Why Qatar Airways Flies An Almost-Empty Flight to Adelaide 

My wife and her sister did the flight the other way, going to Doha the layover in Melbourne isn't that long

Was the extra cost also worth it? Seems to be 30-35% higher

Do they shoot you if you try to leave?

No and no. The normal price might be 30 to 35% higher but there are a lot of specials. And if you try and leave they won't shoot you but will not let you back onto the flight. And that might mean flying back to Adelaide on Jetstar, an low cost airline set up by Qantas just to make Qantas the parent look good. Jetstar would make 5 hours in Melbourne terminal appealing.

It's worth the extra cost and 5+ hour layover just to have a 777 to yourself for a 50 minute flight?

Except they don't. they simply sell tickets to Melbourne. Quite common to allow people to book only one leg of a flight with a layover. Check out EVA62 (VIE-BKK-TPE) or SQ 25 (JFK- FRA- SIN)

Probably because they can't resell the seats

It's not hidden city ticketing though, Qatar is selling tickets for Melbourne, not Adelaide. For passengers going to Melbourne this flight is no different from the normal direct one.

@@roccosemler228 It is /hidden/ from australia in plain sight

​@@roccosemler228officially, they are selling tickets to Adelaide.

this is BS, Melbourne is def not pronounced like that

​@@stereowallI mean, it's not exactly pronounced like that, but that can mostly be attributed to his accent

@@stereowall I prefer Americans pronounce it the way they do in this video, it sounds forced and weird if they say Mel-bin

Yeah, especially Adelaide. It's rare enough to have someone make a video mentioning Adelaide and even rarer for it to be the FOCUS of the video and spoken that many times xD

If they can't even pronounce the names of the cities of an English speaking country correctly I'm not surprised any more that they not even remotely can pronounce anything non-English 😅

Yeah, how is your comment different from the video. Redundant info sht.

I learned more from your comment than the entire video. Thank you.

​@@WhyT74lol, the video didn't specify the reason for the flight clearly

Yes, I was trying to remember who had that weird little add-on flight to Canberra (Paul Lucas flew on it.)

I was surprised they would get away with that loophole. Like QR988 is still taking up precious international landing slots at MEL (at least they seem precious if Australia is so tight with them). I wonder if Australia will change the agreement to prevent this extra flight to Melbourne getting a free pass because it flies empty to Adelaide hours later.

sometimes perth

Only in conjunction with Melbourne

Ah, of course! Like the city of... ... um. ... ... The uh... ... Aw crap.

No love for Brisbane!

ADELAIDE MENTIONED 💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯

Bro didn’t watch the video

​@@Joe-Nutshe did....he hypothesized what would happen if people booked flights to from qatar to adelaide via melbourne even though its expensive. U high bu?

@@TojiFushigoroWasTakenyeah but what’s the point of the hypothesis? It’s a flight that’s going to happen either way. The result is obvious: people will get to Adelaide from Doha lol.

​@@Prounouncedit would surprise the crew.

I am in Melbourne and have cousins near Adelaide so why not

It's unfortunate because Qantas wants to keep its monopoly to charge people way more.

Qatas

where n

@@alexj1650add a stroke to the r then shift it to the left a couple places. learn to read dawg.

If they can avoid highly traumatising invasive cavity searches of dozens of women on their flights for truly stupid reasons then I think you're onto a winner mate

@@karmatraining Still less racist and arbitrary, drunken with power user of fascist police brutality than australian thugs (google raptor squads)...

Go Crows! 😊

@@daffers2345 boo 👎 Go the Power!!

True and very important

Hence my comment above: So much pollution generated for money 😡

Enjoy your dissolving paper straw

@@teamgeist3328 😆 Thanks anyway.

@@teamgeist3328 , with an estimated 100,000 flights every day worldwide, it probably doesn't take long for them to surpass households regarding output.

Don't worry, he doesn't pronounce Qatar correctly either

Dont worry mate. Most of India knows about Adelaide and/or South Australia now. Thats where that bad man with a mustache Travis Head is from. 😢 😡 😭

That’s sad for you but apparently Sam cant figure out what my city is known for after googling it

I only know about it from Tim from the unmade podcast

Well I’d like you to know then that my favourite band has a song named Adelaide and it’s the reason I moved to Australia. ❤️

Isn't it a flat white?

@@hahaboy211 It's Melbourne. It's a deconstructed flat white served in lab equipment while the barista tells you why the graffiti outside is amazing. Also it's raining.

​@@tacet3045Don't worry, it'll be hot and sunny in three minutes. Then a cold breeze in another ten.

@@BlackGateofMordor True.

As an F1 fan my reference can only be Albert Park.

Not that one but I remember an old video about Heathrow where he talked about the ghost routes.

this is also because AU wouldn't allow direct to melbourne flights from the US and had to have a stop in Sydney... back in the day

there were other reasons why. Prior to the AA-QF JV, QF would route NYC passengers on AA or someone else, and operating their own metal allowed them to collect additional revenue from passengers and cargo that was otherwise being shared. In addition, parking fees at LAX are substantial and their fleet sits at LAX for the day (they actually perform maintenance at LAX but not everyday on every aircraft). If they could generate revenue that offset parking fees, the flight came out ahead. Furthermore, when they rotate smaller aircraft into LAX (like AKL-LAX on an A332 for a while) they have a more efficient aircraft than an 744 or A388 to fly the LAX-JFK-LAX roundtrip.

Qantas operated the LAX-JFK flight for more then "a few years". It was sold as SYD-JFK (via LAX). They changed which inbound aircraft was used for the US transcon a few times. 747 from SYD, A330 from AKL, 747 then 787 from BNE after the SYD flight went to A380.

@@tfinkens AU did allow such flights. United stopped in SYD because they didn't have an aircraft that could get to MEL nonstop with the needed payload

Incorrect. This flight operated from 1999-2020. I've flown it many times and it actually did quite well for them.

Are you talking about parliamentary trains? If so it's not quite like that, many operators would be happy to stop these routes for good. The real reason is because it's so expensive to actually close the route, operators have to go through consultations and lots of paperwork, so it's cheaper to run a minimum service, which they are required to by law.

@@Croz89 yeah i think its something like that plus the added bonus of a faster reopening time if needed

Except, it doesn't. This is one flight per day.

It will likely have almost 9 million passengers through it this financial year. I doubt one B737 load of people a week on a flight to Melbourne, would make much of an impact.

Their credit cards - remember, they're banks now, that also fly some planes sometimes

😅 No, you're talking about the airline rewards companies, remember? Those things are worth more than the airlines.

Probably that Wendover Productions guy, not the guy who does this channel.

Tell that to Bonza!

*there was a similar one. It's gone now...

Yes flying Sydney to Canberra is definitely convenient 😂. But seriously the coaches are basically as fast because you don't have the boarding/waiting times, and cheaper.

@@benjaminfranklin329 the train is also a pretty pleasant trip if the time lines up

@@biosparkles9442it’s a four hour ride inside a train from the 1970s. I’d rather take the bus which ironically takes less time.

@@frodo322 I get travel sick on buses, I prefer the train

It's cheaper if the ticketed destination is a place that isn't a popular destination.

If you compare two flights to the same destination, but one is direct and the other is indirect, the indirect one will sometimes be cheaper. But this makes no sense, right? The indirect one flew further, so their operating costs should be higher! The trick is, your ticket price isn't really based on the operating costs at all. Your price is based on what the market is willing to pay, and people are willing to pay more for direct flights because they're more convenient. Similarly, if you compare two flights to different destinations that are the exact same distance and use the exact same plane type, but one of the destinations is more popular, then the more popular one will cost more. Because the ticket price isn't really about the operating cost, it's just about what customers are willing to pay. Now, just apply this same phenomenon to long-distance flights, where the final destination is unpopular (and so won't sell for much) but because it's so far away the plane has to stop over in a major hub on the way (which would normally sell for a lot). The airline is selling you the ticket based on the final destination, so they sell it for cheap, even though the plane had to go further.

​@@wilsonli5642it's not about popularity, it's about competition at the nominal vs the real destination. Typically the real destination is a fortress hub where one airline holds disproportionate market control, while the nominal destination doesn't.

I'm going to start calling this flight "hidden-city network planning" now. :)

But still more to do there than in Adelaide. 🤣

We've got a shitload of lounges. Being P1 and Swiss HON Circle you can use any *A or OWE lounge.

yeah, it is.. quite boring here.

If you like to eat, it's not bad. But that will only occupy you for an hour or two, tops.

Or, even further, DSc (higher doctorate)

And don't forget bricks

They ought to spin off a channel about flights.

Did you have checked baggage or just hand luggage? No questions asked at immigration in Melbourne?

@@williamrech8062 I did not check luggage - checked baggage could have traveled only to Adelaide. So if you intend to pull such trick - don't check bags. As for immigration - no issues, they don't care. I am Canadian so I used automated customs clearance lanes and don't remember talking to any official even. All pax clear customs in Melbourne anyway. In addition - upon exit the aircraft there was a lady asking disembarking people as to who travels onwards to Adelaide and who doesn't.

Yeah good on HAI for supporting local Aussie business.

Does that really happen? People think they're going to Australia but end up in CYQY? Gosh

In his defense though, how else was he supposed to get home faster so he could spend more of his entire vacation doing nothing but staring at horses?

@@dx-ek4vroh, I don’t know, his plane?

Nor should he.

If a passenger does it it's skiplagging. If an airline does it it's not. ("Do as I say, not as I do")

Hugo Of course it is, it's corruption.

Or maybe he really knew. :)

That was forgotten about and only dug out as an excuse a few weeks into the questioning on the favoritism. If that was the real reason they would have said it from the start, it was so telling that that excuse was thought up after a while by some political spin doctor. Sure that was bad a few years ago but that wasn't the real reason for restricting competition with Qantas come on.

​@@carlosquinto1383i only first read about it a few weeks ago

It's already surprising enough if Adelaide gets mentioned by Aussies

on the one hand, sponsorships earn this channel money on the other hand, you have a good point about environmental ethics Who is right?

If you *are* going to buy something though, I think it does make sense to buy from a company that does less environmental damage.

You're angry because people on this as supported platform are advertising... ..Things. If you go to a shop you are absolutely going to lose it because the whole place is full of objects for sale

I have a nice key cover from Bellroy - very happy with it. I’m allergic to nickel so need to keep my keys away from my skin and it’s a neat and good quality solution!

And then switches the pronunciation halfway through. Mind-boggling.

I live in Australia and only just heard about this Adelaide thingy.

I bloody well live in the rAdelaide and I only just found out about it. What goes in Adelaide - race cars do, I mean I wouldn't think many people would have known there's a city, if you can see over the concrete barriers that separate the racing from the other side of the barriers I'm pretty sure it's like the German one. Tickets please, no soup for you, and behave otherwise there's going to be a definite case of getting poked with a stick, like the cops and school children carry. A school had a mass poking just the other day… the horror

One time I checked a tourist guide for Adelaide, and it was literally just wine and beaches, it was an incredibly sad experience.

I'm originally from Adelaide. I still don't know what goes on there. We used to be good at serial killing, but it seems they don't even do that anymore. As Paul Kelly sang, "The streets are so wide, everybody's inside, In A-del-aide."

@@bugsygoo Well it's one more boring Thursday night in Adelaide Where it looks like everybody must have died There's no one on the streets and nothing on TV Down on Anzac Highway in my rusty old FV And I'm looking for some food to take away Finger licking kitten and a double fisted bun Well I've chewed and spewed and so I'm here to say Orange laminex Pizza bars get you down Yes we know it was the festival of art and all that stuff And the culture vultures still sat on a the fence Before you put your bum on those plush red seats take we look in your backyard Don't we need some changes to this town? Arty farty cities bring you down Don't we need some changes to this town?

Yes, they could. Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane all have nearby international airports which are not capped which they could fly to.

No, I don’t think Qatar wants to associate themselves with Jetstar, Bonza and AirAsia yet

Does Avalon take international flights? I thought it was domestic only

@@johnhamilton6003They opened the international terminal in December 2018 with Air Asia X flights to Kuala Lumpur twice a day. They'd added other companies and were about to open Vietnam flights when Covid hit and shut everything down. At present the International terminal is sitting empty afaik until either Air Asia comes back or some other company wants to take advantage of not having to deal with Tulla. Avalon's runway is big enough for A-380s, but the lounges can only really hold one flight at a time. I assume its cheaper for the airlines than Tulla, but I really don't know. I hope it re-opens international again. I used to work there and I miss it.

@@johnhamilton6003 Avalon is able to take international flights. Thus far it has only been used by low cost carriers from SE Asia

The government made the problem so more government ain't going to fix it. The fix would be to remove the anti competition law

Its a good idea but logistically impossible. Especially for international airlines. It would probably totally backfire as well because they would have to keep smaller planes around which then have to be ferried with no passengers so they can get back to where they need it.

It's not just this video, it's all the recent videos on this channel. As for why, I assume it's because the videos are popular enough to get attention towards their scam but not enough that they get caught super quickly.

they still do i think. i was in the Doha - Adelaide flight with only a single couple sitting beside me going to Auckland

They canned that in August this year@@hellamaxine