QF8 diverts... again... this time to Nadi

[Jason Le]

Just noticed QF8 making its way to Sydney tonight... thought thats weird should be in already.

QF site shows it diverted to Nandi and spent 10 hours on the ground there. Assuming they had get another crew there to continue the flight.

Why does QF persist with this unreliable service? Surely the rumours of these diversions make the rounds of the business travellers... Just go from LAX at least it should make it!

Oh and what happened to those PAX after they arrived in Nadi? Did they have wait for 10 hours to continue to Australia? (bet they wish they had a 777LR now...)

[Jack B]

Would they have had to hang around NAN? It's a bloody boring airport. Though I highly doubt they would have given them day rooms at a hotel for that period of time.

[Sarah C]

There was an issue on the ground and then the crew ran out of hours. I could think of worse places to be stuck overnight!

Unreliable service? LAX/MEL has had more diversions since DFW started operating. Fog and technical issues happen.

[Brad Varney]

Is it true, one of my friends told me Nadi airport doesn't have air conditioning.
Not the best welcome for international passengers especially on a hot day which would be almost all the time.:eek:

[Montague S]

lol @ LAX-MEL having more diversions, this service put's the capability of the ER to the very limit and QF94 usually makes the Australian coast-line before diverting to Sydney.

[Rowan McKeever]

Exactly right, there's no comparison between QF8 & QF94. Weather & tech do happen, but so far they don't seem to have happened to QF8.

[Kim F]

Is it true, one of my friends told me Nadi airport doesn't have air conditioning.
Not the best welcome for international passengers especially on a hot day which would be almost all the time.:eek:
Nadi does have airconditioning.

[Radi K]

There was forecast fog in Brisbane and mist in Sydney. Everything up and down the east coast north of Sydney needed an alternate. It's not a big surprise it diverted considering this is right at the limit of the 744ERs range. They should be planning these tech stops better however.

[James G.]

LAX/MEL has had more diversions since DFW started operating. Fog and technical issues happen.

QF94 has diverted to SYD this morning. It is B744 VH-OJP. I have seen it divert here a number of times, so I would have to agree it is a lot more unreliable than DFW-BNE/SYD.

[Simon C]

I bet QF is having nightmares about not ordering the 77W or 77L. :D

[Montague S]

you miss the point James, QF94 is making the mainland when it diverts, Sydney is a 50min hop in comparison with the 3hrs + from NAN or Noumea.

[Radi K]

I'm sure it was weather related - there was low cloud in MEL which would have limited the diversion opportunities if QF94 couldn't get in. VA12 got in no problems.

[Anthony F]

QF94 has diverted to SYD this morning. It is B744 VH-OJP. I have seen it divert here a number of times, so I would have to agree it is a lot more unreliable than DFW-BNE/SYD.
OJP is not an ER aicraft so probably did not have enough fuel to Melbourne.

[Jason H]

Meanwhile, an ER is on the SYD-PER-SYD shuttle ...:confused:

[Montague S]

^ and what does that ER being on the PER shuttle have to do with anything? They have been using the 332 & 333 also.

[Owen H]

I think his point is probably that the LAX - MEL flight mentioned above that diverted to SYD was NOT an ER, while the SYD - PER WAS an ER.

Fair question to ask

[Fred C]

They should be planning these tech stops better however.

What is your proposal Radi? How would you do it?

[Rowan McKeever]

The DFW seems to be a prime candidate for 77L or 77W with more frequencies... daily? QF94 really needs to be 744ER if A380 is too big on occasion, or another candidate for 77L/77W.

[E Johnson]

There is air con in Nadi airport. I stayed over for a few hours when taking Air Pacific LAX-SYD and it's not that bad, but not the type of place you'd want to stay for 10 hours. It was probably a bit crowded with all the passengers from QF8 in the terminal, but given that Air Pacific handles 747 and 767 traffic on a daily basis I would imagine it was not overwhelming to the airport services.

[Radi K]

Hey Fred

Well you can't do much about the weather .. even tonight a 30% chance of morning fog has appeared on the SYD forecast ..long after the USA flights have departed!

The airline takes the commercial risk of enroute diversions by scheduling flights with high payloads that are at the limit of the aircrafts operating distance.

You can do a few things
a) limit the payload every day that ensures the aircraft will get there, regardless of enroute winds or weather (this could mean its 1/2 full!?!?)
b) if you don't do a) then decide early if a tech stop is required. The most feasible for QF would be LAX (because of crew and gnd staff)
c) pick a plane that can do the flight comfortably (e.g. A380)

lots more options .. just thinking out loud

I don't know the QF fuel policy but I take it some of the boys on here do. Is it normal for these payload limited flights to be planned with an alternate? If so, which port for MEL and BNE?

Are the flights planned with high level point of no returns (PNRs)? I take it they are planned with a re-file?

For the record, the VA uses AVV and OOL as tech alternates on a good weather day. This would reduce the fuel required on similar sectors.

[Fred C]

Hey Radi,

Considering your proposals,

a) It might make it commercially unviable if it is too empty, but guaranteed to make it.
b) The reason for a tech stop is usually due to changing conditions that are unforeseen. Techstops are never planned. There also wouldn't be a spare crew in LAX or it would be an expensive exercise to keep one there on standby.
c) The A380 cannot do the trip. It is sometimes weight limited out of LAX.

Any 747 pilots out there with thoughts?