Virgin eyes a good route

I’d prefer the JU-52

Bring back the DC-3! 🙂

Apologies, I stuffed the link. Try here.

The Finance Minister has said that all government departments will have to use a carrier other than Qantas for at least a quarter of all Canberra-Sydney travel – ABC story here.

i think you will find that more domestic qantaslink routes will use q400’s in future.

they wont be going back to jets.

“Maybe the increased competition will encourage QANTAS to stop using turboprop bug-crushers on the Sydney route and run more 737s or even 767’s.”

On shorter routes like Cbr-Syd a Dash-8 uses about half the fuel of a 737, but is nearly as fast.

Yeah I’m thinking the E-jets should be nicer than the dash-8s – I’ll get a chance to see next month anyway, picked up a $48 VB fare to Sydney (to connect with QF international!)

Have Tiger actually got approval to fly out of Canberra yet?

I want to go to Melb in April, but am reluctant to buy tickets in case they are not flying.

The larger the plane, the higher the peak operational altitude. There’s not enough distance Canberra-Sydney to operate 767s efficiently. The move to smaller commuter jets is a global move rejecting the old bigger-is-better paradigm.

But I agree – all Dash 8s to the junkyard please.

Touche

One 767 could replace the 3 or so Dash 8s and the 737 that do the run before 8 most mornings.

A 737 or 767 is a bit overkill for the route isn’t it? Even Virgin is using the new smaller E-Jets.

Maybe the increased competition will encourage QANTAS to stop using turboprop bug-crushers on the Sydney route and run more 737s or even 767’s.

I think its about time. But it is hard yakka for other other companies to compete, when you look ta the simple fact that many govt deprtments signed up to tied agreement with Qantas a few years ago. However, I suspect a number of these have lapsed, hence Virgin having another crack at the title.

Haha, full marks for the headline! 😛

VB will do better when all APS departments make their staff account for FF points accrued on work-paid-for flights, so that they are only useable for work flights.

Last time VB were around, no one wanted to fly them because they couldn’t stoke up their FF balance.

Ingeegoodbee, Tiger is doing flights in and out of Canberra. But currently only Melbourne as far as I know. I have my tickets to go to Melbourne and back for $50 each way. Just noticed on their site that they close check in 45 minutes before departure.

I’ve been reading RA for a while now. I have even made an occasional bland contribution. I just can’t get into character assassination, pointless assumptions on political ideas, and all that other stuff that makes the RA world such a colourful place.

Friends not in the know often ask, “What is this RiotACT thing you speak of?’

Well, I am happy to say I have found two consecutive posts that accurately describe this great medium. They have encapsulated, for me, all that is democracy, freedom of speech, revolutionary thinking, and proof that even this many years after the last 27mHz CB radio fizzled into eternal quiet, that humanity has not really evolved. Who was it noted that the sum of all human knowledge is constant, but the population is increasing? I don’t recall myself.

But I digress, Thanks to Ralph and hingo for enlightening me.

See:

“Pov airline.

Comment by Ralph — 4 February, 2008 @ 4:23 pm

It is Australia’s second biggest airline and the third most profitable airline in the world. It is majority owned by Australia’s largest transport company (Toll) which is also the fourth largest in the world. Hardly “pov”.

Comment by hingo — 4 February, 2008 @ 4:43 pm”

When the airport is upgraded, Virgin and Qantas will have their own terminals and Tiger airlines will exist in the current terminal. I have no idea if Tiger are doing international flights though, its about time somebody did, at least to NZ as Ralph said.

Yeah great – they’re back. But meanwhile we’ve all negotiated Qantas Club in our AWAs so are stuck with bloody Qantas like them or HATE them. Dumb move Virgin bailing from the route…dumb dumb dumb.

I was under the impression that Tiger was going to do some flights out of Canberra.

You’d think Canberra Airport would pull their finger out and get one of these budget asian airlines to get some flights happening here. If they really were serious about running an international airport, and not a retail precinct.

You’d also think Qantas would see the value in offering a New Zealand service once or twice a week. They would easily fill a 737.

Where do you want to go Mr Evil? I think you’ll find more than 3 flights a day Sydney – Canberra and their FF points sytem is far superior to the Qantas one however as you say they seem to priced at around the same level these days unless you book well in advance.

Every time I’ve looked at flying with Virgin, they don’t go when I want to go, and they really aren’t that much cheaper anymore.

I hope this time around they are going to offer a proper Canberra-Sydney service; not the 3 services at odd times of the day like last time.

The Chairman’s Lounge dosn’t count. There’s not one at every airport and sooner or later you end up in a regular club lounge and next thing you know you’re getting the grunting trolly lady treatment 😉

I’ve poured myself champagne at 10:00am in Qantas.

The Virgin lounge craps on the QANTAS lounge. Bar opens at 11.00am rather than 3.00pm, you can get a real espresso made to order and on most occasions when the staff come to collect your empty they offer to get you another one – as opposed to some surley drone with a slop bucket on a trolly and a plastic apron grunting at you.

Still no cheap airfares though . . .

Perhaps Ralph was referring to the fact that if you fly with Qantas for twice the price, you get a one-dollar sandwich and 50 cents worth of orange juice.

It is Australia’s second biggest airline and the third most profitable airline in the world. It is majority owned by Australia’s largest transport company (Toll) which is also the fourth largest in the world. Hardly “pov”.

Pov airline.

Yeah I read about this on the Canberra Airport site the other night. They will be using their new Embraer E-Jets, not the 737’s.

love the tagline

Murray’s go straight to the Sydney airport in 3 hours anyway!

But they don’t sell “Losing My Virginity – The Richard Branson Story”