Air Australia (Strategic Airlines) BNE/HNL, MEL/HNL BNE/MEL

[Andrew Johnson]

in todays Australian, it says Strategic will change to low cost from 30OCT & fly new routes.

HNL from 14 DEC.

$499 one way from BNE & $599 one way from MEL.

Not that special.

+ who on earth is going to give them deals out of HNL to mainland USA ?

There's virtually no carrier that either flys to OZ already or codeshares, that will want them giving away seats to US mainland.

One possibility is Southwest, as has been talk of them flying to Hawaii since takeover of Air Tran.

Could a Southwest 737-700 do LAX/HNL without weight restriction ? (or shorter SFO/HNL or SFO/OGG)

Another is Allegiant who say they'll be starting Hawaii services next year with their 757's (think they have leased 8 or so).

& BNE/MEL ?

Will they use a 330 to connect BNE/HNL & HNL/MEL + 320's ?

They'll need to have decent frequency on BNE/MEL to capture some small business traffic surely.

Must be some very cheap old A320's around right now.

Surely if Air Australia make BNE/HNL &/or MEL/HNL work JQ would move or reroute some SYD/HNL to eg. SYD/BNE/HNL.

BNE/HNL hasn't been nonstop since Canada 3000 & before than QF in the early 90's if memory correct.

MEL/HNL had a short stint with AC 7 or 8 years ago for a few months only I think & only over Xmas period.

The new HNL routes will take a little business off QF & JQ SYD/HNL but not a huge amount as both BNE & MEL passengers hate having to go anywhere via bloody awful SYD, which can add 6 or 7 hours to an itinerary vs nonstop.

Also FJ fly 3 times a week NAN/HNL which might be effected somewhat, athough connections from BNE, SYD & MEL mean that an overnight in NAN might be required in at least 1 direction, or long wait between flights at NAN.

[lloyd fox]

Let me correct a few things here.

Firstly approval from US authorities was received last night See a.net board.

Dec 14 by my calculations is 4 months not 3.

They are bringing one of their A320 charter aircraft from Europe.They have 6 A320 aircraft in their fleet already.3 here and 3 in Europe.They do not need to find another A320.
This will make 4 A320 in Australia.2 in BNE ,1 in MEL and 1 in PER.

Yes you are right with frequency BNE-MEL-BNE.

I doubt whether 330's will operate BNE-MEL ,I think they will do what they currently do with HKT such as MEL-HKT-BNE-HKT-MEL etc

Lloyd

[Andrew Johnson]

Yes, you're right 4 months. I edited some of the info when I read it on strategic website but not all, but why announce it & not start selling it straight away or even have schedule up? Gives other carriers heaps of time to react & they will.

Didn't say they would need another A320, just that old A320's must be cheap to lease/buy now.

With Tiger relaunching today, they might have made a mistake with BNE/MEL. Think they may have overestimated the hype & spin (put out by QF, DJ & others). The punters will still fly TT if they are cheapest.

With the economy the way it is, prob more QF types esp small business owners, will fly TT & prob VC if they are cheap.

[Jason A]

Does this mean BNE-DPS on the A330 will cease to exist from Oct 30 ? Or will it continue the service rebranded as Air Australia ?

Good Luck to Strategic !! I hope they have big success !

[Andrew Johnson]

Heard they will have another A330 for HNL services which I think were going to be twice a week. Which still leaves plenty of time for extra BNE/DPS services.

Can a A320 do BNE/DPS nonstop without restriction ? Know DJ does with a 737.

from this am's Australian

It will enter the competitive Brisbane-Melbourne domestic trunk route from December and boost frequency on the Brisbane-Bali route, as well as services to Phuket from Brisbane and Melbourne. The change comes after the airline last week announced it was withdrawing from Gladstone and Townsville and axing flights on the crowded Perth-Denpasar route.

whole article

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/aviation/strategic-airlines-enters-the-low-cost-fray/story-e6frg95x-1226113384927

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/aviation/strategic-airlines-enters-the-low-cost-fray/story-e6frg95x-1226113384927

[lloyd fox]

I believe BNE-DPS will go to a A320 from 01 October.Outbound not sure but inbound yes can do non stop.

In regards to Jetstar or QF operating BNE-HNL or MEL-HNL the way i look at it is if they have never done this route for decades(BNE-HNL) was done a very long time ago, or pulled out of the route such as(JQ on MEL-HNL) then i doubt they would be interested, plus where do they pull a aircraft from.

BNE will be very well accepted by the public and agents.

2nd A330 will be in Air Australia livery on arrival around 15sep according to previous news articles.

The new livery has not been announced as yet.

[Andrew Johnson]

BNE/DPS with old A320 - wouldn't it be then weight restricted ?

JQ operates MEL/HNL direct non on Mondays JQ3 MEL/SYD/HNL.

They could do similar SYD/BNE/HNL perhaps.

Unless VC have good add ons with US carriers HNL/mainland & Canada, people will buy separate tickets, which is messy if 1st flight is late & they don't want to stopover in HNL + surely they want some feed out of mainland USA.

Average american thinks Australia is too far, so maybe yanks might fly to HNL, stop, then fly onto Australia.

If VC are going low cost, shouldn't they go with much higher seat density ? Air Transat have 2 class A332 with 21+321 seats in 3-3-3, while Canada 3000 had 340 all Y(2-4-2) in their A332's.

[Oliver Gigacz]

What terminal will they use in MEL, for the MEL-BNE-MEL sectors.

[Oliver Gigacz]

Schedule for the HNL services are...

Schedules:

Brisbane – Honolulu
VC001 BNE1800 – 0725HNL 332 35
VC002 HNL1015 – 1600+1BNE 332 46

Melbourne – Honolulu
VC011 MEL1800 – 0725HNL 332 46
VC012 HNL0900 – 1725+1MEL 332 35

[Andrew M]

The MEL-HNL-MEL flight is great idea, I wish them success on this route!

A 12 year old A330 though is a bit blah

[D Chan]

have to say that Strategic's strategy is both confused and convoluted. For example, the Port Hedland to Bali route, dropping of Townsville flights - and now they're trying HNL. That suggests to me that they are unclear about their strategy. They've got these two routes wrong before and I would not be surprised if they enjoy limited success with HNL. On paper competing with Qantas and Haiwaiian might sound like a good idea but HNL is a leisure destination for richer people unlike the Phukets and Balis of the world. How much of the premium market could they capture?

[lloyd fox]

D Chan have you mentioned the routes they have GOT right.

They are a reasonably new airline searching for their niche and time will tell whether they have got it right.
HNL will be a good success out of BNE maybe not so much out of MEL,not sure about that.The AUD is good for that at the moment.

The airline is purely selecting the 2nd and 3rd largest cities in Australia as their 2 bases which have been devoid of flights as Qantas are a Sydney eccentric carrier.

Cheers

[Andrew Johnson]

with only 10 nonstops MEL/USA (MEL/LAX) currently, some people might fly MEL/HNL & then pick up a domestic ticket to get to mainland USA

[Andrew Johnson]

other airlines reacting already.

Just got news of new QF/FJ fares to HNL & LAX from all over Australia, which are embargoed from sale til Mon.

Not as cheap as VC, but not much in it, but VC fares should be compared to JQ not QF/FJ.

Guess they figure people might pay a little extra for full service, 23kg checked baggage & Qantas ff points.

Guess QF/FJ will play with inventory once they see on Monday what VC is throwing into marketplace numbers/fares wise, ie how many $499/$599 one way fares.

[Andrew Johnson]

have to say that Strategic's strategy is both confused and convoluted. For example, the Port Hedland to Bali route, dropping of Townsville flights - and now they're trying HNL. That suggests to me that they are unclear about their strategy. They've got these two routes wrong before and I would not be surprised if they enjoy limited success with HNL. On paper competing with Qantas and Haiwaiian might sound like a good idea but HNL is a leisure destination for richer people unlike the Phukets and Balis of the world. How much of the premium market could they capture?
People from BNE & MEL don't want to fly via SYD to get to HNL. Most would rather fly via AKL or NAN, so nonstops at right price. The question is how much above the $998 ($499 each way BNE/HNL/BNE) + luggage + meals can they get.

You'd have to wonder if they talked to someone about onward flights. For example, Boyd casinos I think it is, has almost daily HNL/LAS/HNL charter services using 757's/DC10's, which is aimed at feeding their LAS casinos. With U.S. economy in the toilet, they might be using 757's instead of the DC10, but would probably welcome some feed to help fill these aircraft.

Think the Omni DC10's they use have about 350 seats in 2 classes & the 757's have about 200 seats in 2 classes.

[Justin L]

Alaska Airlines have a few routes out of HNL which would open up some interesting new one-stop connections to US west coast ports and maybe compete with Hawaiian?

Alaskan have their tie-ups with QF/AA/DL, but still maybe an interesting choice at opening up niche markets?

[Andrew Johnson]

Don't think VC's new strategy would allow interlining, but no reason why passengers couldn't book on AS or Westjet to YVR.

In these cases, passengers would be best to stopover in HNL in both directions for a night or 2. If worked out cheaper than other routes (note there are no nonstops BNE or MEL/SFO-SEA-YVR) people would do it.

[Justin L]

Agreed Andrew. Just a thought I had.

And come to think of it, HKT and HNL could be better marketed as destinations in their own right, like DPS, for even long weekend trips - rather than stopovers on the way to somewhere. They don't connect out of HKT or DPS anyway.

Come to think of it, DPS, HKT and HNL are all genuine leisure destinations - so that could be their angle and selling point. If passengers then take the advantage of booking on other carriers beyond those points to extend their trip - then great also.

And depending on VC's timing of their MEL-BNE flights, MEL-BNE-HNL may be a great alternative to MEL-SYD-HNL on QF or JQ.

[Andrew Johnson]

+ strong rumour that QF will drop SYD/HNL in favour of JQ in big annnoucement 24AUG. Wonder what management at QF/JQ think about VC's announcement.

My bet is that they wil dump some seats MEL & BNE/SYD/HNL to same fare as VC's or lower + throw in something like Qantas frequent flyer points/ff programme membership.

Incidentally, you can use QF points to get from 4 different Hawaiian islands to mainland USA. Wonder if QF would have a quiet world to AA about making those ff seats "disappear" very quickly ?

[James Smith]

Interesting 35 minute turnaround in Melbourne and the same scheduled flight time from Brisbane and Melbourne to Honolulu.

[Andi O]

It is actually scheduled an hour longer to MEL than BNE (Daylight Savings in effect in VIC)
I guess the "turnaround" time is because it will not be the same aircraft operating the HNL-MEL and MEL-HNL (remember they are due to receive a second A330 next month)

[Andrew M]

The 2nd A330 will be a brand new one ?

[Andrew Johnson]

not new, but think the 1st A332 was built around 1999, so much "newer" than some of the old 744 in QF fleet.

[Radi K]

Flights to HNL started today

VC1 on its way to HNL, 30mins late ex BNE, VH-SSA

http://www.airaustralia.com/~/media/Files/Press%20Releases/AIR%20AUSTRALIA%20CATCHES%20THE%20HAWAII%20TOURISM %20WAVE%20(2).ashx

BNE-MEL flights start tomo.

[Andre H]

The 2nd A330 will be a brand new one ?

the 2nd will be ex TC-ETK Atlasjet ( Turkey ) c/n: 358

[Brandon Giacomin]

Air Australia will start three times
weekly services to Shanghai and
Ho Chi Minh from Melbourne and
Brisbane in June 2012 pending
regulatory approval, the carrier
has confirmed.

From http://www.travelweekly.com.au/getattachment/1817f49f-db4e-4010-9999-dbd5eacb6565/pdf.aspx