Qantas axes Melbourne-Perth Boeing 787

The unofficial alternative name for Qantas is, after all, "Sydney Airways". 

Sad day QF have always had a MEL link with LHR, even in the 70s QF001 originated in Melbourne.  Dreadful to have to fly J class on a 737 to connect in PER and no PE available at all ex-MEL to LHR even via SIN. Forget SYD, dreadful transfer. This move just strengthens the ME and Asian carriers on the UK Euro routes.

Ah well, it was good while it lasted. I just hope it comes back at some stage but I can't see it happening to be honest, simply not enough 787s.

Currently, when QF10 is delayed from LHR (and it often is), the MEL sector is cancelled so QF9 can turn around and keep something approaching a normal schedule.  Going forward, this slack wont exist as the arriving QF10 aircraft is planned to quickly turnaround to head to FCO or CDG.  Expect lots of delays!!!!

And another nail in the coffin for QF ex MEL. Just reconfirms my decision to dump QF whilst a Platinum One was a very wise move. As a MEL based flyer with options such as SQ 5 times a day to Asia and beyond, EK 3 times a day to Europe and UA twice a day to North America, there is no reason to persist even atttempting to fly QF with an inferior inflight experience, no WIFI, and little if any decent flight options. QF has become a joke of an airline.

Yep bad fleet planning. Good time to let QR have an extra frequency out of Melbourne.

Have to say this is really poor.  No same-plane service to London from Australia's second largest city, confirming Qantas' Sydney bias.  The least they could do is run QF9 MEL-PER on an A330 from the international terminal so we can use the international lounges.  Another incredibly disappointing move from Qantas.

The QF9/10 flight numbers have a long-time connection to Melbourne and I’m disappointed that will now stop. As for the flight itself, I never saw the Perth routing a huge time-saver for Melbourne passengers. The other announcement today about new Air India flights is also a reminder about the huge travel demand for non-traditional destinations. Exciting times! 

Need more planes if they want to hit all these fancy destinations.

It’s all about aircraft utilisation and getting more out of the 787s. QF9/10 between PER and MEL has low loads and isn’t prudent use of aircraft they are short of. On days QF9/10 doesn’t operate PER-MEL, the back 2 rows of business are sold as PE on the A330 flight closest to QF9/10 departure time.

Good things Melbournians retain a choice of international flights MEL to LHR with Qatar, Emirates and Singapore Airlines.  

The contempt that Qantas shows Melbourne knows no bounds.

Qantas further pivots to be the Sydney carrier rather than the National Carrier!

Good thing there are plenty of better options out there for Europe bound Melbourne travellers. 

A bit disappointing but I have often seen Videos of people to save a few dollars take a regular domestic flight over to Perth from Melbourne to connect with QF9.this is also since Adelaide to Singapore on the old QF81 was phased out is the South Australian markets default connection using a domestic 737 to link onto the London services.Yes there are better SQ AND MH options or even Qatar via Doha alternatives but either the schedules or transit times are ridiculous.

There are 3 787-9s available in the process of being returned to their owner as Bamboo Airways exits long haul flying.

Maybe QF should pick those up, at least on an interim basis.

I still don't get why Perth to Rome is seasonal the route would be huge success year-round.

Joe Aston was correct in continually pointing out that Joyce has left a massive headache for Qantas with extensive underinvestment in the fleet. Cannot even have residents of Australia’s second most important city sit on a comfortable modern aircraft for the beginning of a 24 hour trip. 

Stunningly bad decision, biggest backward step taken, there must be another imminent announcement.

Well Qantas got caught out by the demand for air travel. The pandemic and the doom and gloom reports from so called business experts. You don’t need a business degree to work out how the economy is doing in OZ. I hear the so called experts bull…t and go to the pub or cafe for a drink and have difficulty in finding a seat. I go online and look for holidays locally all booked up. So is this the climate of a country where everyone is skint. We may have problems in the future but Australians have the abilities to overcome. Bright future that’s my opinion. 

I always try to fly to London with Qantas from Melbourne, but this makes it less attractive. It's getting harder to justify their higher prices and inferior service. I'd sometimes do it for the first lounge at Melbourne international but now that's off the table 

I thought with the departure of Joyce the continued degradation of service to Melbourne would cease.  They obviously don’t understand that Melbourne now has the largest population in Australia and more flexible flight times than Sydney. Other carriers are recognising this with more services.  Spending hours transiting to get on a Syd flight to LHR is not a good experience.  Time to move on from 10 years of platinum and use other carriers internationally.  It’s rubbish. 

Did anyone expect anything different, this is just another failing of an unwinding airline

Its like a big ball of wire springing open with issues everywhere you look. What a disaster show.

Good case study for MBA /eMBA students to study on how not to run a business

How many 787s did Alan Joyce cancel?

They could have had those aircraft with great prices and early delivery slots.  But nope...

Qantas = Sydney's airline. No wonder Melbourne has turned its back on Qantas and the likes of Singapore Airlines and the middle eastern three  have filled the vacum.

Melbourne shafted yet again by Sydtas. Pathetic. Your fast losing another plat, QF....

As noted by others, a typical Sydney centric decision by Qantas to downgrade the services from Melbourne. Why not leave the existing arrangement in place, and start the new Paris flights from Perth, not Sydney, if there is an aircraft shortage?  

The issue is further compounded by the fact that the A380 no longer operates on QF35 & QF36 either so it is no longer even possible to book a Mel to Lon flight in either First Class or Premium Economy one-stop on Qantas.  Mind boggling.

Since coming out of Covid we have lost the QF flight to Haneda (replaced by Narita) to allow Sydney to have two Haneda services a day, lost the LHR flight now, lost capacity to the USA and Singapore.  Whilst flights have been added to Jakarta, Delhi and Dallas, none operate more than 3 times a week during most times of the year.

During the same time Qantas has added capacity left right and centre from Sydney - new flights to Seoul, Bangalore, Paris, Rome, double daily to Haneda, A380 to Johannesburg, Vancouver year round, A330s to Bali, 787s to Honolulu, a few Pacific destinations and on it goes.

It really is hard to understand what Qantas’ strategy is for International out of Melbourne.  Other airlines show that there is both demand and yield.  

Qantas do seem to like to position themselves as the National carrier, but they are simply not that.  They do seem to provide a pretty good network from Sydney but that is where it starts and stops.

I’m not sure they realise nor care what those outside of Sydney think anyway.

Interesting times. 

With Qantas now expecting the next batch of 787-s in 2027, I hope they use this delay as an opportunity to deck them out in the latest configuration of business class that will be also sporting the new Qantas A350’s. Some variant of this would be great. 

Looks like there’s not much hope of Brisbane getting an upgrade from the A330 to the USA or restoration of San Fran service any time soon, and I agree poor quality service out of Melbourne too.

Looks like Brisbane won’t be getting an upgrade from the A330 to the USA any time soon or the reinstatement of the San Fran service, all round sub quality services because of poor fleet management, there is still 3 A380 frames not yet upgraded and back in service. 

Agree gsx.  The Qantas options ex Brisbane to the U.S. are sadly second class.  Don't hold your breath on that direct Brisbane to Chicago service ever getting off the ground any time soon, if at all.

To add insult to injury...the Melbs to/from Singapore options (if trying to connect to QF1/2 and the A380) are using the old A330 product as the service. Crazy crazy days. Definately is a Sydney biased airline in every sense of the word. Next thing you will hear is the First Class Lounge will close in Melbs...no point for the Platinum folk. Insane management of airline.

It was all part of Joyce's plan to defer modernisation of the fleet, saving costs and artificially boosting his (profit aligned) salary.

With a predicted census of a Melbourne being and becoming numerically larger than Sydney, this latest Joyce's revenge  is hard to explain. Melbourne to LHR via Perth and return was a delight on the B 787. I will actively look for an alternative rather than pay for a J seat in a junky B 737 from Melb to Perth. 

If JAL could coordinate the HND to LHR with the inbounds from SYD & MEL,  an hour or two longer but a better in-flight experience and you will avoid travelling via or over the ME.

So syd retains the 787 for thr domestic legs! someone please remind me why we feel Qantas favours SYD over MEL?! 

One of the most perplexing questions in my mind is what is Qantas’ strategy in relation to Europe.  When Emirates strategic partnership over 10 years ago, Qantas was going to concentrate on Asia and North America and in respect of Europe just become a ticketing agent for Emirates.  By 2018 Qantas was just down to two daily flights to London QF1/2 and QF 9/10).  With the announcement of new routes, they clearly want to go beyond this strategy.  In that case surely they should buy the aircraft’s to match their plans rather than this silly routine of better aircraft utilisation and have their European flights starting from Perth and you need to catch a domestic flight to Perth.

So does this mean having to check in at the domestic terminal in Melbourne and then again at the International terminal in Perth? 

As a Perth resident working from time to time offshore Victoria, the QF 9 Melb Perth Melb leg was brilliant for a good lunch in first lounge( well Melb only), quite surrounds to work before flight, and then a decent business upgrade seat which you can't get on the 330. I guess this is indicative of where Qf is going. Wondering what's next?

Qantas's second-class treatment of Melbourne has been around for decades. Direct flights are available on other carriers to the Middle East, KL, BKK, multiple cities in China, SFO, Santiago, India, Columbo, Vietnam and so on. But oh no, not on Qantas. Why ever would one choose to fly to Europe/UK on Qantas starting and finishing with a domestic flight. What a joke.

It’s just not worth stressing about. Qantas does not care about us Melbourne based travellers so just take an other airline option. There are plenty of them offering equal or better service, similar overall travel times and at a lower cost. I truly don’t see the appeal of the Melbourne, Perth London trip, have done it once and much rather have a mid flight break in Singapore or KL. 

Another sign that QF really is a Sydney centric airline.  Quite aside from losing the 787 across to Perth, can you imagine the outcry of they took away the QF1 and QF2 flight numbers away from Sydney?  QF9 and QF10 have been MEL-LHR flight numbers for as long as I can remember, they're almost iconic.  

I, as a Melburian, truly disgusted by Qantas attitude to Melbourne. Only pax from Adelaide could be more disgusted considering that Qantas does not fly international destination from Wine Capital. At all.

I'm flying Qatar. Great seats and service all the way through to LHR. Not a cobbled together QF offering ex MEL.

Have done the QF9/QF10 pair a number of times since inception but post pandemic have done MEL/LHR via QF35/QF1 and QF2/QF36 using the Singapore stop to stretch my legs and indulge in the new and great First Lounge in Singapore. Yes, I am a Platinum and not running to a tight timetable and don't notice any great differences between the B787 and A380, even the upgraded A330/A320 in J are OK. 

Are QF seriously keeping those rickety old A330s going until 2027?

Qantas! The spirit of Sydney

Qantas has been Sydney Airlines for years and this confirms it., especially as Melbourne is now Australia's biggest city. Melbourne now enjoys the status of a regional centre, requiring changes of aircraft, terminals etc. for international destinations. Anybody who sees Qantas as a "national carrier" is deluded. Even on a local level, try flights on Qantas between Albury and Melbourne which is Albury's nearest big city and to all purposes its capital. One flight each way Melbourne, three flights each way Sydney. Stick with Sydney Qantas, the rest of the country really doesn't need you any more. 

Next three trips to US and EU with Qantas' competitors and absolutely no regrets after reading this. Where's the respect for largest city in Aus.

the time saving over say anything through Bangkok or Singapore or Hong Kong with any of the Qantas opposition isn't really worth it.I have only done the old QF9/QF10 when that was through Singapore to the UK and back again from Melbourne as far as Asia and that was in the days of the 747-400(Outbound on one trip was QF81  on the a330 when that existed Adelaide to Singapore)used conventional domestic 737's to connect before or once I got a 767 MEL-ADL).Time poor business people excepted who need the nonstop Perth to the UK either way aside and a domestic connector are the rare exception who benefit.You can for instance get SQ228(Singapore Airlines)in the summer months 4:50pm arrives 9:40pm into Singapore then SQ322 11:30pm arriving next day 5:55am with way superior service,that's 7.5 hours up plus 1 hour 50 minutes transit and then 13 hours 25 minutes onward to the UK A total of 23h5 minutes.Via Perth currently it's four hours then about 1 hour 50 minutes on the ground and just over 17 hours onto London.not much of a saving if one thinks about it.SQ you get a international plane all the way.Qantas will put you onto either a 737 or a330(check your schedules for a best connection)and then there's the whole doing Customs in Perth domestic to international nonsense.

This will become a downward spiral as Melburnians choose SQ or another option.  Qantas will see low demand for MEL-LHR and therefore not be in a hurry to offer a non-stop Sunrise flight (once the Sydney exclusive arrangement runs out).  Qantas needs to decide (or maybe it already has) whether to take Australia's largest city seriously.

Qantas is a private airline that focuses primarily on profit for shareholders. Why are you so surprised by these decisions. If the plane makes money flying from some where else, then that’s what it will do. 

Regarding the comments here around Melbourne now being the biggest city in Australia. Looking at population is useful as an indicator of potential demand, but it is just one of many highly complex factors airlines use. 

Melbourne may have just become larger by measured population, but it didn’t just suddenly become larger in its influence, pull or economy. This will take a long time. 

Melbourne’s population is now larger than Sydney’s because of a redrawn borderline. The net population who have access to MEL remains the same. Melbourne’s population being bigger on paper right now is not going to have any impact on the operational realities of QF9/10. 

QF should bring back the A380 to MEL-LHR. Getting rid of the A380 on this route was such a shame.

At an early stage, there were B787 bases at MEL and BNE with equivalent of 4 aircraft each. LAX – JFK has been dropped with JFK flights now through AKL.  BNE – LAX is now an A330-200 flight.  The other two aircraft were to operate BNE –SFO and BNE Chicago. BNE – SFO has not resumed post covid. The BNE – Chicago never commenced, probably will never commence with a Sunrise A350 operating SYD – Chicago.  BNE planes are now SYD based.

The original 4 B787s which were Melbourne based and operated MEL – PER – LHR return then by memory 4 to SFO, 2 to LAX and one just turned around. MEL – SFO has not resumed post covid. There is only one MEL – LAX.

Two A380s were scraped and were replaced by 2 B787s operating daily SYD – DFW return with one B787 operating 3 DFW – MEL return.  The DFW – MEL planes can be swapped in and out in DFW with the SYD aircraft. On seventh day, a Tuesday it can operate the MEL – LAX service. (A B787 from somewhere will have to flown in to operate the Wednesday MEL – DFW service.)

With no service continuing to USA, the PER – MEL B787 would be on the ground for 20 hours in MEL. Scrapping the service saves one aircraft which can be utilised elsewhere.  All B787’s now SYD based.

However, this is only brings forward what will happen when A35os replace the B787s which has to happen to make the LHR Sunrise work.  With a shorter flight time with curfews at each end, late evening LHR departure cannot happen. 

PER – LHR flight operate with same arrival time of 5:05am and similar departure times of 11:50 /11:55 all year round. The A350s could operate with LHR arrival and departure times fixed with changes in Australian times to cover different seasonal flight times and the daylight time changes.

SYD departure times to be late afternoon/early evening with an LHR arrival time around 6:30 am. This aircraft to become the PER flight. Aircraft ex PER, to depart LHR around 8:30 am to arrive in SYD early/mid afternoon. These times would allow SYD aircraft to have quick turnaround in LHR if there were operational problems with PER aircraft.

When MEL – LHR starts operating, the aircraft to depart MEL late evening, similar to previous A380 service, with a LHR arrival time around 10:00am.  The aircraft to depart to PER with an around 14:00 departure time.  The ex SYD to operate now operate to MEL, at PER departure time, with a late afternoon arrival time in MEL.  This is very tight but the original B787 times were tight.