QF set to launch DFW flights from 16MAY11

[Jon Harris]

Not officially confirmed, however flights schedules already loaded in systems.

From 16MAY11
SYD-DFW will operate 5 x weekly (daily except thu/sun) non-stop with 744s
Flight is QF7 dep: 1325 arr: 1350

DFW-BNE-SYD
Flight QF8 dep: 2200 arr: BNE 0500+2 dep: 0630 arr: SYD 0805

It is rumoured SFO services will be suspended if DFW goes ahead.

[Jason H]

Obviously will be limited to ER's only. Good for Brissie spotters, and of course DFW, as they will be frequently visited by Wunala.

[JamesW]

From airliners.net forum, same guy that said they were in the amadeus system.
At the moment all flights details for the QF7/QF8 have been pulled off from Amadeus - it merely states FLIGHT NOT OPERATIONAL.

Will keep everyone posted...

I still think it's going ahead though - fingers crossed!

Looks like they can't make up their mind :D

[Kieran Wells]

It is rumoured SFO services will be suspended if DFW goes ahead.

How profitable have the SFO services been? I went on it when it just started(about 1 week after it recommenced), and it was full as.. But thats been a couple of years now. I really hope it doesn't get discontinued, but gets downgraded. I wouldn't want to go on one of those UA's just to get there non stop!

At first they were saying on a.net that it was 3x per week, now 5x. Agree with James - They definately can't make up their minds. One of the latest posts indicate an announcement this afternoon australian time.

[Sarah C]

It will be confirmed this morning - SFO axed from 14 May and DFW to operate SYD/DFW/BNE/SYD.

[Justin L]

Isn't SFO planned for JQ (along with YVR) once they get their 787s?

[Kieran Wells]

Flights can now be booked on the Qantas website - Looking approx $1767 return per person on the QF7/8 rotation.(dates i ran were 16/MAY, 23/MAY).

Not sure if the SFO flights are going to go, as they show as one of the routings to DFW on the dates i put in??

[Brad Myer]

It's official!

*The existing SYD-SFO-SYD will be cut from May 2011.

*New 4x weekly SYD-DFW-BNE-SYD to start in May 2011.

*From June 2011 JFK services will be increased to daily.

Thanks

[Andrew P]

wonder if the BNE stop on the way back is due to distances DFW-Aussie east coast?

[Kieran Wells]

wonder if the BNE stop on the way back is due to distances DFW-Aussie east coast?

Correct, and its also the headwinds coming back across the pacific.

[Daniel F]

http://www.qantas.com.au/agents/dyn/qf/info/201101/0109

[Jason H]

QF8 DFW-BNE, at 16hours, has to be one of the longest non-stop legs Qantas has ever operated (apart from the Catalina which is the only other longer service I can think of).

[David C]

QF8 DFW-BNE, at 16hours, has to be one of the longest non-stop legs Qantas has ever operated (apart from the Catalina which is the only other longer service I can think of).


Probably longest in time , however, SYD-DFW is over 7450NM and is of a greater distance . I wonder if SYD-DFW will be the longest distance non stop scheduled B747-400 flight globally , and will it be payload restricted ??..

Dave C

[Jason H]

Dave, yes it is the longest 747 by distance operation globally. Refer to the article.

http://www.ausbt.com.au/qantas-to-start-dallas-sydney-direct-flights

[Jarden S]

Its a pity they drop SFO altogether it is a great tourist destination. Will they not have enough spare 747s to do both DFW and SFO, so it had to be either or situation and the best returns were seen at DFW not SFO. Will have to wait till Jetstar gets the 787s then.

[danielc]

It looks like QF are offerring some nice intro fares for the new flights. I put sample economy trip of MEL-DFW return with 16May outbound and 10Jun inbound and it priced at $AUD998 AI.

[Sarah C]

Its a pity they drop SFO altogether it is a great tourist destination. Will they not have enough spare 747s to do both DFW and SFO, so it had to be either or situation and the best returns were seen at DFW not SFO. Will have to wait till Jetstar gets the 787s then.

SFO was a losing battle - not enough return, and not being daily does hurt too.

Having the 777 would have been ideal to serve both destinations.

[Mario Facchini]

SYD/DFW would be the third longest non-stop route at 8,624 miles - 17 hours I believe.

That would be correct Andrew,

The 2 longer flights are:

Newark To Singapore 9535miles
LA to Singapore 8770 miles

[Trevor Sinclair]

Press Release says: Qantas to fly to Dallas allowing you to connect to more US cities. On sale from Sydney and Melbourne $998.

[Brock Little]

News report here:

http://money.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8196831

[Zac M]

I for one will be enjoying the flight on QF8 from Brisbane to Sydney one day.

[Kieran Wells]

"I think Dallas will have a higher component of business passengers.
"We have limited resources and aircraft and we think that Dallas is just a great, exciting opportunity for us and that the aircraft are better suited to operate on that route."


More cowboys from Texas??? :D

[James Smith]

These new flights may also be a pre-emptive strike by QANTAS/American on United/Continental's planned 787 services from Houston to Auckland.

Will Qantas JFK flights still fly via LAX?

Jetstar to SFO I predict when they get their 787s. Joyce has said that it is too much of a leisure route. Ideal for Jetstar.

[Grahame Hutchison]

Today's QF FF email listed return fares to Dallas/Fort Worth from 16 May to 30 November 2011 at $998 Economy, and $2598 for Premium Economy.

[danielc]

Why have JQ wait for the 787 to start serving SFO? Just add the HNL-SFO legs onto JQ3/4 and you could have the A330s serve the same route that used to be flown in the 70s/80s by QF3/4 747 SYD-HNL-SFO. Pull QF totally off the HNL route since it is mostly a leisure market anyway. I am sure JQ could come up with some very attractive fares for this route.

I flew UA SFO-HNL return back in November and they are basically operating as a LCC anyway (ie charging for meals, baggage, etc - No IFE on their domestic 777s) so JQ wouldn't be competing against a very high service bar other than maybe for Hawaiian Air which has recently started flying A330s between HNL and the US west coast.

[Brock Little]

Why have JQ wait for the 787 to start serving SFO? Just add the HNL-SFO legs onto JQ3/4 and you could have the A330s serve the same route that used to be flown in the 70s/80s by QF3/4 747 SYD-HNL-SFO. Pull QF totally off the HNL route since it is mostly a leisure market anyway. I am sure JQ could come up with some very attractive fares for this route.

I flew UA SFO-HNL return back in November and they are basically operating as a LCC anyway (ie charging for meals, baggage, etc - No IFE on their domestic 777s) so JQ wouldn't be competing against a very high service bar other than maybe for Hawaiian Air which has recently started flying A330s between HNL and the US west coast.

Probably a good Idea Daniel, although would there be any space in the JQ A330 schedule to fly the SFO add-on? The last time I heard, it was quite stretched schedule-wise.

[D Chan]

Going out of SFO will benefit United, I wonder if V Australia will consider SFO as well.

It is a real problem of not having any aircraft under the 744/A380 capacity category with ultra long haul range.

[Jarden S]

DFW has a lot going for it. It is the eighth busiest airport in the world transporting 56,030,457 passengers in 2009. With 7 runways all of which do not intersect which certainly helps reducing traffic delays. American Airlines alone has 745 flights a day. It is also the primary base for American Eagle.
The airport is served 138 domestic destinations and 38 international.
I presume Qantas will use Terminal D International. Will the aircraft that operates the 4 per week SFO runs go straight to do the 4 per week DFW or are they operating on different days resulting a fair bit of fleet rescheduling?

[Brandon Giacomin]

I for one will be enjoying the flight on QF8 from Brisbane to Sydney one day.

I will be enjoying it on May 22 :D

[Brock Little]

You suck Brandon, you really do. :D

[Brent L]

Hmm tempting to fly a 744 for a domestic leg, now that the 743 are no longer in the fleet. Flew one from Mel-Perth return. Not bad for $77

[Wayne Bee]

Saw this online from the SMH

"In fact, the return service will stop in Brisbane on its way back because passengers will have to be offloaded to make the extra 441 kilometres to Sydney."

This may be the way to do things, keep stopping, off load and you could go anywhere

[Will H]

Hmm tempting to fly a 744 for a domestic leg, now that the 743 are no longer in the fleet. Flew one from Mel-Perth return. Not bad for $77

MEL-PER return for $77 is generally "not bad". ;) How did you manage to snag that fare, or was there a mistake somewhere?

[Beau Chenery]

Guys,

will QF be doing route proving flights prior to commencement? If so does anyone know when?

Cheers
Beau

[Stuart Trevena]

Easter Greetings,

While I do trust Qantas, I have a question on the Range issue of the B747-400RR.
According to the Qantas Press Release back in Jan, they state they will use a 3 Class B747-400 - Currently they are OJA, OJB, OJI, & OJJ.

According to the Qantas website the range with Full payload of these A/C is 12,700kms, and also from the Boeing Website the Max Range is 13,450kms.

Now Given that Sydney - Dallas/Fort Worth is 13,800, can someone please advise how Qantas can do this with spare Fuel for Holding time, with out using the A380 which has the Range?

Will this route be weight restrictive??

Please Advise

Stuart

[Jason H]

They will be using 747-400ERs only, not RR. ERs have a range of 14,200km. SYD-DFW is 15,886km, but tailwinds most of the way so they can make it there.

I imagine it will be quite a common occurance for the flights to be weight restrictive, as winds change daily across the Pacific.

As for the 3 cabin configuration, Qantas do this all the time with 4 class aircraft. SYD-SFO is a 3 cabin route, but that doesn't stop Qantas sending ERs and other 4 cabin aircraft over and just blocking off first class.

[Jon Harris]

"First" is not actually blocked off...it's normally assigned to top tier FFs...so you get a First Class seat with Business Service...and some lucky Premium Economy pax get to sit in Sky Bed seats - I think row 29/30 are SkyBed with Prem Eco service...

[Sarah C]

A reminder that the first flight departs on Monday at 1:30pm.

[Brandon Giacomin]

According to another forum VH-OEE is to operate the inaugural Dallas service on Monday.

[Jack B]

Anyone know how senior DFW is for Cabin Crew at this point?

[Gareth U]

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Ahem.

Joking aside, as with any new destination, it will be very senior. Qantas could start flying to Kabul and it would senior until at least everyone could say they've done one.

Some DFW patterns originate in BNE (op by BNE crew) - so they are senior by virtue that the base is senior. The SYD patterns will also be senior as the long range allowance and overtime will be excellent and the trip is high hours. Some trips involve paxing from BNE on the way home (after a layover), which is popular with commuters, and some have LAX-DFW pax sectors.

I worked with crew who were upset about losing SFO (again). I said that I didn't care about losing SFO. At 10 years seniority I had never had the chance to go there! They looked very puzzled.

[Matt_L]

QFA7 diverted to Houston IAH today due weather.

The return flight to Dallas DFW approximately 40 minutes flying time and it cruised at FL 270

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/QFA7

[Radi K]

Did the first flight really take nearly 17 hours??

[Max C]

http://www.ausbt.com.au/qantas-leaves-baggage-behind-in-dallas-deliberately?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=flipper&utm_campaign=home-flipper

Didn't take long!

[Dave Parer]

So it's only the 747-400ER's that can fly to Dallas. Correct me if I am wrong but that would mean only OEE, OEF, OEG, OEH, OEI and OEJ can operated to Dallas.

Is OEB able to operate the flight to Dallas?

[Steve Bottom]

If i read this correct, Qantas announce a service route that cant really be done at max weight , so 3 containers of bags get left behind, to make the aircraft light enough for the trip .

Now how many times is this going to happen, how long before word of mouth has " don't fly this route you never get your bags" .

Things like that will not boost passenger numbers.

[Jayden Laing]

Originally posted by Chris D
It's a non-ER B747, ex-Asiana, so I doubt it'll be able to. Another reason it can't do the service is that it was apparently last seen in Easter Island as far as I know.


In regards to OEB, she is back in Sydney. Just off the coast 8,500ft coming in from Easter Island

[Jason H]

Interesting that OEB is using the callsign "Oscar Echo Bravo" rather than a flight number

[Geoff W]

Help guys?

Why on earth is the flight coming in from the Easter Islands, it's (way) off the coast of Chile isnt it? Or am I confused?

Isnt it supposed to come back via BNE, to assist with head wind stuff, surely HNL, or NAN could support it "in a cant make" it scenario!

It just seems a LONG way south to me.

Very happy to be informed and corrected.

Kind regards,

Geoff

[Jason H]

Geoff,

OEB is arriving from Easter Island from a Captain's Choice tour, not DFW. I guess this thread has altered it's topic a bit.

[Geoff W]

Thanks Jason.

I WAS confused.

Kind regards,

Geoff

[JamesW]

MMM is weird that it came in as OEB, although it filed 2 ATS FP's, one as QFA6034, the other as OEB :confused:

(FPL-VHOEB-IN
-B744/H-SDHIYRWZJPG/SD
-SCIP2130
-N0493F300 DCT 28S113W/N0494F320 29S119W
2910S12000W30S126W/N0494F340 31S131W/M085F340 31S132W 32S137W 33S141W
34S144W35S147W 37S152W 38S156W 38S157W/M085F360 38S158W 38S159W 38S162W39S174W
3949S17845E 40S176E/M085F380 4007S17049E 40S166E 40S165E3921S16300E 39S162E 38S160E
37S158E DCT PLUGA DCT SHARK N774 SY DCT
-YSSY1115
-EET/NTTT0120 SCIZ0201 NZZO0235 NZZC0806 NZZO0857 YBBB0946
YMMM1106 RIF/38S160E 38S165E 38S170E PEBLU N759 AA NZAA REG/VHOEB
SEL/LSDJ PER/D DAT/S NAV/GPS RNAV RNAV1 RNP4 RMK/ADSB PNR 0030HR TCAS)

[Ryan N]

Another incident?

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/too-far-qantas-747-forced-to-land-for-more-fuel-on-dallas-route-20110531-1fdl1.html

[Andrew M]

Funny stuff!!!

A re-fueling stop is an "incident" :eek::eek::eek:

[Matt_L]

Id hazard this is gonna happen alot more in the coming months on the DFW BNE leg

[Ryan K]

Would a 772 make the distance without any problems? :rolleyes:

[Andre H]

Would a 772 make the distance without any problems? :rolleyes:

They are two routes longer than the QF flight to DFW:
SQ: SIN-LAX ( 14100km ) and SQ SIN-EWR ( 15300km ), operated with B77W and A345. But I think the A345 is an all business configuration.

You need a B772ER or B772LR, the B772 has not enough range.

[John Arena]

SIN-LAX is also operated by an A345 operated in an all Business Class, 100 seat Configuration. This is to keep the weight low.

John

[Andre H]

Sorry, my fault :-) the B773 operates via NRT.

[Justin L]

Could QF maybe have the flight route as SYD-DFW-NAN-SYD, offering seats on the DFW-NAN leg and also timing the connections in NAN with QF and FJ flights to SYD, BNE, MEL and NZ destinations? It's already a one-stop flight back through BNE as it is, so apart for BNE passengers it wouldn't make any difference for other destinations in terms of number of stops and could alleviate the headwind issue.

Thoughts?

[Sarah C]

Could QF maybe have the flight route as SYD-DFW-NAN-SYD, offering seats on the DFW-NAN leg and also timing the connections in NAN with QF and FJ flights to SYD, BNE, MEL and NZ destinations?


The number of people who wanted to travel DFW/NAN would be minimal. Because of the stop, getting people on/off, refuelling etc, it would probably require a newset of crew. It would also probably hurt the NAN/LAX leg that FJ operate. It would be an expensive thing to commit to. If the flight was never going to make the distance with the fuel, they would have created the stop from the start - it just wouldn't be viable and wouldn't make money.

[Matt_L]

Sarah , I fully agree with what you have to say above - the flight wouldn't be as popular, direct etc if it was via AKL NAN or NOU... But, most Pax on these services are I'm sure totally unaware ( maybe some not now after news coverage) but still most that it is a fairly decent chance they will be diverted. I think it becomes a fine line between operating a revolutionary new service and one which can reach it's intended destination say only 90% of the time. Time will tell however I think there is brand reputation to be lost if this continually happens as itd be far easier for pax to be assured of (and with their bags:)) of making dfw-lax-Syd/bne/mel direct

Ps anyone know what the loads are like?

[Jon Harris]

I think the 777-200LR would be perfect for the SYD-DFW...maybe also the 777-300ER? Maybe someone with more knowledge on range can confirm...

The 744ER is the closest thing QF has to an ultra long range but I think it's still not the right equipment for DFW...

[Jack B]

Reminds me of the early 707 days across the Atlantic when stops in Gander etc were common but never scheduled

[Montague S]

Ps anyone know what the loads are like?

operating with 50 seats blocked for sale due to obvious reasons.

[Montague S]

If the flight was never going to make the distance with the fuel, they would have created the stop from the start - it just wouldn't be viable and wouldn't make money.

they did create the stop, just at the very edge of the a/c envelope. if this keeps up it will become less viable and make even less money.

[Stuart Trevena]

Hi All,

Is there any reason why QF didn't ops this service via Auckland in the first place?
I assume it is within range in both directions from DFW?

By ops via Auckland, it would bring in extra Passengers / Freight to NZ, + allow passengers to connect to flights to Brisbane & Melbourne in Auckland before continue onto SYD.

Stuart

[Jon Harris]

That was the original routing when they announced DFW as a destination for the 744ERs - SYD-AKL-DFW...they even did a press release...it was back in 2001??

AKL would be a good solution.

[Justin L]

Considering UA/CO announced an IAH/AKL routing on the 787s, a DFW/AKL routing on QF would be great competition one would feel for the NZ and non-SYD Australian markets through AKL connections.

[A McLaughlin]

So, you guys know better than all the route planning and yield management experts QF employs, do you?:rolleyes:

[Justin L]

Please keep in mind that this is a discussion forum and that no one is suggesting anything against QF - just some alternative routing options to the recent diversions of the inbound DFW-BNE flights. QF is a great airline and I like they are finally tapping into AA's DFW hub and wish the flights every success.

I for one am finding people's opinions and thoughts interesting and encourage further viewpoints.

[David Knudsen]

Story here (http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/travel/travel-news/fare-go-australians-gouged-over-us-flights-20110531-1fe8r.html#ixzz1O06DtyeR) about the difference in the fares on the route depending which side you start on;

Qantas is charging Australians a lead-in economy return fares of $A2004 to fly Sydney-Dallas-Sydney. Yet the airline charges from only $US1578 ($US1438 fare, plus $US140 to $US210 in US government fees) for Americans to go Dallas-Sydney-Dallas on the same planes.

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/travel/travel-news/fare-go-australians-gouged-over-us-flights-20110531-1fe8r.html#ixzz1O06DtyeR

[Kent Broadhead]

The 744ER is the closest thing QF has to an ultra long range but I think it's still not the right equipment for DFW... Maybe if Boeing wasn't 3 years late with the 787 QF would have some other equipment options for this flight? :)

[Ash W]

Story here (http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/travel/travel-news/fare-go-australians-gouged-over-us-flights-20110531-1fe8r.html#ixzz1O06DtyeR) about the difference in the fares on the route depending which side you start on;

Nothing new there David, surprised it has taken the media so long to work it out. (maybe the almost parity dollar makes it obvious to them). The same also applies for flights from the UK to Aus.

Guess it all comes down to being able charge what ever the market is capable of paying. In fact the same reason why the cost of living and the cost of housing in this country is so high at present.

[Jarden S]

I heard on the radio that Alan Joyce said DFW will be the first route the 787s go on.

[D Chan]

Nothing new there David, surprised it has taken the media so long to work it out. (maybe the almost parity dollar makes it obvious to them). The same also applies for flights from the UK to Aus.

Guess it all comes down to being able charge what ever the market is capable of paying. In fact the same reason why the cost of living and the cost of housing in this country is so high at present.

another thing the media fails to take into account is the fact that the US economy remains weak and recovery is slow. Currently it is very expensive for americans to come to australia for a holiday (in fact, why would they when other destinations are much cheaper?)

The idea of going via AKL is a very interesting idea, even if it means a triangular route SYD-DFW-AKL-SYD. However the benefit of BNE is significantly better connections, be it within Queensland or elsewhere.

[lloyd fox]

BITRE stats are out for month of MAY which covers the 8 inbound flights.
What is of major interest is that BNE is getting more pax disembark than SYD.An average of 1138 or 142 a flight get off in BNE and 778 disembarked in SYD at a average of 97 a flight so first 8 flights brought in 239 pax a flight.

I noticed that outbound flights ex SYD were quite full based on a 307 seat aircraft.

[Ash W]

The difference could well be passengers to locations other than Sydney are choosing to transfer in Brisbane rather than going onto Sydney and then changing there. In most cases it would save 1 sector and a few hours to do this.

[lloyd fox]

Yes i agree, but what has been said on a lot of boards was why go to BNE,why not operate via AKL or when we get a aircraft to do the route nonstop then avoid Queensland.

Texas and Queensland are very similar in climate,open spaces such as the outback,beef cattle etc and i would suggest it will do very well. Add to that connections to the reef and local tourist beach resorts nearby and it should be a winner and over the first 8 flights it has exceeded expectations as a stopover to Sydney.

Yes BNE does offer great connections all over Australia and the South Pacific.This is also a major factor.

[Ash W]

You cannot really make that judgment based on those statistics alone, to be of any use we need to know how many made Brisbane (or QLD) their final destination, not just where they entered Australia.

[Sarah C]

There is a lot of connecting traffic into BNE to places like CNS, TSV, ISA, DRW etc so given the network in QLD, the DFW stop is a good alternative if you aren't coming direct from LAX. Also the transfer to BNE domestic is a little easier with the Airtrain compared to the hassle of SYD.

[Jarden S]

I wonder if they will beef a the route to daily soon?

[Sarah C]

Daily would be the plan but you need more A380s to free up 747s.......

[Stephen Brown]

I'm on the flight to DFW on the 29th of August. Looking forward to it!!

Looks full from what I can see.

[Andrew Coggan]

VH-OJC operated a very delayed QF7 this evening. This is the first time a non /ER 744 has operated the flight which will fly DFW-LAX-BNE-SYD on the way back.

[Trevor Sinclair]

Yes Andrew, posted earlier elsewhere: Today's QF7 SYD-DFW will be delayed and operated with, what I think is a first time, a non-ER 747, with VH-OJC. Revised times for the QF7 dep: 1900 arr: 1900. Return service QF8 will operate via AKL arriving 21SEP at 0545. Flight will continue to BNE and SYD arriving at 1155 21SEP.
(Quite interesting to see)

[Rowan McKeever]

Wow!! That's... different! Just looked on flightaware and this flight plus the one the day before both routed up around LAX then across, most before that seem to be more direct.

Wonder what happened that they couldn't use a 400ER?

[Shayne G]

Very impressive feat by the Roller powered Qantas 747-400.


Perhaps Alan Joyce will realise the non ER 747-400s are not so 'useless' after all.


It climbed out much faster then the typical UA 744 departure so I do wonder if they left some cargo behind?

[Brad Varney]

Must of been a ferry flight as it flew over my house at about 6500 ft.

[Rowan McKeever]

Qantas positioning flights generally carry QF6XXX flight numbers, OJC was flying as QF7.

I agree SYD-DFW is impressive for a non-ER, especially one of QF's oldest. It'll never be a regular occurence though, not with that LAX stop.

[Sarah C]

15 hour flight and it did go out full of passengers, so there might have been a reduction in cargo.

[Stephen Brown]

If its full as a goog why don't they put an A380 on it.

[Rowan McKeever]

According to flight status on qantas.com the enroute stop will be AKL now instead of LAX

[A McLaughlin]

If its full as a goog why don't they put an A380 on it.

No 380 gates at DFW yet I think.

[Fred C]

I am led to believe the 380 doesn't have the range for that trip.

OJC did the job as OEI went technical in SYD. There were no other ER's avail.

[Rowan McKeever]

A380 would be able to do what OJC did, I think what was being suggested is that an A380 might've meant less cargo offloaded

[Ash W]

I am led to believe the 380 doesn't have the range for that trip.

OJC did the job as OEI went technical in SYD. There were no other ER's avail.

The A380 has more range at full load than a 747-400ER. The 400ER has a range of just under 7700 nmi and the A380 8100 nmi.

[Fred C]

A380 would be able to do what OJC did

Well yes, an A380 could do what OJC does. I meant an A380 direct DFW-BNE.:D

The 380's are pretty heavily utilised so there isn't usually a spare one to do runs like this one-off.

[Fred C]

The A380 has more range at full load than a 747-400ER. The 400ER has a range of just under 7700 nmi and the A380 8100 nmi.

If this is true Ash why wouldn't QF use the 380 on the DFW-BNE route? It would negate the occasional drop in to AKL and an aircraft full of freight and pax.

[Ash W]

Fred, don't believe me check the performance stats of both a/c types. As to why Qantas isn't using them to DFW, my guess is a) they don't have enough of them and b) they don't need the capacity to DFW.

[Rory Delaney]

Fred and Ash, they don't have enough A380s for the DFW route at the moment. When OQM and OQN are delivered, as well as the rest of them, QF quite possibly will utilise the A380s to DFW. QF can easily fill an A380 to and DFW as every flight is nearly completely full (with or without weight restriction and all the that stuff).

[Shayne G]

I believe the next A380 deliveries are Qantas' first improved HGW versions which are ideal for making QF7/8 a A380 route.


Eventually the 9 refurbished 744's will only operate to SCL, NRT, JNB, LAX.

[Radi K]

Can the A380 HGW fly DFW-SYD direct without restriction ?

[Dave Dale]

I believe the next A380 deliveries are Qantas' first improved HGW versions which are ideal for making QF7/8 a A380 route.


Eventually the 9 refurbished 744's will only operate to SCL, NRT, JNB, LAX.

Will they still make their way up to Singapore from Brisbane when they are down to last 9?

[Ryan K]

I believe the next A380 deliveries are Qantas' first improved HGW versions which are ideal for making QF7/8 a A380 route.


Eventually the 9 refurbished 744's will only operate to SCL, NRT, JNB, LAX.

And through to JFK after LAX on QF107?