Possible VS to return to Australia?

https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news ... -perth-ops

Reports of VS eyeing up a non stop to Perth. Can anyone see this really happening

Indeed, I've seen the discussion on a.net. Could be a very interesting one.

On a side note - could the title be edited to include at least a question mark?

SRB said 'as soon as possible'

He said that about Rio.

Still waiting for that flight. IIRC was supposed to happen when the A787 joined the fleet.

Reports of VS eyeing up a non stop to Perth. Can anyone see this really happening

No. No-one wants to go to Perth. Least of all profitable business travellers.

Qantas might be able to make it work with Western Australians wanting to fly to London, but if there was a big enough market here BA would already be doing it.

I totally agree with Gumshoe.

Happy to eat my hat, but I think this is about as likely as VS taking those A380's!

Though I read on head for points that the QF route is officially Melbourne-Perth-London and that it is busy with passengers doing the full route rather than with people starting from Perth.

SRB said 'as soon as possible'

He said that about Rio.

Perth (along with Honolulu and probably Rio) were all mentioned as possible future destinations when the 787 order was first placed 11 years ago. Makes you feel old thinking about it! Since then, things have changed substantially, so I'm one of those who will believe it when I see it.

From my perspective, I'd say VS have bigger short-term issues to overcome (such as the 787 engine issue, new type introduction with the A350's, Brexit and consistent profitability) and more bigger opportunities which they should pursue than a return to Australia (such as further MAN expansion).

Reports of VS eyeing up a non stop to Perth. Can anyone see this really happening

No. No-one wants to go to Perth. Least of all profitable business travellers.

Qantas might be able to make it work with Western Australians wanting to fly to London, but if there was a big enough market here BA would already be doing it.

You mention BA. It's probably worth remembering that BA nearly axed Sydney a few years ago after the end of their JV with Qantas and it's still there today as BA moved it to a Mixed Fleet crew destination and changed aircraft type that both brought about significant cost savings.

Willie Walsh was also on record a few months ago saying he would like to see BA return to Melbourne someday. Like with SRB quoting Perth, whether it happens is another thing, particularly given that the majority of BA's recent long-haul expansion has been to the US with the odd Latin American addition, Kuala Lumpur and the imminent return to Durban.

Happy to eat my hat, but I think this is about as likely as VS taking those A380's!

Given that VS finally cancelled the A380 order earlier this year, your hat is safe methinks.

Though I read on head for points that the QF route is officially Melbourne-Perth-London and that it is busy with passengers doing the full route rather than with people starting from Perth.

The route technically used to go via Dubai or Singapore using the A380 and it was switched to Perth, so it's not surprising there's a lot of passengers doing the full route. Whatever the mix of passengers only going as far as Perth, it's being reported that Qantas are pleased with the route's success so far with load factors exceeding 90%. For that alone, it's probably little wonder SRB is interested. Whether London-Perth alone can support more than one airline on the route is another question, but there's no questioning the prestige of running a non-stop UK-Australia route. Qantas knows this, hence the "Project Sunrise" challenge they put to Airbus and Boeing to come up with an aircraft that can do London-Sydney non-stop with an order to follow if they can do it.

It's hardly a surprise that QF is 90% filling a 236 seat B787-9 between London - xxx - Melbourne, given they used to run an A380 with 484 seats...!

It's hardly a surprise that QF is 90% filling a 236 seat B787-9 between London - xxx - Melbourne, given they used to run an A380 with 484 seats...!

Exactly.

It also wasn't that long ago they flew 2 x daily MEL xxx LHR and 2 x daily SYD xxx LHR with 747's. Now they are down from 4 daily 744 to 1 x daily 388 (SYD via SIN) and 1 x daily 789 (MEL via PER)