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Qatar Airways to Fly to Penang wef 6 February 2018 with B787-8

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Yes, thats right. Was operated by 773 and the plane overnighted in PEN.

Like most regional destinations, CX sent every aircraft type in their fleet to PEN, from 333s to 77Ws. The crew loved PEN flights dearly and it showed.

 

But back to the topic: tag-on flights aren't as lucrative as some think. There's a lot of added cost to it, and it loses its competitive edge because of the added stop.

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Yes, thats right. Was operated by 773 and the plane overnighted in PEN.

Hi Mushrif,

The flights were there even in the late eighties and nineties! I remember CX722/724 with tristars... they even threw in a 747 at times. I recall being in Subang in the early nineties one day and I saw many 'mamaks' like myself boarding a CX 747 and was amazed that there was such a large community in HKG. Then I saw the destination at the gate - Penang, not Hong Kong! There must have been local traffic rights at the time. Unless I was totally right the first time! Lol

Like most regional destinations, CX sent every aircraft type in their fleet to PEN, from 333s to 77Ws. The crew loved PEN flights dearly and it showed.

 

But back to the topic: tag-on flights aren't as lucrative as some think. There's a lot of added cost to it, and it loses its competitive edge because of the added stop.

I guess tag on flights could work if the destinations by themselves are unable to provide sufficient loads to justify non stop services.

Edited by Izanee

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Excellent news! What a pleasant surprise, as Penang wasn't even in their list of new destinations planned for 2018 (which includes Medan in Indonesia and Utapao in Thailand)

 

3x weekly is a good start, hopefully they'll increase the frequency once they build up the load.

 

One question - does anyone know if the A320 has the range to serve this route? Just curious to know if there is a possibility for Qatar to downsize the aircraft during low season ^_^

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DOH-KBV (Krabi) was downgraded to A319 for one month according to routesonline.

A classic example of mixed fleet could match supply with demand. Otherwise, qr could be losing $$$ during the low season.

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I wonder how much of this new QR flight to PEN has to do with unreliable Malaysian feed (OD) into its KUL services

It's a personal opinion/experience, but I no longer feel comfortable flying OD to KUL (from BKI) to transit for flight to LHR, merely because my recent OD flights have been rescheduled so often - it's a confidence issue

Maybe they (QR) are losing enough traffic feed compared to time when MH provided the domestic feed into/out of KUL for them to try this ......

Edited by BC Tam

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Hi Mushrif,

The flights were there even in the late eighties and nineties! I remember CX722/724 with tristars... they even threw in a 747 at times. I recall being in Subang in the early nineties one day and I saw many 'mamaks' like myself boarding a CX 747 and was amazed that there was such a large community in HKG. Then I saw the destination at the gate - Penang, not Hong Kong! There must have been local traffic rights at the time. Unless I was totally right the first time! Lol

 

I guess tag on flights could work if the destinations by themselves are unable to provide sufficient loads to justify non stop services.

 

I dont believe cabotage was allowed for CX even in those days, but CX did have own stopover traffic rights. So a pax ticketed HKG-PEN can stopover in KUL and then jump on the KUL-PEN leg operated by CX on another day.

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A classic example of mixed fleet could match supply with demand. Otherwise, qr could be losing $$$ during the low season.

Agree. From what I understand EK is now grappling with the challenge of overcapacity on some routes as its smallest aircraft is B777 and is now teaming up with FlyDubai to address that challenge.

Which means we in KK need to tweak our available products to draw in the westerners too

 

If and when QR arrives at BKI, I think we can say bye bye to BI thereafter :)

Last year was a positive tourists arrivals growth to Sabah from the UK (increase of 7%). BI clearly wants to leverage on that growth. KA will pull out of BKI early next year..and MH has only one European destination at the moment. Perhaps QR can test the water by doing DOH-BKK-BKI? Oh wait, but Thai Smile tried this route briefly this year but failed to make it work in the long term.

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Congrats to a long term MWings member who had the honour and privilege to perform this maiden journey! Well done bro!

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Congrats to a long term MWings member who had the honour and privilege to perform this maiden journey! Well done bro!

Thank you brother. Was amazing!

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