Aussie Flyer

Well we've known the B767 days were numbered in the Qantas fleet for quite some time now, but since Alan Joyce fast-tracked his turnaround plan for the airline, the day came somewhat earlier than many had hoped. December 27, 2014 was the final day of Boeing 767 passenger operations for Qantas, and indeed it would be the final flight of a Boeing 767 with passengers in Australian domestic service period.  The Boeing 767-200 and Boeing 767-300 have been an integral part of the aviation scene in Australia since about 1983 (with Ansett) and for many it was the preferred method of travel between the east coast capitals for decades. The type has been in service with Qantas for 29 years and was it's first twin engine aircraft. So it was with some sadness that I booked my seat on flight QF767 from Melbourne to Sydney to farewell what I think has been a very significant part of Australian airline history. Here is how I experienced the day....

In case you are not subscribed to my YouTube channel, here are the videos associated with part 1 and 2 of this latest series of reports: And for a sneak peak at Part 3, here is the video of the flight Bangkok to Tokyo Haneda: Enjoy!

After arriving from Melbourne on QF400 I collected my luggage (Qantas won't interline to non alliance partners on separate tickets anymore), and took the train between terminals. They charge $5.70 for this 2 minute journey, which other airports in the world charge to transfer between terminals I wonder? Qantas does offer an inter-terminal transfer but I couldn't use this as it is airside and I had to go landside to get my luggage. Fortunately the luggage didn't take too long and I was over at the Thai check-in counters by 8am. Here are the details of todays flight: FLIGHT TG476 AIRLINE Thai Airways  International ROUTE Sydney to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi GATE DEPARTURE 10.00 (Scheduled) / 10.02 (Actual) GATE ARRIVAL 15.25 (Scheduled) / 15.44 (Actual) FLIGHT TIME 9 hours 12 minutes airborne AIRCRAFT Boeing 747-400 HS-TGO Check-in for Royal First, Royal Silk and Economy ...

Last month I decided I needed to satisfy my cravings to fly again so I planned and booked a very hectic 6 day trip from Melbourne including stops in Bangkok, Tokyo, Osaka and Hong Kong. This is my report of the flights I took on this trip. They include Qantas business class, Thai Airways first and business Class, Japan Airlines economy class, and EVA Air business class, including a Hello Kitty flight. This post is about the first part of my trip, the short hop between Melbourne and Sydney to connect up with Thai's 10am service to Bangkok. I have  done this a couple of times before and I always choose the QF400, 6am service.  It is almost always on time and leaves a nice 2 hour 30 min transit time in Sydney. The only downside is just how early in the morning it is. Since I was flying onwards in First Class from Sydney, it seemed only natural to fork out a few extra points and fly in business class on the first leg. Here is the review of this short flight: FLIGHT ...

Earlier this year Air New Zealand announced the retirement of it' Boeing 747-400 fleet. As part of the farewell celebrations they scheduled a one off Auckland-Sydney-Auckland service, and as a fan of the Jumbo Jet, I booked a ticket. Sadly about a week before the flight the airline cancelled the service with no explanation. It was quite disappointing. However, the replacement aircraft was the brand new B787-9 and that would be a new type for me so I decided to go ahead and fly anyway. I managed to snag a seat in the Premium Economy cabin for a small surcharge, but please be aware that whilst I had a premium economy seat, ANZ do not offer a premium economy service on Trans-Tasman flights. So the soft product that you will see on this review is identical to the basic 'Seat Only' economy class service. FLIGHT NZ104 AIRLINE Air New Zealand ROUTE Sydney to Auckland DEPARTURE 12:30 (Scheduled) / 12:28 ...

The Saab 340 has been on the Australian aviation scene for about 30 years, and it is still going strong. In fact we are home to the world's largest operator of the type, Regional Express, or simply 'Rex'. Rex was created after the collapse of Ansett Australia and is the amalgamation of the former regional airlines 'Hazelton' and  'Kendell'. They fly a fleet of almost 50 of these Saab's to many regional destinations throughout the country. Today I would be flying on the morning service between Melbourne and the NSW regional city of Wagga Wagga. FLIGHT ZL3258 AIRLINE Regional Express ‘Rex’ ROUTE Melbourne to Wagga Wagga DEPARTURE Schedule 0900 / Actual 0930 ARRIVAL Schedule 1000 / Actual 1030 FLIGHT TIME 45 minutes airborne AIRCRAFT Saab 340B VH-EKH  (Age 19 years)

I was incredibly lucky a couple of months back to try out Etihad First Class on my flight home from Abu Dhabi to Melbourne. Here's my review of their premier product.... FLIGHT EY460 AIRLINE Etihad ROUTE Abu Dhabi – Melbourne DEPARTURE 22.20 ARRIVAL 17.30 FLIGHT TIME 13 Hours 10 Minutes AIRCRAFT Boeing 777-300ER (A6-ETM) My day actually started in the airport hotel, the Premier Inn Abu Dhabi International Airport. I was there during a long layover. It's a basic but very good quality hotel and I found it very comfortable. I would recommend it to anyone with long transits. It is connected to the terminal complex and very reasonably priced. I departed the hotel at about 7.30pm, and checked the departures board as I left:

A few months ago I was looking for interesting ways home from Europe when I discovered award availability on Qatar Airways business class from Munich to Doha. Since the flight was with a carrier I had never flown before but heard great things about AND on the Boeing 787, I jumped at the chance and booked right away. I used Qantas frequent flyer points for this booking, which was possible since Qatar Airways have joined the oneworld alliance. FLIGHT: QR58 DEPARTURE: Munich @ 16.35 ARRIVAL: Doha @ 23.05 CLASS: Business Class AIRCRAFT: Boeing 787-8 PASSENGER LOAD:  18 out of 22

As part of a trip to Europe recently I wanted to try and fly on something a little bit different. Whilst researching ways to get from London to Munich I found a route sold by Air Berlin from Stansted to Munich via Dusseldorf with the first leg being flown by Etihad Regional on a Saab 2000! With so few Saab 2000's in operation, and certainly none in Australia, I jumped at the chance. As it turns out I flew on the first day of Etihad Regional operations to London's Stansted Airport. FLIGHT: F7275 (Etihad Regional, operated by Darwin Airlines FROM: London-Stansted @ 16.10 TO: Dusseldorf @ 18.25 I took the train from London to Stansted which was convenient, fast and easy  (although I think expensive at approx $40 AUD one way, next time I need to book in advance):

I was absolutely shocked to see the news of MH17 unfolding over the last 24 hours, I am truly devastated. I would like to express my condolences to the families, friends, coworkers and anyone who know those who died. It really is quite incredible that another disaster has hit Malaysia Airlines. It's hard to express how most people feel, it could easily have been any one of us who perished. Rest in Peace.

Last month I finally got to try out the latest Cathay long haul business class seat. It was a long time coming I suppose since the seat has been in operation for well over a year and now features on all flights between Australia and Hong Kong. All CX flights to Australia are operated by the Airbus A330-300 in a 3 class configuration with economy, premium economy and business class. Today I will take a look at flight CX134 which departs Melbourne at 7.40am during the winter months, and 8.40am during the summer months. I warn you, there is a lot of photos... 51 in total! A fairly quiet check-in zone at MEL

Turkish Airlines has been rapidly expanding in recent years and now has a huge worldwide route network that rivals that of the big middle eastern carriers. I had heard good things about the airline so I decided to give them a go and visit Istanbul for the first time. The flight I am reviewing today is TK65, the daytime service from Bangkok to Istanbul. When I booked it was scheduled to be on an Airbus A330-300 with the latest business class product. Unfortunately when I went on Flightradar24 the night before the flight to see which aircraft had left Istanbul to operate the service I found out my flight had been swapped to the smaller A330-200.  I suppose the fact that there was a military coup with strict curfews in place in Bangkok at the time meant that the flight would be lightly loaded but unfortunately it meant I would be stuck in the older and much less exciting angled lie flats for the 10 hour journey. Disappointing but there was nothing I could do about it. Turk...

On my recent 'flyventures' I had an opportunity to sample the new regional business class offering of Cathay Pacific. Whilst I say new, it is in fact already a bit over a year old, but it is the latest product offering from Cathay for regional flights. This product is used on short to medium haul flights, I think services to India/Pakistan/Sri Lanka may be about the longest flights that feature this product. My flight today was CX703, a 17.05 departure to Bangkok from Hong Kong, which continues on to Karachi. The aircraft was an Airbus A330-300 B-HLO, a 13 year old aircraft delivered new to Cathay in 2001.

Jetstar are slowly changing the long haul fleet over from the Airbus A330-200 to the Boeing 787-8 and so far they have 4 aircraft in service. I recently took a ride on VH-VKE which was just 2 weeks old at the time. I rode on it between Melbourne and Sydney, which was a domestic tag for a flight that originated in Phuket. As such it departs from the international terminal but they do sell tickets for domestic passengers too. VH-VKE at the gate

Just an update as to what is coming up on the site.... I recently took a ride on a Boeing 787 for the first time ever, it was just a short flight from Melbourne to Sydney on Jetstar but it was fantastic. Expect a full pictorial report tomorrow night. As for my upcoming travels I have the following to report on over the next couple of weeks: - Cathay Pacific business class long haul A330 configuration - Cathay Pacific business class new regional A330 configuration - Turkish Airlines business class A330-300 - British Airways euro traveler (economy) on the B767-300 - Etihad Regional on the SAAB 2000 - Air Berlin economy on the A320 - Qatar business class on the B787 dreamliner - Qatar economy class on the A320 - Etihad diamond first class on the B777-300ER So as you  can see there is lots to look forward to, all new products that I have never reviewed before. So stay tuned.

It is probably obvious to my readers that I am more of a Qantas/Jetstar flyer domestically in Australia, but in the interests of  fairness here is a look at a short flight I took recently on Virgin Australia between Sydney and Melbourne. The flight is VA878, the 6.30pm departure from Sydney with an arrival time of 8.05pm. The flight I took was being operated by VH-VUN which is still in it's red Pacific Blue colour scheme. I assume it will be repainted fairly soon into the much more stylish and modern Virgin Australia scheme. Here is what VH-VUN looks like at the moment:

A quick report here on what you can expect in business class domestically in Thailand. This trip was on TG110 from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi to Chiang Mai on the Airbus A330-300. The aircraft operating the flight was HS-TEJ, a 16 year old model configured with the regional business class recliner seats. The flight was due to depart at 1.10pm and arrive into Chiang Mai at 2.20pm. My trip started with the taxi driver taking the long way around the back of the airport, which was fine by me as I like the view: View from the Taxi of an A330 touching down

Following on from my recent look at a short flight on Air Asia, let's now look at another low cost carrier in the region, Nok Air. This carrier is in its 10th year of operations and now operates a fleet of 15 Boeing 737-800's along with several turboprops. It has a very extensive network of flights throughout Thailand and although it is a low cost carrier they do offer several inclusions that a traditional LCC does not. Those are a snack and drink on board, free seat selection and a 15kg baggage allowance. HS-DBO operated this flight Today I am looking at a flight from Hat Yai to Bangkok, flight DD7115, with a scheduled departure time of 19.55 and an arrival at Bangkok's Don Muang at 21.20. The flight cost me 1199 baht (USD40), so it was quite a bargain.

My other half is originally from Hat Yai so every now and then I find myself visiting this southern Thai city, like I did last month for Thai New Year (Songkran). On this trip I decided to fly via  Kuala Lumpur and take Air Asia. I booked online for a great price and showed up at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal with my pre-printed web check-in boarding passes.  I had baggage to check-in so fronted up to one of the counters and handed over my passport and my bag. Fortunately  there was not much of a queue so the process was fast. My passport was checked, bag tagged and my printed boarding pass stamped to confirm my documents had been verified. Next it was upstairs to passport control and through security. Once through security there is a small selection of duty free shops and food outlets in the LCCT. There is also free wi-fi. This was to be my last time using this terminal as KLIA 2 is opening in May which will see a huge upgrade to the facilities. I sat on a spare...

In January I had the chance to fly on Emirates on one of my sectors en route from the UK back to Australia. The flight I took was from Dubai to Bangkok, operated by the Airbus A380. The flight number is EK384 and the departure time was scheduled for the ungodly hour of 3.05am! Arrival into Bangkok is at a more respectable 12.25pm. At just after midnight I woke up in my Deira hotel, took a shower and grabbed a cab for the short trip to the airport. This flight leaves from the newest terminal, T3. It took me a while to work out where to find the First Class check-in counters, I was able to use them as part of my Qantas Platinum status since the two airlines are now partners. In fact I was booked on the Qantas codeshare  flight number QF8384.  Outside the terminal at Dubai - clearly the home of Emirates

This evening Qantas has announced a number of changes to it's frequent flyer program. Essentially they have now destroyed the program. Without going into too much details for most customers it means earning less frequent flyer points and less status credits (especially if flying with Qantas partners). The changes also see the removal of anyseat awards booked in class award booking classes (i.e status credit and points earning award flights). This change comes into effect July 1. I am extremely disappointed at these changes and as a result I am now looking to other programs to put my miles, e.g. AAdvantage and Virgin Velocity. I think Qantas has made a big mistake here, they are already struggling and in one announcement they will send thousands of loyal customers flocking to other airlines. NOT HAPPY QANTAS. For the changes go here: http://www.qantas.com.au/fflyer/dyn/program/fairer-flying

Over the recent summer and school holiday period Qantas scheduled a Boeing 747-400 on it's Bangkok flight instead of the usual Airbus A330-300. I happened to be travelling the route during this time and although I was booked in economy I decided to do a points upgrade to try out the business class service on the jumbo! I received an sms to my phone confirming the upgrade. the day before and was able to select my preferred seat right away on Qantas.com.

Here is a quick report on QF790, the daily service between Sydney and Alice Springs. This is a Boeing 737-800 sector and on the  flight I took in January I was lucky to score one of Qantas' newer models with Boeing Sky Interior. It was VH-XZF, just 8 months old at the time of this flight. Here is the business cabin featuring leather seats and audio video on demand in all seats:

Flying around Europe in business class is not exactly luxurious. The airline industry standard business class is actually just economy seats at the front of the plane with a middle seat blocked. There may be slightly more legroom and enhanced service but this really should be called 'Premium Economy' at best. Here is a look at what BA are offering at the moment on short haul European business class, which they call 'Club Europe'. This journey begins at Heathrow Terminal 3. My destination on this early January evening is Prague, one of only a handful of destinations that British Airways still serve from this terminal. The vast majority of BA services are operated out of Terminal 5. British Airways still operate a business and first class lounge here though which is used by other carriers like Qantas as well. There is also a First Class check-in zone which was deserted when I arrived. My check-in was handled very quickly and my luggage tagged for Prague with priority...

Here's something a little bit different for the blog. A train report. I did a cruise report last month so why not a train!? This was one I had been wanting to do for quite some time, Virgin Trains in First Class. The route I was travelling was London to Manchester which operates every 20 minutes and takes just over 2 hours leaving from London Euston station.   Arriving at Euston

This is the continuation of my trip from Melbourne to London on Qantas' flagship Airbus A380, flight QF9. For part 1 go HERE . After landing in Dubai on schedule with 13.5 hours of flight behind me it was time to head to the Emirates First Class Lounge in terminal 3. This is the lounge which features direct boarding  to the aircraft, but more on that later. As I was among the first off the flight there was nobody waiting at transit security so I was through and up to the lounge in no time.  First up it's time for a shower since Qantas don't have them onboard like Emirates do!

Qantaslink have recently acquired some used Boeing 717's that they have reconfigured into a 98 economy and 12 business class layout. They are going to be replacing the Boeing 737-400's used on flights between Canberra and Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. In addition they will also operate all Qantas services between Hobart and both Sydney (daily) and Melbourne (4 daily). This is the first time that Qantaslink have operated a business class. I had an opportunity this week to sample the service on a short evening flight between Sydney and Canberra on VH-YQS, a 10 year old Boeing 717 which originally was delivered new to Midwest Airlines in the USA back in 2004. In 2009 it went to Mexico for service with Click Mexicana, a low cost division of Mexicana. But they went bust in 2010 and the aircraft was stored. When it came time for Qantaslink to source some new B717's they found this one and did a full refurb.  So let's have a look what it's like: VH-YQS at the gate ...

Is the Qantas service from Canberra to Sydney the world's shortest flight that still serves a full hot breakfast? It's only a hot breakfast in business class but I am still impressed that they have maintained it even in these days of cost cutting. It is 147 miles or just 236 kilometres as the bird flies between the two airports: In economy a light refreshment is available but in business here is what I was served this month on the QF560 departing at 06.45am: It's a couple of poached eggs,spinach, tomato with feta and sausages. The juice which on longer sectors would normally be poured by the crew comes in a bottle on the tray, and there is a banana on the side. Perfectly adequate and a good start to the day. The crew on this Boeing 737-400 flight have to work VERY hard to get this  meal out to up to 20 business class passengers in a flight that can be as short as 25 minutes in the air, which leaves about 10-12 minutes to have the meal served, eaten and cleare...

This past Christmas I gave myself a gift. It was a first class ticket to London on Qantas and flying on Christmas day too! It was to be my first First Class experience on the Qantas A380 and I was looking forward to it for months. Did it live up to my expecations? Let's see....