Qantas to run double daily flights to Hong Kong

By David Flynn, March 17 2016
Qantas to run double daily flights to Hong Kong

Qantas will ratchet up its Sydney-Hong Kong route between April and October, with most weeks seeing two flights per day.

QF117/118 will run on an Airbus A330 daily from April 4 to May 1 and again from July 18 to October 29, but throttle back to six days a week – with no flights on Friday – from May 2 to July 17.

The extended service provides an alternative to Qantas' daily Boeing 747 service which remains on the roster as QF127/128.

However, the exact flight times vary from day to day – and it's quite a muddle to work through, so here's our summary.

QF117, Sydney to Hong Kong

  • On Mondays and Wednesdays, QF117 departs Sydney at 12.15pm to reach Hong Kong at 7.40pm
  • On Tuesdays and Thursdays, QF117 departs Sydney at 11.40am to reach Hong Kong at 7.05pm
  • On Fridays and Saturdays, QF117 departs Sydney at 10.15am to reach Hong Kong at 5.40pm
  • On Sundays, QF117 departs Sydney at 11.15am to reach Hong Kong at 6.40pm

QF118, Hong Kong to Sydney

  • On Mondays and Wednesdays, QF118 departs Hong Kong at 9.35pm to reach Sydney at 9am the next day
  • On Tuesdays and Thursdays, QF118 departs Hong Kong at 8.50pm to reach Sydney at 8.15am the next day
  • On Fridays, QF118 departs Hong Kong at 9.25pm to reach Sydney at 8.50am the next day
  • On Saturdays, QF118 departs Hong Kong at 8.20pm to reach Sydney at 7.45am the next day
  • On Sundays, QF118 departs Hong Kong at 9.25pm to reach Sydney at 8.50am the next day

Qantas added QF117/118 to the Hong Kong schedule in October 2015 running four days a week, and the airline says the bump to a daily frequency is in response to "strong demand in the market."

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David

David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.

Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards

19 Mar 2014

Total posts 567

So many OW options... 1400 - 1800 seats a day on any given day. Yet... Nothing from VA. Looks like the strategic tie up between Etihad and Singapore funnels all europe traffic via Abu Dhabi and Singapore respectively. 

03 Sep 2015

Total posts 7

I wonder if Qantas is thinking of ordering/leasing some more a330s... that would give them more freedom with the timing of their new flights (considering the slots are available) and the ability to expand their network without taking planes from domestic operations.

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

02 Jul 2011

Total posts 1378

I doubt it.. Once they finish up the refurb program that will release an additional one-two aircraft.

Long-term the 787 seems to be the 330 replacement.

FLX
FLX

10 Dec 2015

Total posts 177

Totally agree.  In fact, I see the 789 as the long-term replacement for both the 333 AND some 744s @ QF.

Anyway, why ordering/leasing some more a330s when:

1) Tons of 787 option+purchase right held by QF Group hv not yet been exercised/converted into firm orders.  Relative to current list price /new contract price, QF Group got its 787 deal @ a tremendous discount when the contract(Geoff Dixon ordered upto 115units back then so U can imagine the kinda volume discount in addition to the typical launch discount...) was signed with Boeing over 10yrs ago to help launch the 787 program so why waste such a good deal by signing long lease for more 330s?

2) In terms of usable cabin floor area, the 789 joining QF fleet fm 2017 is practically indentical to the 333 plying QF's Asian routes today.  The only diff:  More belly cargo capacity+signficantly higher payload/range allowing the flexibility to redeploy 789 on much longer QF intercon routes anytime if desire(e.g. arrive fm HND in a.m. and depart for SFO in p.m. on the same day is operationally doable for 789 but not 333).

3) Not all 330s in the fleet are actually delivering capacity to the QF network system today due to the ongoing refurb program.  Once completed fleet-wide, more 330 capacity will be available anyway without resorting to the complexity of short-term leasing.

22 Mar 2013

Total posts 28

Why QF not adding any day time flights from Asia, or overnight flights to Asia?

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

10 Sep 2014

Total posts 84

Um... this article is about Qantas adding daytime flights to Asia??

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

06 Jan 2013

Total posts 13

I think featheast means morning departure from Hong Kong to Australia, and evening departures from Australia to HK.  It's a good question - QF88 was my preference before they ditched it.

I'd say it has to do with slot availability out of HK, far as I'm aware it's been a bit of an achievement for Qantas to get 2 flights a day at all.

FLX
FLX

10 Dec 2015

Total posts 177

It is an achievement(Though not impossible to get slots in HKG especially for a carrier like QF which has some grand-fathered priority.....QF used to utilize 6 daily slot pairs in HKG circa late 90s /early 2000s) and a much needed one for QF especially to compete against CX's 4x daily....

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

25 Mar 2014

Total posts 220

I agree with you something different eg Ningbo, Guangzhou etc

I presume you mean into other Chinese cities

I guess they dont see the value as HK still a hub to europe and beyond and obvious high demand

FLX
FLX

10 Dec 2015

Total posts 177

HKG is a hub to Europe & beyond.....for CX's system....not really for QF.

In the SYD-HKG mkt, QF moving fm 11x wkly to 14x wkly is mainly an attempt to close the gap(Actually, more like a gulf...) against CX's 28x wkly.

FLX
FLX

10 Dec 2015

Total posts 177

I recall QF did tried such time slot combo on HKG-SYD route(Roughly 0900-1000 dep fm HKG) yrs ago but it didn't work commercially and was abandoned.

Such timing does not work for QF(Not CX though but for diff reasons which I can't explain here without risking being kicked out by the regulator of this website...) most likely because a day time dep from E.Asia(e.g. HKG) would mean an evening/late evening arrival in AU(e.g. SYD)....also mean practically no domestic connection opportunities @ SYD.  With no connecting feed also @ HKG(Too early a.m and just too much bad blood CX vs QF), such QF flight can realistically only fight for pure OD traffic....instantly U hv much less demand for seats on such schedule.  This problem cascade to why QF can't send a plane overnight fm AU arriving E.Asia in the morning even though domestic feed @ SYD won't be a problem.

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

06 Jan 2013

Total posts 13

Yes, true.  Coming in on QF88 always meant an overnight in SYD if were connecting to BNE.  No call for MEL connection because at that time QF30 departed HKG mid morning (after arrliving from LHR) for a PM arrival into MEL.  Therefore QF88 would only carry SYD passengers, plus the odd weirdo like me who is OK to overnight for the BNE connection.  Was only a A330 though ...

FLX
FLX

10 Dec 2015

Total posts 177

'Was only a A330 though.'

Luckily though, it wasn't a 744 and only a 333.  Otherwise, QF's experiment with such schedule(i.e. QF88) to rely only on OD traffic would hv lasted much shorter.

Having said that, if a properly configured(i.e. int'l with Skybed1) 332 or even the grandpa 763ER was available, QF88 might hv lasted a bit longer.....

Unless QF select 788(Not difficult since its contract basically  allows QF Group to select any 787 variant) for its future fleet to enable it to carry very small traffic volume efficiently, we won't see timing like QF88 again anytime soon.

30 Aug 2013

Total posts 439

I wonder why the flights leave at different times each day - why dont they all leave at the same time?!

03 Sep 2015

Total posts 7

I'm guessing it has something to do with plane avalability. Or slots in Honk kong.

FLX
FLX

10 Dec 2015

Total posts 177

Bingo.  More specifically, daily rotation/roster schedule of each airframe across the QF network.  Unless an airframe is near retirement, very few airlines can afford to dedicate a single bird to serve just 1 route these days due to the drive to maximize utilization /RoI.

07 Aug 2012

Total posts 194

Scarcity of slots at HKG.

12 Dec 2012

Total posts 1027

As expected.

It had been expected that HKG would get 3 extra flights a week when they announced moving a 747 onto MEL-HKG 3 days a week last October, which then released a A330 for those 3 days. QF also asked for 3 more flights from the AU pool at the same time. However, that A330 ended up making MEL-SIN 10 weekly.

03 Aug 2015

Total posts 58

Did QF pick up these slots or always had them? They are hard to come by in HK

12 Dec 2012

Total posts 1027

QF appears to have rights to some slots at HKG that are currently used by other airlines from when they operated a Europe connection hub there.

Slot availablity is quite poor. No info for the next IATA season (Summer 16) but avg week for the current season can be seen at https://www.hkgslot.gov.hk/Slot_Availability.html#

Rob
Rob

30 Mar 2012

Total posts 13

Would these slots be from the  Perth flights that were stopped? I think they were three times a week.

06 Feb 2014

Total posts 113

The Perth slots went to Brisbane from recollection to allow Brisbane to be bumped from 4x to daily.  Qantas always said to make HK economic they needed daily frequencies...which give rise to the question if they now have 4 x daily slots could they open up Perth- HK again instead of extra Sydney capacity

FLX
FLX

10 Dec 2015

Total posts 177

Wow, QF ditched PER-HKG quite a long time ago...and when it did that, QF wasn't even as SYD hub-centric back then as it is today.

While we're clearly @ risk of being kicked out by this website's regulator for going off-topic re ancient op history of QF in HKG, why not stray further... [deleted by admin - further off-topic]


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