The new route is shorter and will save as much as $100m (US) per year in fuel costs.  Since the international arm of Qantas has been running at a loss, the savings are critically important.  Though, with a loss of $253m (US) reported in August 2012, the fuel savings alone will not be enough to bring them back into the black.  (An order for 35 Boeing 787 Dreamliners was cancelled back in August in the name of cost-cutting, despite the promised fuel efficiency improvement of those aircraft.)

Singapore vs Dubai : Freedoms and human rights

Both countries have very specific views as to what is permissible and choose to regulate aspects of life that are unregulated in most Western countries.  The change in hub does not therefore represent a significant change for passengers stopping over during their journey:  No drugs, no medicines, no public display of affection, and keep your mouth shut.  But you can chew gum in Dubai, except on public transport where it will cost you a Dh 100 fine.

New alliance

The old alliance with British Airways has been abandoned in favour of a new deal with Emirates.  Emirates is owned by the government of Dubai and backed by the royal family, and is therefore in a position to offer “sweeteners” to Qantas. Qantas have also had to concede certain routes to Emirates: they will no longer fly to Frankfurt, for example.

As alliance partners, Qantas will align its sales, flight schedules and pricing with Emirates.  One gets the distinct impression that Qantas is the junior partner in the alliance as they appear to give away more than they gain.

No pork

For the stated reason of cultural sensitivity Qantas is abandoning its own social and culinary traditions by eliminating pork from all flights that fly to, from, or via Dubai.  (A similar arrangement is already in place for flights to Indonesia.)  No alcohol will be used in food preparation.

Qantas continue to serve alcohol on board, as indeed does Emirates.  (Precious few airlines, even those that pointedly serve only 100% halal food, are completely “dry”.)

While the Qantas food loaded at Dubai can be expected to be halal, food loaded at other places, while not containing pork, may not necessarily have been subjected to Islamic slaughter and passengers desiring halal meals should still specify this when booking.

Passengers flying between Europe and Australia who desire tasty bacon, eisbein, ribs or other delicious pork products should book with a different airline.

Image credit: Cj Oswald, July 2006

Der Spiegel has reported that repairs to the hairline cracks detected in a few ‘L’ brackets in Airbus A380 aircraft wings could cost nearly €1.5 million per aircraft to repair.  The total cost of the repair programme could be as high as €100 million. 68 A380 airbuses are currently in service.

On 8 February the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) mandated inspections of all A380 wings, following the discovery of 36 cracks of about 2 centimetres in the ‘L’-shaped rib feet of an aircraft in the Qantas fleet.  These cracks stretched from the rib to skin panel attachment on the underside of the main wings.  The A380 has in the region of 4000 wing brackets on each aircraft, so 36 is a low number.

The EASA does not require A380s to be removed from service.

New aircraft are expected to have modified brackets that will not crack in this way.  Airbus have been frank about the nature of the problem which was caused by three design errors: an unsuitable type of aluminium alloy was used for some of the brackets inside the wings, the bolts selected caused undue strain and the means for closing tiny gaps resulted in increased stress on some brackets.

A380 wings are manufactured in Britain.

Such problems are fairly common on aircraft newly introduced to service.  Airbus competitor Boeing has also had its share of problems with fuselages of the new model 787.

This applies only for travel that originated outside Australia.

The fixed value in various currencies (not subject to exchange rate fluctuations):

EUR190
GBP165
HKD2015
INR12850
JPY20000
NZD325
SGD320
USD260
ZAR2075
CHF230
SEK1705
CNY1650
XPF22290
TWD7805
KRW294030

The currency conversion was done on 25 November 2011.  The applicable rules are available at the following link, and if you are so inclined you can also book a flight right away: http://www.qantas.com.au/

For your convenience here is a direct link to the Qantas Free Flight Offer Request Form.

To qualify for your free flight you must register using the form, before midnight on 31 January 2012.

The catch?  Only Australian residents affected by the recent unilateral suspension of flights will be eligible.

Persons wishing to take advantage of the offer must register on the Qantas web site from 11 November by 31 January 2012 using a ‘Free Flight Offer Request form’  that will be made available online.  They will also be emailing eligible passengers whose email addresses are on record with the airline.

The free flights will commence 14 December 2011 and must be completed by 14 December 2013.  Bookings will have to be made at least 14 days but no more than 90 days prior to departure.

Details of the “Fly with us, on us” offer are listed at their site www.qantas.com.au

[image rights: Qantas]

The decision was taken by Qantas management in response to ongoing disputes with organised labour.  On Sunday an official body, Fair Work Australia, intervened and ruled that the unions should resume negotiations, or an arbitration ruling would be made in 21 days.

Following approval by the transport regulator Qantas resumed flights and had accommodated the displaced passengers by the end of Tuesday.  Other airlines in the Qantas stable were not affected, namely, QantasLink, Jetstar, Jetconnect services, freight services Express Freighters Australia and Atlas.

Links that proved useful during this crisis:

Travel alerts:

http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airlines/disruptions/global/en

This link includes explanation of how to claim accommodation, meals and transfers, and it provided options regarding alternative flights, and refunds.

Status information on specific flights:

http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airlines/flight-status/global/en

This was only updated for flights 24 hours ahead.

Qantas local offices around the world:

http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airlines/contacts-telephone-sales/global/en

Options for changing or refunding bookings:

http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airlines/disruptions/global/en#changing-or-refunding-your-booking