PER to add anymore International Airlines

[LMcConville]

AirAsia X selection of Bangkok as second base increases pressure on Thai Airways.

Looking to match AirAsia X’s success in the one-stop Australia-Thailand market, Scoot selected Bangkok as its third destination after Sydney and the Gold Coast. With its very low Australia-Bangkok fares, Scoot has provided AirAsia X with new competition at the bottom end of the market. By establishing a base in Bangkok and opening non-stop routes to Australia, AirAsia X will one-up its rival and make it harder for Scoot to pick up Australia-Thailand passengers with its one-stop product.

Jetstar also serves the Australia-Bangkok market with three weekly non-stop flights from Melbourne along with a daily one-stop connection from Melbourne via Singapore. Jetstar also offers one-stop services from Darwin and Perth to Bangkok via Singapore.

Qantas and its new partner Emirates are the only other carriers with non-stop services between Australia and Bangkok. Both have a daily flight from Sydney. The Bangkok to Brisbane and Perth markets are currently only served non-stop by Thai Airways, providing a potential opening for AirAsia X service from Bangkok to the Gold Coast (located just south of Brisbane) and Perth in addition to Melbourne and Sydney.

We might see a Bangkok-Perth service in the near future...

Read : http://centreforaviation.com/analysis/a ... ays-104002

[LMcConville]

Scoot Airlines (SINGAPORE) have a possibility of flying to Perth. They've already started a service to Sydney and Coolangatta and are closely eyeing Melbourne and Perth.

Scoot certainly have a real opportunity in Perth. I read a while back that Tiger Airways (TR) services are interlining on the PER-SIN route. Also, Singapore Airlines (SQ) operate four daily services. It could be viable to use one of those daily services as a Scoot (TZ) service. Who knows? We might have to wait and see! Melbourne is about to receive a fourth daily service from SQ (to note). There is also a viable option that they may bring their newly-ordered 787s into play?

Interesting to note, Melbourne and Perth are available on the Booking Menu on their website. Although they have done that, there is no available service. Any reason for this?

Yeah, just checked their one of their websites. They say one of their destinations is Perth, but say "(no service as yet)". I think they might start a service to Melbourne before Perth, but Perth wouldn't be far behind. It's likely they'll start a service sometime next year. Their aircraft look nice too! Anyway, they are a parent company of Singapore Airlines, so they might just keep the 4 times daily service without changing it. We'll just wait and see what happens.

http://www.etravelblackboard.com/articl ... ore-travel. Have a read. Interesting...

[Nicholas S]

Scoot currently services the Singapore-Sydney and Singapore-Coolangatta route with Boeing 777's but eventually plan to explore other Australian cities once the airline begins receiving new aircraft.

A PER service in the near future perhaps? They'll start receiving their new 787-8's and -9's sometime in 2014, that's probably when they would launch a SIN-PER service.

They've only got 4 772s at the moment, not enough aircraft to sustain an extra route as yet.

[LMcConville]

Jetstar will launch its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner on domestic routes within Australia, before ramping up to international routes in December.

Qantas’ low-cost offshoot, which takes delivery of Australia’s first 787 in late September, says that popular domestic routes from Sydney, Melbourne and Perth to the Gold Coast and Cairns “are currently being considered”.

The 787 will be fitted with 21 recliner-style business class seats and 314 slimline economy seats.

Mark Dal Pra, who leads Jetstar’s 787 program, told Australian Business Traveller that the final decision on launch routes would be made this month, but would be routes serviced by the airline’s current Airbus A320 network

http://www.ausbt.com.au/jetstar-to-begi ... n-november

IF, Qatar Airways' sticks to it's plan for 787s DOH-PER, then it will be the 2nd scheduled route for the time in November.

[LMcConville]

Hi all,

Thomson Airways UK have expressed their interest in flying their Boeing 787-8s into Perth from the UK direct. Thomson used to operate charter flights to Perth from London Gatwick with a stop under the name Britannia.

“Hawaii, South Africa -- it can even get to Perth if you fly in the right way with the right number of people,” Jeremy Ellis, U.K. and Ireland marketing director for Thomson parent TUI Travel Plc (TT/), said in an interview on its first 787 flight to Menorca, Spain. “All of these destinations we’re considering.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-2 ... reach.html

Also,

Air New Zealand have hinted that they are interested in flying their Boeing 787-9, the first carrier to do so.

The new generation planes will also service some mid-haul destinations such as Perth, Honolulu and Papeete, the airline said.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industr ... ner-routes

[Nicholas S]

Just seems odd that Thompson are eyeing PER before SYD or MEL... I doubt they'll actually come. You never know, though, Perth to London might be a big route.

But I'm pretty sure Air NZ will fly their 787-9 here though. At some stage, anyway.

[Richard NK]

Garuda Indonesia to recommence direct Jakarta -> Perth flights from today.
http://www.garuda-indonesia.net.au/

[Richard NK]

Just seems odd that Thompson are eyeing PER before SYD or MEL... I doubt they'll actually come. You never know, though, Perth to London might be a big route.

But I'm pretty sure Air NZ will fly their 787-9 here though. At some stage, anyway.

For years, as we know, a direct UK > Perth flight has been on the cards, but aircraft were not competent of carrying sufficient fuel loads. However, one gets the feeling it won't be too much longer. A lotto should be run to see who in fact will be the first to operate a regular flight.

[eaadams]

"Etihad will also add additional flights from Melbourne and Brisbane to Abu Dhabi, commence nonstop Perth-Abu Dhabi flights, ... "
Tucked away in the is article -
http://australianaviation.com.au/2013/0 ... ian-plans/

Not totally unexpected I guess but still vague-ish.

Edit - Also in today's Travel Weekly - http://www.travelweekly.com.au/news/per ... for-etihad

Aubrey

[Brandon Giacomin]

I have read on a few other forums that Philippine Airlines will suspend flights to Perth from September due to poor loads. Just had a look at the PR website and flights can't be booked after September 2, so it looks like that will be the last flight. Could be wrong though!

[Brandon Giacomin]

From Airlineroute.net

Philippine Airlines has closed reservation for Manila – Darwin – Perth service for travel on/after 03SEP13, as per 08AUG13 GDS inventory display. The airline currently operates this route 4 times a week, which was launched in June 2013. 3 weekly Manila – Darwin – Brisbane service remains unaffected.

Existing schedule:

PR219 MNL2225 – 0420+1DRW0520+1 – 0750+1PER 320 x136
PR220 PER0850 – 1400DRW1500 – 1800MNL 320 x247

http://airlineroute.net/2013/08/08/pr-drwper-sep13/

[Nicholas S]

I recently heard Scoot might actually start Perth services; not sure on the details. Not totally unexpected, I guess.

[LMcConville]

I recently heard Scoot might actually start Perth services; not sure on the details. Not totally unexpected, I guess.

Along with Tigerair Mandala, although wanted to begin CGK-PER from April this year but did not go to plan. Read on...

n a big win for inbound and outbound tourists, two of Asia's fastest growing low-cost airlines with fares up to 40 per cent lower than competitors plan to launch services to Perth in the next six months.

Airline sources said Singapore-based Scoot Airlines and Indonesia's Tigerair Mandala have applied for slots into Perth from October 1.

Scoot, the low-cost offshoot of Singapore Airlines, has requested five services a week with an early evening flight to Singapore.

Scoot was launched in May 2011 and its inaugural service was on June 4 last year from Singapore to Sydney.

It serves destinations across Asia and Australia using reconfigured Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-200s seating just over 400 passengers.

Scoot also offers a business class called ScootBiz with complimentary meals and iPads with movies, TV shows and games.

The airline operates into the Gold Coast and Sydney in Australia and has a network of nine destinations across Asia, including four Chinese cities.

It has five 777s in service and aggressive growth plans that include 20 Boeing 787s.

Indonesia's Tigerair Mandala is seeking up to three flights a day between Perth and Bali but is not expected to start flying the route until next year.

The airline was grounded through 2011 over debt issues but was recapitalised and Singapore's Tiger Airways has a 33 per cent ownership stake.

Tigerair Mandala is taking delivery of new 180-seat A320s and will have a fleet of 25 by 2015.

With the extra two low-cost airlines, Perth will be served by seven such carriers - Indonesia AirAsia, AirAsiaX, Tigerair Mandala, Tiger Airways, Tigerair, Jetstar and Scoot.

Neither Scoot nor Mandala responded to request for confirmation of the flights.

From : http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa ... for-perth/

[LMcConville]

Doubts on South African Airways services to Perth over the next few years

QANTAS is looking to end its longstanding codeshare arrangement with South African Airways because it believes the regulatory hurdles have become too difficult.

Qantas still has a year to run on the current codeshare but is understood to be investigating alternative arrangements because passengers are able to book flights a year in advance.

The most likely of these is that it will continue to fly its own aircraft on the Sydney-Johannesburg route but will send its passengers from Perth, where there is a sizeable South African expat community, via Dubai with codeshare partner Emirates.

Perth is currently serviced six times a week by South African Airways.

Both airlines codeshare and buy blocks of seats on each other's flights.

The two have been codesharing on the route since 2000.

Financially troubled SAA has previously indicated the Perth flight is only marginally profitable and it is not clear whether it would be viable without the codeshare.

Industry sources suggested that Qantas's daily Sydney-Johannesburg route was likely to be viable outside of the codeshare, with feeder traffic from Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and New Zealand as well as from the Sydney market.

They said the Perth-Dubai-Johannesburg service with Emirates was still likely to appeal to customers, despite being longer and less direct.

South African and Qantas were unhappy with an International Air Services Commission decision in September last year to extend their codeshare to December next year. The South African regulator also expressed concerns about the route.

The airlines had asked for a five-year extension, but the commission awarded just 12 months because it believed the airlines had an effective duopoly on the routes.

The regulator said the arrangement meant they were subject to little constraint from indirect flights by third-country airlines or the possibility of another carrier entering the direct route.

"In the commission's view, the nature of the codeshare under that market scenario does not provide strong incentives to compete," it said, citing the failure on the route of V Australia as a particular concern.

SAA said at the time it was operating at an overall loss on its Australia-South Africa services, although Perth was showing "a small profit".

The South African carrier said it would be exceptionally difficult to expand its services to Perth because it did not have spare aircraft and economic conditions meant there was insufficient demand to support a seventh flight.

Asked yesterday about its plans for the route, Qantas confirmed it was reviewing its options beyond the codeshare expiry date but said it remained committed to serving the market.

"In terms of what happens beyond that date, we're reviewing our options to make sure we deliver the best outcome for Qantas customers," it said. "We're conscious of the regulatory hurdles on a potential extension, but there is nothing stopping us continuing to operate our own Sydney to Johannesburg service independent of this codeshare."

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/busines ... 762106199#

[Phill W]

They said the Perth-Dubai-Johannesburg service with Emirates was still likely to appeal to customers, despite being longer and less direct.

Im Sorry. I know QANTAS needs to make adjustments to remain viable, and for the most part I am in agreement with decisions made, but this statement is ridiculous.

I just did a quick comparison for return flights to J'burg next March. Emirates was $1700 with a total travel time of 21hrs there and 22hrs back. SAA was between $800 & $1300 and 10.5 to 11hr flights. Now where is the attractiveness for me to go via Dubai. I had a stop over there last month for the first time, and personally I think that was one too many, and do not see the attraction. Given Perth is part of Australia, I think its ridiculous that QANTAS now only has one international flight from here, with the biggest mistake being the cutting of the Perth-Tokyo flight, particularly during the ski season. Those flights were always full.

I know they now code share on a lot of flights, but if your brand is not in peoples faces, then they wont use you. We went to Europe last month booked on Emirates, not on QANTAS. We are going to Japan in Feb booked on Cathay, not on QANTAS.


Just my rant.
Phill