Qatar Airways

[geoff]

Thanks Cardiff bay, I was thinking more along the lines of the of the cargo entrance hatches.

 

[Jerry]

A few photos of todays Qatar Airways aircraft A7-BCP
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[Pontyboy]

85% full today according to someone on board (info via the book of face). 16 of those were in business class.

 

[Jerry]

View media item 8851

 

[aviatorconcorde]

85% full today according to someone on board (info via the book of face). 16 of those were in business class.

I’ll throw a spanner in the works and say that it was empty for friday, as I was told by someone onboard. Lets go with your figures though!

It’s a shame we can’t even get the longhaul APD knocked off for ex CWL flights. It could make flying Business a whole lot cheaper from CWL and would certainly draw people.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I’ll throw a spanner in the works and say that it was empty for friday, as I was told by someone onboard. Lets go with your figures though!

It’s a shame we can’t even get the longhaul APD knocked off for ex CWL flights. It could make flying Business a whole lot cheaper from CWL and would certainly draw people.

But would Qatar reduce the fares if APD was axed? They could simply keep the fares broadly at the same level but pocket the APD equivalent in order to improve yields.

Ryanair for instance stated that APD was hampering its CWL growth which suggested they would need to keep the APD equivalent to bring yields to an acceptabel level at the airport.

 

[aviatorconcorde]

But would Qatar reduce the fares if APD was axed? They could simply keep the fares broadly at the same level but pocket the APD equivalent in order to improve yields.

Ryanair for instance stated that APD was hampering its CWL growth which suggested they would need to keep the APD equivalent to bring yields to an acceptabel level at the airport.

Fair point - It could however do the opposite and help them profitably fill the front cabin at quieter times of the year.

Dublin is known for being a great starting point for business class flights due to the low APD and reading various forums it’s surprising the amount of people who position out to there to start their journeys to the far east and the US. Would be nice if CWL could gain something similar ( on a much smaller scale) and become a low premium fare starting point for the mainland UK. I’m surprised long haul APD can’t be comprimised on and secured, effects on Bristol will be minimal.

 

[Jerry]

From what i've seen with posts on social media the business cabin seems to be up and down sometimes in single figures other times nearly full but i think generally it's doing ok. Like the economy cabin it'll have good days and bad but from what i've seen of prices CWL doesn't seem cheaper than other airports. It would definitely be interesting to know what type of passenger is using the cabin for the most part.

 

[Foxlimayankee]

It would be interesting to see if it's a particular timed flight (AM or PM) flight that benefits the most from Business passengers. It might be a sign of which connections are performing better. Guess we'll never know.

 

[Jerry]

Ospreys rugby team are using the Qatar Airways service to travel to South Africa for their games against the Cheetahs and Southern Kings.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1112742788796481536

 

[Pontyboy]

Is this the first time one of the regions has used Qatar to get to South Africa. Hopefully the other three follow suit and the South African teams fly into Cardiff via Doha.

 

[Jerry]

Is this the first time one of the regions has used Qatar to get to South Africa. Hopefully the other three follow suit and the South African teams fly into Cardiff via Doha.

I believe so yes. The Ospreys use Thomas Cook sport for their travel so it's good they used it.
Also Cardiff Blues South African Airways nightmare last year probably ruled them out!

 

[CWL94]

According to the QR booking engine, today’s outbound flight appears to be sold out as only connections were available for today’s flight when I checked last night

Tomorrow and Mondays flights appear expensive too so loads must be good then as well!

Good news after the BE news a few days ago!

 

[KARFA]

According to the QR booking engine, today’s outbound flight appears to be sold out as only connections were available for today’s flight when I checked last night

Tomorrow and Mondays flights appear expensive too so loads must be good then as well!

Good news after the BE news a few days ago!

Today and tomorrow are definitely not sold out. I can still book seats in Y and J. Here also is the availability:

5 April - CWL 3:55p → DOH 12:40a
J9 C9 D9 I9 R9 U1 Y5 B0 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 T0 O0 W0

6 April - CWL 3:55p → DOH 12:40a
J9 C9 D9 I9 R0 U0 Y9 B9 H0 K0 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 T0 O0 W0

 

[Foxlimayankee]

Economy appears to be fairly busy but that looks like quite low business class figures.

 

[Jerry]

If I'm reading that correctly 5th April the load is 206, 9 Business 197 economy.
6th April is 198 9 Business 189 economy.
Decent loads altogether but Business could be better for sure.

 

[mullion]

When it shows 9 in class basically it is wide open as the booking system never shows more than 9 available in any class

 

[TheLocalYokel]

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/business/business-news/how-many-passengers-flying-qatar-16085589

A piece in the local press as the first anniversary of the commencement of the service approaches.

 

[Jerry]

It's been a year since Qatar Airways started operating into Cardiff Wales Airport!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1122901112602886147

 

[aviatorconcorde]

According to the one mile at a time blog, CWL will be one of the first airports on their network to get the enhanced catering.