Why is there no overnight flights to Hong Kong with QF?

Why is there no overnight flights to Hong Kong with QF?

because I'm guessing Cathay has that slot. the same plane that arrives in HK in the evening, flies back for the overnight flight. otherwise, overnight means an early morning flight back from HK, which I'm going has lower loading.

HKG is an expensive airport, to say the least. It also is very slot-restricted. And its Cathay's hub. And we all know how much QF and CX are bitter enemies on the HKG/Australia routes.

So QF will stick with the slots they have and wait until they can expand frequencies (i.e. when HKIA gets its third runway). At present, they can only expand via using bigger jets.

If you want overnight you need two flights a day, if it's one flight a day like QF currently have from MEL, it can only be overnight in one direction

Absolutely spot-on lind26 ! You would need two flights, coming from opposing directions, to offer an overnight flight...

However, SYD to HKG currently do have two flights per day:

• QF127 is the first daily flight, at the fixed time of 10:05am
• QF83/117 is a second daily flight, that departs at different morning times depending on the day of the week.

As to the rationale of this decision:

The problem isn't lack of demand for an overnight SYD-HKG flight... The problem may be QF's difficulty in filling up a HKG-SYD return flight home in the morning. Few business travellers would take up that option, when there's a flight home the night before. (I most certainly wouldn't consider it.)

Better business sense (for themselves) that QF offers two evening flights back to Sydney, when demand can be guaranteed.

Cathay goes daily at 9.55pm getting in to HK at 5.15am. With One World and code shares, this is a QF flight of sorts!

Unfortunately CX offers a lower QFF point and status credit earn rate! :(

QF had the Melbourne to HK overnight flight which worked well if you didnt want to loose any working hours.

Well CX it is for now

Because there's no demand for it.

CX runs 4 flights profitably, and QF has previously struggled with 2.

The overnight from HKG to SYD (and daytime on the way back) regime makes more sense because of the 2/3 hour time difference. The current CX overnight flight from SYD to HKG starts at 10pm and lands at 5:15 (half an hour before the airport express MTR even starts operating). Because of Sydney curfew you don't want a departure time much later than 10pm, and 5:15 is a very unpleasant time to land in HKG.

Landing anywhere at 5:51am is unpleasant!! 

They used to have more flights to HK a few years ago when it was the stopover for the London route. I guess without the London traffic, Qantas could only offer a few flights and slots at HKG are very difficult to get too. It is a shame because it means that for business travellers, Cathay is really the only viable option on that route.

CX178 from MEL-HKG is such a convenient option: you leave Melbourne at around midnight (depending on daylight saving) when you are ready to sleep, get a good 7 hours sleep, have breakfast, and arrive in Hong Kong at 7 am, which gives me time to have a shower at CX Arrival Lounge and arrive at the office about 9 am.

CX178 is great I agree.

Still pity no QF metal

Just living in the past I guess!