As far as the ”big three” Gulf carriers go, Qatar Airways has the smallest fleet of Airbus A380 aircraft. While Qatar Airways has only eight of them in their fleet, Emirates has over 100 of the super jumbos in their fleet. As a result, Qatar Airways has been a lot more selective with which routes…
Continue reading: Qatar Airways’ Next A380 Destination Is… Perth?!
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I think they've done this in reply to Qantas starting service between PER-LHR next March. Given that the majority of passengers from Perth are flying on to Europe anyway, the A380 gives them a superior option, especially on the DOH/PER (longer route). Basically, they're saying, do you want to spend 18 hours in a 3-3-3 Boeing 789 in economy (Qantas), or at least the majority of it in a more comfortable A380 (I would argue the J product is pretty much on-par though)? However, I am surprised they didn't opt for the A350 like they did for Adelaide, as I have a feeling they're not exactly full on the route. Good news for Perth though!
As with all matters involving QR scheduling, I will take this with a liberal pinch of salt.
I seem to recall that those of us in PER were once told that we would be one of, if not the first, QR route serviced by 787 - never happened. Then we were told that the 777 would be replaced by an A350 service - never happened.
So while we may indeed be getting the A380, it may be ditched before it even happens, or only run during the northern summer scheduling period. Yields out of PER appear to be very healthy though, so I think QR want to compete more fully with EK's A380 service and perhaps they're trialling this to see if it's more profitable than some of the Asian destinations?
Having flown the existing 777 J product earlier this year, I'm actually a big fan of the present configuration and will be rather sad to see it go.
I am not sure why you think the yields on Qatar flights to and from the US are low. Both my parents and I have flown Qatar business class many times from DFW and ATL and every time the flight have been full. Last minute fares aren't cheap either from the US to suggest depressed yields.
Their business class is by far the best I have ever experienced, i would easily pay a premium to fly Qatar business over another airline.
Im pretty sure DOH - CAN lost the A380. This was an awesome value at only 40k aa miles OW in first.=/
@Dave, CAN is still showing on the schedule next August. I was thinking on booking this for next year but worried they will remove the A380 from the route. If you look on EF seat map, there a some flights from DOH-CAN in the next few weeks where a handful of people are booked. Like a week from today, 0F, 7J and about 50 in Y
I also think it might attract the Aussie- Euro-UK traveller who might not want to do a ultra-long haul. I prefer not to and would rather have a break enroute. The A380 is very attractive. Flew QR A380 BKK-DOH-VIE in F and J for 70K AA miles last year. Loved the open, spacious, well designed F cabin. J in the 787 was just OK, on par with other carriers. Would fly them in F again in a heart beat.
As someone who was born and lives in Perth i am thrilled that Qatar is flying their A380 to Perth now we will have two daily A380 flights (Emirates is the second) and i will definitely be flying on it
now all we need is Etihad to fly their A380 here.
Perth was, for a time, the hottest economy amongst major Australian cities, but it's been in the doldrums for a couple of years now, since the bloom is off the mineral extraction boom they'd been at the heart of. All of which makes me wonder who Qatar think will be utilizing this flight.
This is the only way Qatar can add capacity to Perth. They are maxed out on bilateral rights in Australia so they can't add any more frequencies - they need to use a bigger plane.
I live in Perth so nice to see another A380 coming here along with Emirates... Have to try this maybe with Qantas points...
There is massive demand from South Africa to Perth, due to a big population of South Africans living there. SAA JNB-PER is always full but a terrible experience and the ME3 are a far better value for South Africans and Africans generally.
Perth is the no.1 Australian destination for emigrant UK families - which itself is a very significantly sized group. Perth-UK flights have a huge market.
Qantas is clearly gambling on a direct flight being attractive; Qatar seems to think a lot of us might prefer to break our journey (or to change at Doha for non-London UK destinations, rather than in the hellhole that is LHR).
If I have to change flights anyway, I always prefer two long hauls to one ULH plus a regional jet - the latter severely restricts the size of my carryon and, travelling mostly for work, I never have hold luggage.
A trip Sydney-Rio next year may involve changes at Santiago and Buenos Aires, to exploit Air Canada and Emirates 5th freedom flights on wide bodies, and avoiding connecting to LATAM or other regional jet flights (even though I then have 2 changes rather than one).
What Jamie said.
They are not allowed to add more frequencies so the only way they can grow capacity is by increasing aircraft size.
@ Dennis - " Basically, they’re saying, do you want to spend 18 hours in a 3-3-3 Boeing 789 in economy (Qantas), or at least the majority of it in a more comfortable A380".
The answer, for the majority of their customers, being "what's a Boeing 789"? I also doubt the majority of those who do know the answer to that question really care either.
Another very good possibility, but with some risk involved, is to use Brazilian mileage program Smiles from Gol. DOH-PER in F also costs 110k miles, but you can get those miles cheap.
With 22k miles in your account plus U$738, you can book a F seat. You can get those 22k by crediting flights from Delta, Air France, Qatar... or for U$147, in 3 months, by signing up to their mileage club programs.
Those same 110k miles would cost U$ 2.212 in AA's current promotion.
On a recent flight DOH-JFK. Chatting with a couple of the cabin crew about the upcoming Qsuites flights, they said there was also talk of bringing the a380 to JFK as well. Was hoping that would have come to fruition.
As a previous commentator noted, the Perth/WA economy is no longer hot; but having said that, there is still a sizeable chunk of Europe-bound travellers from Western Australia (and indeed the east coast) who will happily utilize this upgraded service no matter the state of the economy. After nearly thirty years of periodically residing in Australia, it never ceases to amaze me how far and well-travelled the Australians are! Both inbound and outbound traffic to Asia, the U.S. and Europe are dominated by locals.
This is only temporary - reverts back to a 777 end of 2018. Check Qatar's own schedule. Back to the 10 seat across torture flight with the 777.
What happened to SFO? Not a word I'm 9 months. Seems very unlikely QR will launch that route as promised in 2018. Hasn't been the best market for the ME3.
My husband and I have booked business return from Perth to Cardiff. We were very happy to see the 380 and then the Dreamliner planes being offered for our flights. Just hope nothing changes.