My Mum booked this flight all the way through to Adelaide, knowing full well there was a 5+ hour layover in Melbourne Airport. You can't leave the terminal and there were no major shops open. There was a total of 24 people who caught the MEL to ADL leg of the flight. She said the experience of having a 777-300ER virtually to yourself was very surreal and made the layover worth it.
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.
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)
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.
Qatar has unlimited flight rights to any Australian international airport, except the 4 major ports where they can currently only fly 28 times per week (this was expanded from 21 in early 2022). They are allowed to fly another 7 times to the limited ports, provided that flight is to or via a smaller port. This is what they are using for the DOH-MEL-ADL flight. Prior to the pandemic, they used that allowance to fly to Canberra via Sydney. They were all set to resume that route when Australia reopened the borders, then kept delaying it before changing to the current route.
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.
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 😅
@@Cariocaz0he 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.
I am from Adelaide, I remember seeing this plane while waiting to depart a direct flight to Kuala Lumpur. the malaysia airlines air hostess explained it to me qatars loopholes. She called them very cheeky.
I live in Adelaide, and Recently flew on this flight (Both Ways) to get to Europe. For my family, this was actually the cheapest option, which was weird, and annoying for us, but it was certainly a very cool experience to be on such a quiet 777, with it being full a few hours before. The layover is not fun at all though. 🤣
Wouldn't it be easier for Qatar to just extend the stroke on the "r", shift it to the left a couple places, then slap an "s" at the end, thus turning itself into a totally legit Qantas flight?
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
I love it when politicians says that climate change is due to the individual people when each of these flights have a higher impact on the planet than an entire family household in a year...
@@teamgeist3328 , with an estimated 100,000 flights every day worldwide, it probably doesn't take long for them to surpass households regarding output.
As a melbournian i think the arrows at 4:40 make a fair bit of sense, i have actually been to most of the spots being pointed, but the most famous thing the city has is literally north of the bridge you pointed to
@@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.
"An airline is only worth as much as the routes it can fly" I thought someone told us that airlines were only worth as much as their frequent flier customer base!
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.
Adelaidean here who literally had a conversation two days ago about this exact thing, as we watched a Qatar plane take off from ADL going to MEL. Thanks for the interesting (and quite timely) video
Qantas themselves used to fly to JFK in New York via LAX, but had the similar restriction (from the US government) of not being able to sell tickets for the LAX to JFK leg. It only lasted a few years before they dropped it.
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.
railways have a similar thing they run trains on less used lines and unused stations as its cheaper to do this incase the line becomes like there's a football event or something than having to reopen the line from scratch
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.
There is a similar one which goes to Sydney then Canberra. My parents have seriously considered using it as it’s so much more convenient than driving to Sydney.
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.
It’s so cool seeing a video about a flight I coordinate often! Waking up at 2am to turnaround a flight with only 10-15 pax is definitely interesting though but I love doing this flight because the crew give me free sandwiches!! 😂😂
While it costs more to travel from DOH to ADL via MEL, it’s cheaper flying that route in reverse rather than taking the direct ADL to DOH service. Total flight time is longer with the MEL stopover but it’s under 2 hours returning to DOH. As you leave earlier in the morning from ADL you land in DOH the same day.
Priot to COVID, Qatar did the same thing except flew to Canberra, Australia via Sydney. Plus the layover time in Sydney was only 2 hours or so and there were no other flights direct to Canberra from overseas (except NZ) so the Sydney-Canberra leg actually got a few dozen passengers instead of single digit
My wife actually did take this flight from Adelaide to Doha, though going to Doha the stop over in Melbourne wasn't that long and I think she got a good price on the flight
If passengers do that, it is called "Skiplagging". You book a long distance flight, when your intention is to only actually use a part of the route. Because it is cheaper, somehow.
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.
Another thing about this flight is that the connection between Melbourne and Adelaide inbound is something like 7 hours and you cannot leave the airport and the terminal is closed. Even Business Class passengers cannot use the lounges.
Its worth noting here this is NOT skiplagging. Skiplagging is booking a route with multiple flights but stopping at a transit airport. This is just one flight number, and the passengers are able to book it to either Melbourne or Adelaide. If it was skiplagging then the passengers disembarking at Melbourne would not be able to collect their baggage.
Our transport minister and Qantas are currently in a lot of trouble over this. Qantas provides access to an exclusive lounge to all members of parliament which many consider a bribe/form of coercion.
Mate I took this flight last year in November ( probably when they came up with this route) not knowing about the layover, i remember staying at Melbourne airport which was almost empty, freezing and with 1 shop open. Safe to say it was a terrible experience.
@halfasinteresting this flight was originally planned to be a Canberra destined flight. However a week before flights started, it was switched to Adelaide as I guess Canberra didn't have enough passengers. People I have spoken to who have used it, say there is 20-30 passengers on board. I guess it helps with over spill from the Direct Adelaide flight, which has been upgraded from an A350 to a B777 this week.
"This is going to be a long four-and-a-half minutes" Things you can say to your audience in an edutainment video that you can't say to your intimate partner!
i think this is the first foreinger ever to pronounce Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and brisbane correctly, good job man, idc about the video you earned a sub just for that
Growing up in Adelaide we were told that there's only 2 places in the world that international shipping refuses to take water on. The water is better now. Melb to Adelaide only has 20 mins of "flight", the rest is ascending or descending
They used to do this with Canberra too, it was a Canberra Doha flight but it actually stopped over in Sydney which is where the majority of the passengers would get on. It stopped after the pandemic because Canberra is not a hot destination.
Actually it is not more expensive to fly through Melbourne. I just looked up Doha to Adelaide flights on December 13th on expedia and the flight through Melbourne is $4.00 cheaper $3,622 vs. $3,626. So you might get some people on the flight who consider $4to be worth 9 hours of time (or who just miss the duration of the flight and the stop-over listed - of course those are also the kind of people going to Sydney Australia who book a flight to YQY and are surprised to find themselves in Sydney, Nova Scotia ).
I fly from doha to sydney and then to canberra, i guess that was the same idea. In this case 20 people where on a big A380 it was amaizing how fast take off.
No, in fact, buying something from bellroy is not great for the environment. Buying something from bellroy might just be less harmful than buying from other brands, but definitely worse than buying nothing at all. And it might actually be bad, if it encourages more consuming with this excuse. I think you taught us that yourself when you were talking about greenwashing.
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!
Just like many flight from "London (Heathrow) - Edinburgh" which is empty, but Airline keep operating it so they didn't lose Heathrow landing slots which is more expensive to get than operate an empty flight.
You probably need to check your details before sprouting off. Qatar have flown DIRECT Doha to Adelaide QR914 and return QR915 a few hours later, most days since about 2016. You can also choose to fly via Melbourne to Doha.
They could fly to Avalon International Airport. Its only 20 minutes further from Melbourne than Tullamarine but at the same time is very much a regional airport.
@@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.
I flew from Doha in Qatar to Melbourne about a month ago, on flight QR988, and there was only like 2 families out of the 100 or so people on the plane who were going to Adelaide from there.
Yes, I flew this route as part of my trip from Singapore to Melbourne. Since I like freebies and traveling on miles, I found the availability Singapore - Doha - Melbourne - Adelaide. The booking systems did not show availability on the leg Doha - Melbourne, but did so on the flight Doha - Melbourne - Adelaide. Hence I booked a seat on this flight to Adelaide but got off 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.
Taken this flight twice now. It's the quickest way back to Adelaide from Doha when travelling from Schipol in my experience. The layover sucks but seeing the sunrise in an almost empty plane is really cool
I believe there is another tweak... Melbourne airport has no curfew... I think this flight is at a time when it has to land in Melbourne since everyone else is closed.. that is also why id waits more than 90-120 minutes to continue to Adelaide
Respect given. I watched your whole add for the bags, just cuz you put it at the end. You didn't try to force us to watch. Appreciate that. Fun vid. I quit flying at the end of the 90's when airlines started including the "extra gouging" package as standard flight practice. But I will be taking one more trip to australia. Just glad I get to start in WA USA. I've got a few choices on how I wanna get there. Maybe I'll fly to Adelaide. Have fun all.
Not entirely sure if I'm awake or dreaming still while I get up at a stupid time to get a Qantas flight from Melbourne to Adelaide. Yes I'm regretting booking a Qantas flight
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
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?
This happens all the time. Many flights from Asia used to stop at Vancouver then onto Toronto in Canada. Because of restrictions on selling Vancouver to Toronto route to the domestic customers, it stopped doing that. Which is shame.
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.
Melbourne has the F1, Australian Open, MotoGP down the road, the Boing Day test, Melbourne Cup, known as the sporting capital of the world, and voted most livable city a bunch of times... it's fucking great here
Basically Qatar airways couldn’t get permission for another flight to Melbourne. So Qatar airways fly to “Adelaide” 😉 it just happens to be via Melbourne first.
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.
That case got thrown out for being bs love. Qantas’s case of sacking 1700 or so employees for no reason, then stopping them from unionising and having a bloody say, illegal and got them a 66million dollar fine 😂
I took this flight to get home from South Africa back to Melbourne via Qatar! Searching up my flight code on the airline page during my layover in Qatar it always showed two entries: one to MEL, and one to Adelaide, and in that timeless, sleepless mirror dimension that is long international layovers, I was really paranoid I'd end up in Adelaide accidentally 😅 It worked out fine out course, and everyone without exception did indeed disembark at MEL. Did not make sense to me why the flight continued on to Adelaide at all to me then. Now with the context of this vid, what does not make sense to me at all is why the Aussie government prefers letting Qatar airways do this legal loophole stuff over, y'know, /not/ burning up a buncha airliner fuel pointlessly l? :/
For similar reasons, Emirates does the same thing for Hong Kong and Bangkok flights. You can get a first class ticket for a longer than 3 hour flight for just $600 in an Airbus A380, which has a lot of amenities.
Question: why is Qatar Airways NOT allowed to pick up passengers from Melbourne to Adelaide on its Doha-Adelaide trip, but IS allowed to pick up passengers from Melbourne to Doha on its Adelaide-Doha trip?
In general, domestic traffic are reserved for airlines based in that country, so in this case, only Australian registered airlines can fly passengers between Adelaide and Melbourne. Foreign airlines can fly between domestic cities but they can't fly local passengers flying on the domestic segment only.
@@gy407 if you're interested, Sam actually has an old Wendover video about this! It's called "the five freedoms of aviation", and it summarises the different categories of what airlines are allowed to do in their home countries and in foreign countries. It's how I first learned about this exact concept 🙂
I flew something similar, but it was a triangle: Amsterdam -> Almaty -> Astana -> Amsterdam. My first leg was Amsterdam -> Almaty and on the way back it was Almaty -> Astana -> Amsterdam. Basically it was four flights with one plane: Amsterdam -> Almaty Amsterdam -> Astana Almaty -> Amsterdam Astana -> Amsterdam Notice the lack of Almaty -> Astana.
4:35 Melbourne is best known for its coffee, alleyways and protests. Literally the first time I got off the plane in Melbourne, within 10 minutes of hitting the hotel in the city, there was a protest. Not even joking.
As the video points out, in addition to this weird Melbourne ghost flight, there is also a "normal" direct daily Adelaide flight, which continued throughout COVID.
My Mum booked this flight all the way through to Adelaide, knowing full well there was a 5+ hour layover in Melbourne Airport. You can't leave the terminal and there were no major shops open. There was a total of 24 people who caught the MEL to ADL leg of the flight. She said the experience of having a 777-300ER virtually to yourself was very surreal and made the layover worth it.
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?
The first time an airline actually encourages hidden city ticketing rather than trying to sue people for it 😂
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.
Qatar has unlimited flight rights to any Australian international airport, except the 4 major ports where they can currently only fly 28 times per week (this was expanded from 21 in early 2022).
They are allowed to fly another 7 times to the limited ports, provided that flight is to or via a smaller port. This is what they are using for the DOH-MEL-ADL flight.
Prior to the pandemic, they used that allowance to fly to Canberra via Sydney. They were all set to resume that route when Australia reopened the borders, then kept delaying it before changing to the current route.
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.
Mad respect for being the first north American RUclipsr to pronounce every Australian city mentioned correctly
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 😅
Huge shoutout to Ben for making a meme that made me laugh more than any other meme in recent years 2:08
Imagine if we could get a bunch people just to book this flight for one day
Bro didn’t watch the video
@@Cariocaz0he 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
I am from Adelaide, I remember seeing this plane while waiting to depart a direct flight to Kuala Lumpur. the malaysia airlines air hostess explained it to me qatars loopholes. She called them very cheeky.
Go Crows! 😊
@@daffers2345 boo 👎 Go the Power!!
I live in Adelaide, and Recently flew on this flight (Both Ways) to get to Europe. For my family, this was actually the cheapest option, which was weird, and annoying for us, but it was certainly a very cool experience to be on such a quiet 777, with it being full a few hours before. The layover is not fun at all though. 🤣
It's unfortunate because Qantas wants to keep its monopoly to charge people way more.
i flew this as well, not recently, but i did.
Wouldn't it be easier for Qatar to just extend the stroke on the "r", shift it to the left a couple places, then slap an "s" at the end, thus turning itself into a totally legit Qantas flight?
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)...
Finally a Australian city other than Sydney, Melbourne or Canberra is mentioned
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 💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯
I love it when politicians says that climate change is due to the individual people when each of these flights have a higher impact on the planet than an entire family household in a year...
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.
They found a loophole big enough for airplanes to fly through.
As a melbournian i think the arrows at 4:40 make a fair bit of sense, i have actually been to most of the spots being pointed, but the most famous thing the city has is literally north of the bridge you pointed to
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.
Being from Adelaide myself, hearing that most people “don’t even know what Adelaide is” kinda hurts. We’re cool too I swear 💔
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. ❤️
"An airline is only worth as much as the routes it can fly"
I thought someone told us that airlines were only worth as much as their frequent flier customer base!
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!
This goes some way to explaining why Adelaide airport always seems to have flights coming in and out but the terminal never seems to be over worked.
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.
You must of never been to adelaide airport for a flight dep 6am to 7am. Its a disgrace
Adelaidean here who literally had a conversation two days ago about this exact thing, as we watched a Qatar plane take off from ADL going to MEL. Thanks for the interesting (and quite timely) video
Was anyone else waiting for inevitable call back to the episode on the corrupt New Jersey flight?
Not that one but I remember an old video about Heathrow where he talked about the ghost routes.
Qantas themselves used to fly to JFK in New York via LAX, but had the similar restriction (from the US government) of not being able to sell tickets for the LAX to JFK leg. It only lasted a few years before they dropped it.
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.
railways have a similar thing they run trains on less used lines and unused stations as its cheaper to do this incase the line becomes like there's a football event or something than having to reopen the line from scratch
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
I'm shocked at the lack of Simpsons jokes at the DOH airport.
There is a similar one which goes to Sydney then Canberra. My parents have seriously considered using it as it’s so much more convenient than driving to Sydney.
*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.
@@Hudpix16 I get travel sick on buses, I prefer the train
It’s so cool seeing a video about a flight I coordinate often! Waking up at 2am to turnaround a flight with only 10-15 pax is definitely interesting though but I love doing this flight because the crew give me free sandwiches!! 😂😂
While it costs more to travel from DOH to ADL via MEL, it’s cheaper flying that route in reverse rather than taking the direct ADL to DOH service. Total flight time is longer with the MEL stopover but it’s under 2 hours returning to DOH. As you leave earlier in the morning from ADL you land in DOH the same day.
I hope those single digit passengers on that 777 on this daily 1 hour flight are using paper straws, because every little bit helps 😂
Priot to COVID, Qatar did the same thing except flew to Canberra, Australia via Sydney. Plus the layover time in Sydney was only 2 hours or so and there were no other flights direct to Canberra from overseas (except NZ) so the Sydney-Canberra leg actually got a few dozen passengers instead of single digit
Damn - that video perfectly captured the Australia-Qatar-Qantas dynamic.
Sweet sponsor too
My wife actually did take this flight from Adelaide to Doha, though going to Doha the stop over in Melbourne wasn't that long and I think she got a good price on the flight
As someone who lives in Adelaide I have always wondered this seeing this plane every time I go there
If passengers do that, it is called "Skiplagging". You book a long distance flight, when your intention is to only actually use a part of the route. Because it is cheaper, somehow.
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. :)
As a Melbourne resident I can confirm there is absolutely nothing to do in our international airport terminal
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.
You must have your PhD in airline business and science by now
Or, even further, DSc (higher doctorate)
And don't forget bricks
They ought to spin off a channel about flights.
Another thing about this flight is that the connection between Melbourne and Adelaide inbound is something like 7 hours and you cannot leave the airport and the terminal is closed. Even Business Class passengers cannot use the lounges.
So I actually fly this route quite regularly. It’s quite nice having a plane to myself
Its worth noting here this is NOT skiplagging. Skiplagging is booking a route with multiple flights but stopping at a transit airport. This is just one flight number, and the passengers are able to book it to either Melbourne or Adelaide. If it was skiplagging then the passengers disembarking at Melbourne would not be able to collect their baggage.
If a passenger does it it's skiplagging. If an airline does it it's not. ("Do as I say, not as I do")
My step family when they went to Australia for holiday got this flight lol
Our transport minister and Qantas are currently in a lot of trouble over this. Qantas provides access to an exclusive lounge to all members of parliament which many consider a bribe/form of coercion.
Hugo
Of course it is, it's corruption.
my guess before watching is to keep the slot available for future possible usage.
Wow, HIA made a video on the same topic I did a couple months ago, that's pretty amazing!
A lot of cargo does go on this flight as it’s coming from Europe. Most of the cargo going to the Air Force base in Adelaide comes on this flight.
I wondered about this flight. Few flights fly above my city, but this Doha - Adelaide one is fairly common. Makes a lot more sense now!
5:17 the Adelaide to Melbourne return leg is flown by Qatar's sister airline Rataq
I am very glad Ben's consent meme made it into the video, it made the video vastly more enjoyable to me! Thanks Ben.
They should hand out a cool sticker if you make it to the end.
Mate I took this flight last year in November ( probably when they came up with this route) not knowing about the layover, i remember staying at Melbourne airport which was almost empty, freezing and with 1 shop open. Safe to say it was a terrible experience.
@halfasinteresting this flight was originally planned to be a Canberra destined flight. However a week before flights started, it was switched to Adelaide as I guess Canberra didn't have enough passengers. People I have spoken to who have used it, say there is 20-30 passengers on board. I guess it helps with over spill from the Direct Adelaide flight, which has been upgraded from an A350 to a B777 this week.
4:38 The literal Australian Grand Prix: Am I a joke to you?
Sponsored (as of this year, as a series partner) by Qatar Airways.
Was better in Adelaide
"This is going to be a long four-and-a-half minutes"
Things you can say to your audience in an edutainment video that you can't say to your intimate partner!
2:08 lmao it's the first time this channel uses a good meme. very nice Sam from Wendover Productions.
i think this is the first foreinger ever to pronounce Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and brisbane correctly, good job man, idc about the video you earned a sub just for that
Growing up in Adelaide we were told that there's only 2 places in the world that international shipping refuses to take water on. The water is better now. Melb to Adelaide only has 20 mins of "flight", the rest is ascending or descending
You should do a Jetlag season going on as many ghost flights as possible
They used to do this with Canberra too, it was a Canberra Doha flight but it actually stopped over in Sydney which is where the majority of the passengers would get on. It stopped after the pandemic because Canberra is not a hot destination.
Actually it is not more expensive to fly through Melbourne. I just looked up Doha to Adelaide flights on December 13th on expedia and the flight through Melbourne is $4.00 cheaper $3,622 vs. $3,626. So you might get some people on the flight who consider $4to be worth 9 hours of time (or who just miss the duration of the flight and the stop-over listed - of course those are also the kind of people going to Sydney Australia who book a flight to YQY and are surprised to find themselves in Sydney, Nova Scotia ).
Does that really happen? People think they're going to Australia but end up in CYQY? Gosh
Probably the best pronunciation of Melbourne and Adelaide I’ve heard in a RUclips video
I fly from doha to sydney and then to canberra, i guess that was the same idea.
In this case 20 people where on a big A380 it was amaizing how fast take off.
Thanks for doing a video about Adelaide!
No, in fact, buying something from bellroy is not great for the environment. Buying something from bellroy might just be less harmful than buying from other brands, but definitely worse than buying nothing at all. And it might actually be bad, if it encourages more consuming with this excuse. I think you taught us that yourself when you were talking about greenwashing.
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!
All these extra greenhouse gases being produced and meanwhile I'm stuck drinking through a paper straw.
FYI, Melbourne is known for coffee
Just like many flight from "London (Heathrow) - Edinburgh" which is empty, but Airline keep operating it so they didn't lose Heathrow landing slots which is more expensive to get than operate an empty flight.
Pls come visit in Adelaide!! From Adelaide Australia 🇦🇺
0:02 how do you pronounce Qatar?
someone who is obviously still thinking about lightning mcqueen and his famous catchphrase: ka-tire!
And here I am re-using straws and turning the heat down in the winter like a moron.
You probably need to check your details before sprouting off. Qatar have flown DIRECT Doha to Adelaide QR914 and return QR915 a few hours later, most days since about 2016. You can also choose to fly via Melbourne to Doha.
They could fly to Avalon International Airport.
Its only 20 minutes further from Melbourne than Tullamarine but at the same time is very much a regional airport.
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
When can they offer this to Canberra as well?
Emirates Cebu to Angeles City is also a domestic flight in the Philippines
I flew from Doha in Qatar to Melbourne about a month ago, on flight QR988, and there was only like 2 families out of the 100 or so people on the plane who were going to Adelaide from there.
Yes, I flew this route as part of my trip from Singapore to Melbourne. Since I like freebies and traveling on miles, I found the availability Singapore - Doha - Melbourne - Adelaide. The booking systems did not show availability on the leg Doha - Melbourne, but did so on the flight Doha - Melbourne - Adelaide. Hence I booked a seat on this flight to Adelaide but got off in Melbourne.
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.
#pronunciation With already two "accepted" pronunciations for Qatar, how is it that Sam managed to make up his own third unique way? 😂
And then switches the pronunciation halfway through. Mind-boggling.
Taken this flight twice now. It's the quickest way back to Adelaide from Doha when travelling from Schipol in my experience. The layover sucks but seeing the sunrise in an almost empty plane is really cool
I believe there is another tweak... Melbourne airport has no curfew... I think this flight is at a time when it has to land in Melbourne since everyone else is closed.. that is also why id waits more than 90-120 minutes to continue to Adelaide
just wanted to point out that the plane HaI used for the first map picture at 0:13 is actually an A320 not a 777 :)
No way someone actually mentioned Adelaide and they’re not Aussie
It's already surprising enough if Adelaide gets mentioned by Aussies
Respect given.
I watched your whole add for the bags, just cuz you put it at the end. You didn't try to force us to watch. Appreciate that.
Fun vid. I quit flying at the end of the 90's when airlines started including the "extra gouging" package as standard flight practice. But I will be taking one more trip to australia. Just glad I get to start in WA USA. I've got a few choices on how I wanna get there.
Maybe I'll fly to Adelaide.
Have fun all.
Not entirely sure if I'm awake or dreaming still while I get up at a stupid time to get a Qantas flight from Melbourne to Adelaide. Yes I'm regretting booking a Qantas flight
I honestly cant believe Adelaide has made it to Half as interesting, get some!
I’m Australian and I’m going to be honest, I don’t even know what the hell goes in Adelaide
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?
This happens all the time. Many flights from Asia used to stop at Vancouver then onto Toronto in Canada. Because of restrictions on selling Vancouver to Toronto route to the domestic customers, it stopped doing that. Which is shame.
Hundred of flights a day are this way. There should be a minimum passenger limit for jumbo jets; or you have to board a smaller plane.
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.
Melbourne has the F1, Australian Open, MotoGP down the road, the Boing Day test, Melbourne Cup, known as the sporting capital of the world, and voted most livable city a bunch of times... it's fucking great here
Basically Qatar airways couldn’t get permission for another flight to Melbourne. So Qatar airways fly to “Adelaide” 😉 it just happens to be via Melbourne first.
For the first half of the video, I was like: Hang on, I think I heard this before.
But then the second part begins.
Im glad you mentioned the forced illegal strip search of those women, we are not happy with a particular airline over here.
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
That case got thrown out for being bs love. Qantas’s case of sacking 1700 or so employees for no reason, then stopping them from unionising and having a bloody say, illegal and got them a 66million dollar fine 😂
Qantas does much worse.
Love your aviation videos ✈️
Can we get governments to ban airlines from flying routes that have less than a certain percentage capacity onboard, like maybe 5 or even 10%?
i got a qatar airways ad before this video good job youtube
I took this flight to get home from South Africa back to Melbourne via Qatar!
Searching up my flight code on the airline page during my layover in Qatar it always showed two entries: one to MEL, and one to Adelaide, and in that timeless, sleepless mirror dimension that is long international layovers, I was really paranoid I'd end up in Adelaide accidentally 😅
It worked out fine out course, and everyone without exception did indeed disembark at MEL.
Did not make sense to me why the flight continued on to Adelaide at all to me then. Now with the context of this vid, what does not make sense to me at all is why the Aussie government prefers letting Qatar airways do this legal loophole stuff over, y'know, /not/ burning up a buncha airliner fuel pointlessly l? :/
For similar reasons, Emirates does the same thing for Hong Kong and Bangkok flights. You can get a first class ticket for a longer than 3 hour flight for just $600 in an Airbus A380, which has a lot of amenities.
Just 600 Dollars First class an A380😯? You mean USA Dollars?
0:35 me to my wife
Qatar Airline crew stays in the hotel I work during their stopover in Melbourne
Question: why is Qatar Airways NOT allowed to pick up passengers from Melbourne to Adelaide on its Doha-Adelaide trip, but IS allowed to pick up passengers from Melbourne to Doha on its Adelaide-Doha trip?
In general, domestic traffic are reserved for airlines based in that country, so in this case, only Australian registered airlines can fly passengers between Adelaide and Melbourne. Foreign airlines can fly between domestic cities but they can't fly local passengers flying on the domestic segment only.
@@cbohn99 thx for the clarification !
@@gy407 if you're interested, Sam actually has an old Wendover video about this! It's called "the five freedoms of aviation", and it summarises the different categories of what airlines are allowed to do in their home countries and in foreign countries. It's how I first learned about this exact concept 🙂
I flew something similar, but it was a triangle: Amsterdam -> Almaty -> Astana -> Amsterdam. My first leg was Amsterdam -> Almaty and on the way back it was Almaty -> Astana -> Amsterdam. Basically it was four flights with one plane:
Amsterdam -> Almaty
Amsterdam -> Astana
Almaty -> Amsterdam
Astana -> Amsterdam
Notice the lack of Almaty -> Astana.
@@margottago noted 👍
Thx !
4:35 Melbourne is best known for its coffee, alleyways and protests. Literally the first time I got off the plane in Melbourne, within 10 minutes of hitting the hotel in the city, there was a protest. Not even joking.
I've seen enough wendover videos that I thought I (roughly) knew the answer and actually got surprised at 2 minutes in
0:00 let me guess, they bought the route and if they dont use it they loose it?
Please do not waste fuel
That's pretty funny, I actually flew from Qatar to Adelaide, but without a layover in Melbourne.
As the video points out, in addition to this weird Melbourne ghost flight, there is also a "normal" direct daily Adelaide flight, which continued throughout COVID.
Ah yes the Boeing 777-A320
I used to fly the Delta "Red eye" between ABQ and ATL a couple times. It left almost at midnight and left you perfectly unslept when you arrived.