First non-stop service from Australia to UK begins

Gael23

It’s a great step forward in travel but I couldn’t endure a 17 hour flight. I would have to break it up so via Dubai would be my preferred route.

youreadthat

I’ve done 12.5 and 14.5 hours in 787 economy and tbh after about 5 hours it all feels the same. Another 3 hours wouldn’t have been a big deal. You just get into your own way of stretching when you need to. Nice opportunity to catch up with a few new films that have slipped through the net and get a couple of hours kip. Not connecting is a great time saver and a lot of stress with timings and luggage removed.

Noxegon

youreadthat wrote: »

I’ve done 12.5 and 14.5 hours in 787 economy and tbh after about 5 hours it all feels the same.

I disagree.

I'm a very frequent long haul traveller (~300 hours in planes last year) and my experience is that after ten or so hours in cattle class everything starts to hurt. I try to avoid anything over eight hours nowadays.

Most of my flights layover in DXB – where I can enjoy a walk, a decent meal, and a shower that puts me in a much better state for the balance of the journey.

LiamaDelta

Noxegon wrote: »

I disagree.

I'm a very frequent long haul traveller (~300 hours in planes last year) and my experience is that after ten or so hours in cattle class everything starts to hurt. I try to avoid anything over eight hours nowadays.

Most of my flights layover in DXB – where I can enjoy a walk, a decent meal, and a shower that puts me in a much better state for the balance of the journey.

Same here. Not a hope I'd spend longer than 10 hours on a plane unless it's in Business, where you have space and decent (relatively) food. 17 hours in Economy, particularly on a 787, which I'm not particularly impressed with, sounds like torture. New seats on these planes are so thin that you feel like you're sitting on a barstool after a few hours.

California Dreamer

LiamaDelta wrote: »

New seats on these planes are so thin that you feel like you're sitting on a barstool after a few hours.

And still people will use these airlines and their services when it becomes faster to go from point a to point b and for as cheap as possible.

youreadthat

Noxegon wrote: »

I disagree.

I'm a very frequent long haul traveller (~300 hours in planes last year) and my experience is that after ten or so hours in cattle class everything starts to hurt. I try to avoid anything over eight hours nowadays.

Most of my flights layover in DXB – where I can enjoy a walk, a decent meal, and a shower that puts me in a much better state for the balance of the journey.

Yes, it gets uncomfortable but it’s not like you need a 3k walk to get back to a 7/10 state. A few tactical stretches, even a short walk to the toilet and a quick drink or bite to eat does the world of good. I’m going to London tomorrow direct from Santiago, the best feeling is knowing for an extra 2 hours flight I get to avoid being misled by info screens and line up again and scanned for ages in the supposedly amazing Madrid T4 with another 2.5 hours of a319 cramped misery to go when I’m drained

LiamaDelta

California Dreamer wrote: »

And still people will use these airlines and their services when it becomes faster to go from point a to point b and for as cheap as possible.

Obviously. The service wouldn't be there if people didn't use them.

rightyabe

When it first came out I was skeptical about it, 17 hours flying is a lot. However the flight from Perth to the Middle East is easy 11-12 hours so 5 or so hours more is not much more. It also saves having to go thru security again and floating around the airports/animal marts with a bunch of loud,obnoxious and rude locals:)

trellheim

17 hours is subjective really. If you havent chosen a seat, are in economy , get a middle, are 6' plus and so are your neighbours, you will not have a nice time, especially when the baby that cant relieve its ears starts up for 16 hours and 50 minutes, noise cancelling headphones or no.

Especially when the IFE is on the blink and your laptop gives up the ghost

rightyabe

Yeah that would be the ultimate flight from hell but on a flight that length you’d be sure to book a seat and have a few things on your iPhone/iPad as backup for entertainment.

mx5ire

Having just done Dub - BKK return with Qatar on a mix of 787 (the dub-doha return), A380 and 777, i can definitely say that the A380 is the most pleasant, by a margin. We got the little economy section upstairs at the back and it was really comfortable. I fly regularly in Business to the US with EI, and i was amazed just how comfy the A380 was in that upstairs economy section.

The 787 was comfortable and smooth, but on the much busier return from Doha the IFE box was irritating and i definitely found the seat width a little cramped after climbing out of a 777. Hard to quantify, but it just felt tighter, and Qatars seat back pocket is really annoying, it holds nothing. Oh and my backside was very numb on the 787 - i don't think i would like much more than 10 hours on one unless up the front.

Fred Swanson

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California Dreamer

Fred Swanson wrote: »

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Then at the end of it you are still only in Perth which is mostly a FIFO city for the mines.

rightyabe

California Dreamer wrote: »

Then at the end of it you are still only in Perth which is mostly a FIFO city for the mines.

Oh really? So Western Australia is just a large departures lounge you reckon?

Doltanian

Fred Swanson wrote: »

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Any upsurge in oil prices or downturn in the Australian economy will surely kill it off. Ultra Long Haul flights suffered huge cutbacks when Oil prices surged several years ago and those high oil prices effectively killed off the Airbus A340 series with the A340-500 effectively becoming extinct. The A340-500 operated on the Singapore-Newark route for Singapore Airlines in what was the worlds longest ever non-stop flight, it used to run in an all business and first class layout with only like 100-150 pax onboard as far as I remember.

L1011

Better aircraft mean that that route is resuming, probably late this year. A350-900ULRs. Should give better payload and significantly lower fuel consumption. I think the onboard morgue lockers may still be needed...

plodder

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-10/sleeping-on-the-fly-airbus-to-offer-naps-in-the-cargo-hold

Airbus offering modular sleeping berths that fit in the cargo hold. I suppose a 17 hour flight might be just about bearable if you could fit a 7 hour sleep in the middle of it.

josip

...Holds have in the past been designed as cabin crew rest areas and for religious facilities....

Anyone know more about these?

plodder

josip wrote: »

Anyone know more about these?

The A380 currently has a crew rest area in part of the hold. That's a permanent fixture afaik,

https://www.ausbt.com.au/photos-the-airbus-a380-s-secret-hangout-zone-for-cabin-crew

josip

Sorry, it was the "religious facilities" that piqued my curiosity.

L1011

Going to be prayer mats or spaces for same on an Islamic country of origin airine

California Dreamer

josip wrote: »

Anyone know more about these?

Aer Lingus have these for their older -200s that do the west coast.

irishrover99

L1011 wrote: »

Going to be prayer mats or spaces for same on an Islamic country of origin airine

Qatar Airlines specifically state that you must remain in your seat while praying.

Fred Swanson

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Peregrinus

As long as the cargo area is pressurised, it can be repurposed for other uses by passengers. You don't need a special area for prayer - as Qatar points out, you can pray in your seat perfectly well - but my guess is that the "religious facilities" involved a space for ritual ablutions, which you can't really do in your seat, and that this was in aircraft specially configured to serve the pilgrimage traffic to Mecca.

josip

If these ever make it into production, 17 hour flights will be a thing of the past, at least for those who can afford the sub orbital ticket.

plodder

josip wrote: »

If these ever make it into production, 17 hour flights will be a thing of the past, at least for those who can afford the sub orbital ticket.

... When that fell through due to technical problems, Bond, along with engineers John Scott-Scott and Richard Varvill, formed REL ...

I was wondering if that was a typo. Apparently not - not.

zell12

Review of the flight currently on Pat Kenny Newstalk.com

smurfjed

Image a B777 with the last 4 rows of economy seats removed, this area would then have a partition, curtains and an open carpeted area for praying. This is a "prayer area".

Manufacturers have realised that there is a lot of unused space in the aircraft ceiling, so rather than use the hold for crew rest facilities, they are using the ceiling above first class and at the back of economy, they usually have 2 seats and 2 bunks in the front and 6-8 beds in the aft. The seats can be used for takeoff and landing, the bunks can't be used.

I have flown on one B744 that had the cargo compartment configured as sleeping quarters and offices, it had almost zero space for baggage, but the owner would usually have another cargo 747 follow him with the baggage.

Tabnabs

I took a flight from CDG to JNB with Air France back in the late 90s. They had curtains down the back then, and when you opened them it was a load of lads standing around smoking.

Anything is possible...