Qatar Airways to Canberra??

[Alex Lui]

Press Release here (http://www.qatarairways.com/qa/en/press-release.page?pr_id=pressrelease_2017destinations&CID=SMALL0678502232000000001105).

The sentence that struck out to me:
'Joining the Qatar Airways’ route network, which spans more than 150 destinations on six continents around the world, are: Canberra, the airline’s fifth destination in Australia.'

OK, so maybe it seems the move by Singapore Airlines wasn't that crazy after all?

No specifics as yet, but the press release states a start date of 2017.

Alex.

[Alex Lui]

A Canberra Times news article on this matter. (http://http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/qatar-airlines-announces-flights-to-canberra-with-its-list-of-new-201718-destinations-20161128-gszilh.html)

[MarkR]

Talk is cheap when it comes to Qatar, as time has shown.

[Mark Grima]

I flew Doha - Adelaide - Canberra yesterday (the day after this was announced).

Upon checking in, in Doha the Qatar staff member appeared confused my bag would only check to ADL. He then said "You're bag will only go to Adelaide, but you go to Canberra. Why? Is Canberra still in Australia"?

I had a good laugh but didn't have the heart to tell him his airline had just announced these flights!!

Cheers

M

[MarkR]

It will be interesting to watch how this goes, as high density altitude conditions at Canberra in all probability mean load limits or enroute stops during summer.

[Greg Hyde]

Qatar Airways plans Canberra launch in 2017/18

Canberra has been named as one of eight new destinations Qatar Airways will add to its fast-growing network.

The announcement was made during a media event in Casablanca on Monday (local time).

Qatar indicated flights to Canberra would begin some time in the 2017/18 timeframe, without providing any further details, such as frequencies and operating aircraft type.

The Australian capital would be Qatar’s fifth destination in this country.

It would also be Canberra’s second international service, following Singapore Airlines’ Capital Express Singapore-Canberra-Wellington flights that started in September.

Canberra Airport managing director Stephen Byron said he expected Qatar to operate nonstop to Canberra from its Doha hub when flights do eventually commence.

“Our view is that it is most likely, in fact very likely, the service will be in the later evening just as the Singapore Airlines flight is and again that is taking advantage of Canberra Airport’s curfew free status, which has been critical to the development of our international flight operations,” Byron told reporters at Canberra Airport on Tuesday, according to a video of the media conference posted on the airport’s Facebook page.

“It’s a great day for Canberra, a great day for tourism into the city and what a fantastic follow on from the Singapore Airlines first flight which was just 69 days ago.”

Byron said start of SIA’s flights and the Qatar announcement to serve the city would help attract more services.

Further, he said discussions were ongoing with a number of other Australian and overseas airlines about international flights, which could lead to a new service starting before Qatar begins its operations to Canberra.

“We always thought there would be a race to be first to be second if you like,” Byron said.

“We’ve been talking to the other Middle Eastern hub carriers, to the other Asian hub carriers and also to the Chinese airlines about direct flights.

“It is possible that an airline could announce a service to a different route that might commence before that time.”

Read More

http://australianaviation.com.au/2016/11/qatar-airways-plans-canberra-launch-in-201718/

[Alex Lui]

According to the Canberra Times, start date for the flights are tentatively penned in for February 2018.

No news on whether it will be extended to Sydney as per a number of rumour mills.

[MarkR]

No news on whether it will be extended to Sydney as per a number of rumour mills.


Al Baker did say the flights would include Sydney http://aviationweek.com/airline-fleets-network/qatar-airways-targets-australasian-growth

So it must be true, after all he is the CEO and his word is final...............:D

Allergy Warning - My post was composed by machinery that also makes sarcasm.

[Stefan Perkas]

Morning all,

Daily flights Doha-Sydney-Canberra-Sydney-Doha with B777-300ER's starting February 2018...

Qatar Airways in February 2018 plans to expand service to Australia, as the airline opened bookings for Doha – Sydney – Canberra service, Subject to Government Approval. With this new 777-300ER service, the airline’s overall service to Sydney will increase to 2 daily.

First flight from Doha is scheduled on 12FEB18.

QR906 DOH0810 – 0615+1SYD0725+1 – 0825+1CBR 77W D
QR907 CBR1345 – 1445SYD1555 – 2230DOH 77W D

QR does not have local traffic rights (including online connection/stopover traffic) on Sydney – Canberra sector.

Info from: http://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/273938/qatar-airways-schedules-canberra-feb-2018-launch/

[Kim F]

Today's paper suggests that the B777 will only be used on the CBR-SYD leg. Customers will then fly on A380. Seems a bit of overkill to me.

[Kim F]

Link attached
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/business-class-boost-as-qatar-begin-daily-services-to-canberra-in-february-20170730-gxln64.html

[Rowan McKeever]

Hey Kim :) I read that the same way too, but on reflection I think it's just a poorly worded way of saying they will travel to DOH on the 77W then connect to other flights (some of which will be opb A380) from there. Having a 77W stationed permanently in SYD just to do 2 hours flying a day makes zero sense (but QR does have more $ than sense!).

[NathanJ]

High quality journalism indeed!

One other thing that needs to be noted is that the SYD-CBR & CBR-SYD legs are not sold as domestic flights.

[MarkR]

Hey Kim :) I read that the same way too, but on reflection I think it's just a poorly worded way of saying they will travel to DOH on the 77W then connect to other flights (some of which will be opb A380) from there. Having a 77W stationed permanently in SYD just to do 2 hours flying a day makes zero sense (but QR does have more $ than sense!).

The previously published flights make it clear, unless the customer wants a long layover in Sydney of 6 hours it will be 77W all the way.

[Ash W]

High quality journalism indeed!

One other thing that needs to be noted is that the SYD-CBR & CBR-SYD legs are not sold as domestic flights.

Would be good if the SYD-CBR-SYD legs could be sold as an international connections to other airlines. Inbound it would offer a perfect connection for Qantas passengers headed to Canberra with all the international flights that arrive at that hour.

[MarkR]

Not going to happen, cabotage is very rare, and usually only see during pilots strikes.

[Alex Lui]

Sorry to dig up an old thread.

A7-BEP is the Scheduled aircraft operating the inaugural QR906 to Sydney and Canberra from Doha.

A7-BEP was delivered 31/10/17 to Qatar Airways, so quite a new aircraft as expected since the airline announced the new product would be operating the inaugural flight.

Looking forward to the pictures tomorrow.

Alex.

[David C]

I’m hoping the QR continue to use the new product 777’s on the run as I’m on it in 2 weeks time .

Dave C

[Andrew P]

Qatar has to go via Sydney as Canberra airport is not long enough for a direct flight to Doha

[Rowan McKeever]

No. Not even close. QR has to operate a tag to CBR because that's the only way they can have a double daily service to SYD under the existing bilateral air services agreement. CBR is on the route map for SYD's purposes, definitely, positively, absolutely not the other way around.

[Kim F]

But Andrew P is correct, a direct flight to Doha is not physically possible due to runway length.

[Moderator]

Looking forward to the pictures tomorrow.

Alex.

Congrats to YSSY Forum members Seth Jaworski and Kurt Ams for coordinating and capturing the following visual content on behalf of Qatar Airways.

Arrival into Canberra Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK3qQRvXwMg

Arrival into Canberra Photos
https://www.facebook.com/pg/qatarairways/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1870968966255348

Qatar Airways Press Release
https://www.qatarairways.com/en/press-releases/2018/february/qatar-airways-touches-down-for-the-first-time-in-canberra--the-c.html?activeTag=Press-releases&CID=SMALL0678502232000000001105

[MarkR]

But Andrew P is correct, a direct flight to Doha is not physically possible due to runway length.

Not technically correct, a direct flight Canberra to Doha could be possible, just not with a full load, a quick look at the charts would suggest a 500000lb max weight scenario as a rough guide, throw in fuel for Doha and payload might not be great!

By linking with Sydney they are maximising load and traffic allowances under capacity agreements.

There is a really good article on performance limited takes offs worth a read:
http://www.flight.org/performance-limited-takeoff-in-a-boeing-777

[Lukas M]

They wouldn’t direct in a 777 anyway. Regional/Small market probably the 787-8.

[Yusef D]

Don’t think the 788 could do CBR-DOH. 789 would have the range , not sure about the field performance.

The syd-cbr-syd tag flight could really be just a way to get more Syd-Doh traffic rights.

[Zac M]

The 787-8 has a max range of 13621, dependant on route taken a B788 should be able to make the journey from Canberra to Doha. I am sure the only limit would most likely be the climb requirement, the runway is long enough for pretty much everything with the extension however the climb requirement due to surrounding terrain is what usually causes payload restrictions with operations out of Canberra, the Dash 8-300s and ATRs are incredibly prone to this issue and it is not uncommon to see both types departing off runway 17 with a down wind due to the lesser climb requirement.

But yes, the second line of Yusef's post is certainly an accurate one!

[Yusef D]

I take maximum quoted range figures with a large grain (sack) of salt.

For my aircraft to achieve anything like the manufacturer's range the galleys would need to be ripped out, the only passengers would be a handful of dehydrated jockeys and the last 30 minutes of the flight would be deliberately conducted with LOW FUEL cautions. Nope de nope.