MH370

The thought and prayers of this blog are with all family and friends of passengers on MH370 a Boeing 777-2H6 believed to be 9M-MRO which has gone missing between KUL and PEK

I will not enter into speculation and propaganda on what happened to this flight until the aircraft has been found and full details are released, I just pray for comfort and closure to family members and friends of those lost.

A New Spirit

Today at 10am AEST Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce held a press conference to launch the “a new spirit” concept that is the base for sweeping changes in the way Qantas looks, feels and operates.   

The announcement of these changes have been widely publicised and expected and has now been introduced.

A brief overview of the changes coming up are:

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•   Qantas will axe its SYD-EZE (Buenos Aries) route instead flying to Santiago (SCL) initially 3x weekly 

•  Qantas will focus its A380s onto services to/from LAX and LHR via SIN
• Qantas will cut other services to LHR via any intermediary other than SIN (ie BKK, HKG)
• Qantas will focus on its relationships with fellow OneWorld airlines American Airlines (AA), British Airways (BA) and Malaysian Airlines (MH) offering multiple services on these airlines throughout America and Europe
• By years end QF will have 12 A380s, Qantas have also deferred the delivery of 6 A380s by 5-6 years, with A380s nuber 15-20 being delivered in the period of 2018-2021 to match up with the retirement of the 744 fleet.
• 4 747-400s (744) will be retired this year, with the remainder being upgraded to match the product offered on the A380s, with the entire 744 fleet completed by June 2014.
• New lounges will be opened in SIN, HKG, BKK, LAX
• There will be a new Platinum 1 tier for frequent flyers with additional benefits for Silver and Gold members
• A new fleet strategy aimed at a simplified, high flexibility fleet offering lower costs
• A new order has been placed with Airbus for 110 A320s, of which 28-32 will be the current generation with 78 A320NEO, the NEO options will comprise roughly 50% fleet replacement and 50% new aircraft to meet expected growth

 And the biggest announcement is that of a new Joint Venture Full Service airline to be based in Asia.

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•  New Name – will not be QF
• New Look
• New Feel
• New Brand
• New Aircraft
• Will leverage Qantas knowledge and safety
• 49% stake from QF
• Base, etc to be announced in the near future
• Initial fleet of 11 A320s, comprising 8 from the new order and 3 existing aircraft.
• Will fly throughout Asia and especially China/India as well as flying to Australia.
• Will provide feed to Qantas and visa versa

More details on the Qantas announcement including links will be blogged later on

If 1+1=OneWorld, does 1+2=Star?

1+1=OneWorld
Qantas are sponsoring Malaysian Airlines for entry into the oneworld alliance with the process expected to take 18 months to complete.
At the same time Qantas and MAS will look at options for co-operation on Asian routes, and how they can help each others market share.

1+2=Star??
In a move that will strengthen the rumours about Virgin Australia's possible entry into the Star alliance, Virgin have announced their Asian partner will be Singapore Airlines.  Virgin now have significant partnerships with two Star Alliance partners Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines.

It has long been speculated that Air New Zealand would sponsor Virgin for entry into Star, and now with two firm partnerships it looks possible that Virgin may go the way of star.  Virgin CEO John Borghetti speaking at the partnership with SQ launch has stated that entry into Star isnt something they are contemplating at the moment and is something that they may look into in 2012 or later.

Read more on the two new partnerships QF & MAS from Steve Creedy at theaustralian.com.au HERE and VA & SQ from David Flynn at ausbt.com.au HERE