With so much media hype(ing) about the latest introduction of Qantas’ longest non-stop 17-hour route on the Boeing 787 from Perth to London, comes hot on the heels are the news that Qantas is considering to stop flying the Airbus A380 from Melbourne to London (with a stopover in Dubai) come 2018.
Australia to the United Kingdom – a journey that could take one whole day is not going any shorter, unless, British Airways decides to bring back the Concorde, we could possibly save another couple of hours, but for now, other than time-travelling, there is no quicker way to get there.
It is not the end of the world if Qantas really decides to end the Melbourne – London route. It only means that Melbournians would now have “another option” to connect in Perth in order to get to London. I am not sure about you but I find it impractical to connect in Perth. Why would you want to break the journey after 4 hours (MEL – PER) and then take another 17-hour flight bound for London? I would rather have the journey split in halves like transiting in Dubai or Singapore.
I find that Qantas’ decision to pull the A380 out of Melbourne were based more on strategical reasons than economical ones although Qantas mentioned that the
“debut of the non-stop Boeing 787 service between Perth and London could over-saturate the Kangaroo Route with more seats than passengers”.
In other words, it would be unsustainable in the long run for Qantas (and their competitors) to have daily flights to London from Melbourne, Sydney and Perth (non-stop).
But remember, Dubai is not the only gateway into London/Europe.
For those who prefer to connect in South-east Asia like Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, you do have several options to choose from. Knowing that Malaysia Airlines has been very aggressive in their marketing campaign in Australia offering very competitive prices for passengers connecting through Kuala Lumpur, I did a quick search online and we could see that the ticket prices between the two carriers did not differ very much.
Nevertheless, if Qantas decides to go ahead with its plans to axe the Melbourne – London route, Qantas might fly the same Perth – London Boeing 787 aircraft but starting from Melbourne to Perth first, and then Perth to London.
Another possibility would be when Qantas has enough delivery of the B787, they might replace the A380 in Melbourne with a B787 aircraft. However, in view of the reason that the Emirates/Qantas marriage is so far a happy one, they might not want to rock the boat.
Note:
Emirates and Malaysia Airlines do not currently offer premium economy on their aircrafts, hence, if you are not very price sensitive (depending on how you look at it), Qantas’ premium economy might be a more comfortable way to fly into London.
