilots, believe the airline would have been better served buying the twin-engine Boeing 777s.
The pilots argue a 777 fleet would have afforded the flexibility to do long-range missions such as Sydney-Dallas as well as destinations such as Hong Kong with lower fuel costs.
Both aircraft work well when full but the pilots note it is harder to fill a 380 and the big planes need a high load factor to make them pay. There are fears Qantas may axe one of its two flights beyond Dubai.
atheism is a non prophet organization
