Going the distance

Suddenly it appears that new ultra long-range routes are being offered on a monthly basis. The latest claimant to the world’s longest route is the born-again United Airlines with non-stop San Francisco-Singapore flights with 787-9s beginning on June 1.

United has already deployed the 787 on Melbourne and Sydney routes to upbeat reviews.

Singapore Airlines will re-start non-stop services to New York and Los Angeles with the A350-900ULR from 2019.

Qantas has also flagged that Perth to London, Melbourne to Dallas and Sydney to Chicago are all on its radar for its eight 787-9s due for delivery from late next year.

The Qantas aircraft are to be configured for ultra long-range operations with a heavy emphasis on premium seats with a higher percentage of business/premium economy seats with the economy section offering a little more legroom.

This will be a premium high-yield product – the stuff bigger profits are made of, just ask Air New Zealand.

The dynamics are right for a sensational product.

The 787 is the ideal long-range performer operationally, economically and from a passenger “endurance” perspective with its higher humidity and lower cabin altitude credentials – except for the squeezy nine-abreast economy class cabin.

And clearly premium economy is a class on the move with the value case compelling.

We are seeing the emergence of a new type of exclusive high yield aircraft where smaller and intimate is better.

Add to that air traffic continues to climb even in tough times and is forecast to double by 2030.

So it is concerning to hear Qantas CEO Alan Joyce suggest, when asked by Contrails at the IATA AGM in Dublin in June, about more 787 orders to serve the host of candidate routes, that the airline wants to see the 787 in service first proving the viability of these long-range routes.

If Qantas wants to be more than a me-too carrier then it must get on the front foot with new aircraft, new product and not be last to market as it has been for decades.

With its industrial landscape settled and record profits flowing it needs to accelerate the flow of 787s to both offer the new and largely exclusive ultra long-range routes and also fragment the Australia to Americas routes.

Sydney-Seattle, Brisbane-San Francisco and Melbourne-San Francisco all beg consideration.

Eight 787s will not cover all of the three nominated ultra long-range candidate routes let alone replace the five ageing 747-400s as suggested when the order was announced last year.

Qantas’s safety and operational reputation overseas is second to none and it’s time for the airline to leverage that excellence and get on the expansion flightpath.

There is now a clear and present danger that other 787-9 airlines such as Virgin Atlantic will open a London-Perth route or United Airlines a Chicago-Sydney route.

The airline industry is moving faster than ever with new aircraft offering major leaps forward in both capability and economy and thus it is essential for Qantas, which now ticks all the boxes, to take the lead not just in safety but product.

For today the travelling public is influenced more by product than safety – a complete contrast to 1988 when the film Rainman gave the Australian airline a wonderful free kick.

And another factor rapidly gaining importance is the ability to bypass major bottlenecks such as Los Angeles as Qantas has found with its flights to Dallas.

Boeing’s pitch that passengers want nonstops is supported more today than ever, with the number of new nonstops soaring. The 787 alone accounts for 90 new city pairs since it was introduced.

Qantas is on a winner with the 787 and new ultra long-range routes, and it needs to be more aggressive or other airlines will leave it at the gate.

If Qantas wants to be more than a me-too carrier then it must get on the front foot.