In it for the long haul

The announcement of a low-density seating configuration followed by confirmation of Perth-London flights suggests Qantas is now looking to do the same with the 787-9. At over 17 hours flying time and 7,829nm in distance the nonstop flight between Perth and London is certainly a long haul. It won’t be the world’s longest flight – the Sydney-DFW route (now flown by Airbus A380s) recently relinquished that crown to Emirates’ Dubai-Auckland (7,668nm) and then Air India’s Delhi-San Francisco (8,159nm, but only nonstop eastbound), and by the time it launches Singapore Airlines will be flying to New York (approx 8,285nm) with the Airbus A350-900ULR.

But it is still a very long way, and a very long flight, just within the operational limits of the aircraft, and, arguably, right on the comfort limits for economy class passengers enduring a middle seat for 17 hours.

A lot of ducks have been lined up to make this possible, from Qantas having in its order book an aircraft capable of flying such long distances with an economically viable payload to Perth Airport’s upgrade of its instrument landing system to Cat III which should dramatically reduce the need for diversions due to fog (an upgrade that, not coincidentally, is due to come online in early 2018).

But perhaps most critically of all was the securing of an agreement with Perth Airport to operate international flights on an interim basis out of Terminal 3, rather than the international Terminal 1. Being able to operate the Perth- London flights from T3, which is collocated with T4 and which together are home to all of Qantas’s Perth domestic flights, will mean Qantas can offer a seamless hub transfer experience for passengers connecting from intrastate WA, Adelaide and even the east coast to the nonstop London flights.

The sticking point in an increasingly acrimonious public debate was Perth Airport’s desire for Qantas to operate its international flights from Perth’s international terminal, and the airport’s desire to ensure Qantas committed to moving its operations across the airfield to an expanded T1 precinct early next decade.

Without being privy to the negotiations it is hard to know how close the deal came to falling over. But into the breach stepped the WA state government and its promise of $14 million to allow for the fitout of T3 with international passenger processing facilities.

That seems a win-win for Qantas and Perth Airport. Both got what they wanted (Qantas will move across to T1 by the end of 2025) and the WA taxpayer picks up the bill (which seems like a subsidy by another name, incidentally, but that’s a topic for another day).

So will it work? With 236 seats Qantas’s 787-9s will have fewer than half the seats of its A380s (although interestingly the 787s will, at 42, have only 12 fewer business class seats than the A380), so a daily 787 flight to London doesn’t represent a game-changing amount of capacity.

Qantas’s playing hardball over using T3 does suggest that domestic feed and connections are critical to the London flight’s business case – there’s plenty of conjecture that the 787s will operate a Melbourne-Perth-London routing.

Plus Perth itself is home to almost two million people and has a large resident British expat community, while mining giants such as BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto have corporate offices in Perth and London (and Melbourne), suggesting a good level of patronage for those 42 business class seats.

Where Perth-London nonstop flights are less attractive is for passengers travelling elsewhere in Europe, in which case they are still likely to be better of one-stopping in Asia or the Middle East. For that Qantas still offers its codeshare flights on Emirates’ three flights a day out of Perth to Dubai.

But speaking of Emirates, what does the Dubai-based giant think of its Australian alliance partner cutting out the middle man in flying direct to Europe. Will their relationship change, especially if Qantas grows its Perth hub by adding more nonstop flights to other European destinations? What is interesting too is how much the Perth-London flights represent an increased emphasis by Qantas, which long describes itself as an ‘end-of-line’ carrier, on using ultra long-haul nonstop flights to negate that disadvantage. In recent media appearances Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has referred to nonstop Sydney-New York flights, which would require a 777-8X, as the airline’s “holy grail”.

At over 8,600nm and 19+ hours’ flying time, that really would be a long haul.

Qantas’s playing hardball suggests that domestic feed and connections are critical.