What should be the future routes of the remaining qantas A380s

What should be the future routes of the remaining qantas A380s

Are we talking about the 12 QF already have or the 8 they have on order?

You are making an assumption about those remaining 8 aircraft.

They could well be deferred again and then used to ultimately replace the current A380s or even cancelled. QF could maybe do with 2-more on the HKG route (but then you are again tradin capacity over frequency).

For the current 747 fleet, better replacements in the 787-9 options or some 777X/350

I am not gonna take anything into account, just gonna give possible route ideas.

- Shanghai, major Chinese financial hub.

- Tokyo, SYD-NRT route is very popular.

- Singapore, perfect for connecting onto BA A380 all the way to London.

- Mumbai, emerging market, would be very popular,

- Auckland, if only it's economical to compete with EK.

In my opinion, I would vouch for a Qantas A380 going to Singapore since you can connect to BA A380s all the way to London, and you can skip Dubai all together, while still flying all-A380.

The only logical one on the route would be Tokyo

Shanghai, Auckland and Singapore needs to be updated to a 747 and remain as a 747 route for some time before the change to an A380

Not sure about Mumbai but I would say it would need to link into other Oneworld Partners to be a good well earning route

Yeah EK will also have to do some work at BOM for Qantas to roll-in their A380 with EK lounges and such. I just hope for Auckland a better plane is used, Air NZ comes with their 777s while QF lands there with 737s.

Apart from high demand events elsewhere, I can't see QF putting on A380s regularly to anywhere but LHR or to LAX/DFW. I agree with others, I'll think they'll push out most of current orders once they have full operational coverage of these key routes with a spare or two (which they'll use for intermittently for high season events elsewhere but otherwise will be backup for maintenance and unexpected problem coverage). Qantas lost a lot of love for the A380 and are looking more at two engine aircraft these days (quite the reverse to their EK partner).

Agreed. Twin engine long reach aircraft like the 77W should be the backbone of the QF international fleet. SYD cannot serve as an effective hub as part of a hub spoke model (for obvious reasons i.e. capacity constraints, curfew etc). Further people in "secondary" cities resent having to transit through SYD or MEL to get to destinations in the region.

True The Real Babushka but the demand through Sydney invariably creates that scenario and it is the business capital of Australia. When you factor in the aircraft movement limitations and curfew contraints, it makes sense to have your biggest ship operating the peak routes to ensure you maximise the flight.

I see the future A380 staples, purely from a demand perspective as:

SYD - LAX /DFW

MEL - LAX

SYD - HKG

SYD - SIN

SYD - NRT / HND

Would be nice to have daily services for all of those, as a benchmark. Then whatever twin engine they decide on, A350 / 787 / 777X acting in a supporting role and from the secondary cities. 

Or how about a twice or thrice daily service to these cities on smaller aircraft? Higher frequency = more choice = higher fare premiums = potentially higher profits.

Granted other operational costs need to be considered.

That's when curfews and aircraft movement come in to play in Sydney. It would be amazing to have 3 departure options to go to HKG, but the turnaround times mightn't work.

How many daily flights do Singapore operate to Sydney each day? It would have to be 3 or 4???

Yes, but Singapore flies to their single hub airport. From there SQ distributes its passengers to a numerous places over Asia and Europe. QF's connections are relatively limited at SIN (especially in comparison to SQ). QF was selling Y seats to SIN for $299 one way recently, that's not a sign they are filling their planes with ease.

I'm with TRB that key Asian markets like HKG / SIN are better served with smaller planes with double daily frequencies. HKG could get A380's during peak times. 

If QF ever takes their orders I'd suggest they'd look at:

-putting 2 of the new ones onto SYD- DFW 

-using the current 2 SYD-HND (unless they retime and hence use 1).

- the remaining orders could be used on LAX services (replacing 747's) or replacing JNB/SCL as needed (and airports allow)

However, I wouldn't be suprised for QF and Airbus to negotiate the switching of all/some of QF's remaining A380 orders to A350 etc 

I think you're on the money there. A350 is a smart way to go.

The idea of switching A380 to A350 did cross my mind. I wonder if that's as simple as it sounds or would they need to broker a deal to off them to BA again??

I guess the double / triple frequency to the Asian hubs on smaller aricraft makes sense. 

Would love to be privvy to break even points on the varying aircraft.

QF A380 Future Routes:

1. SYD - NRT 

2. SYD - HKG 

3. SYD - SIN 

4. SYD - SFO 

5. SYD - ORD