Virgin Australia's July 2 launch of Sydney-Hong Kong flights will see its Melbourne-Hong Kong service pared back in ways which may or may not please business travellers.
First up, from July 2 the roster will be cut back from daily to just five times a week – with no flights on Wednesday or Friday.
Frequency is key for corporate flyers, and having to arrange your schedule around those two holes in the calendar – especially when one falls at the very end of the working week, when you'd rather be heading home that night – will likely cruel its appeal, and certainly compared to the daily flights of Qantas and thrice-daily of Cathay Pacific.
Both this and the revamped timetable are due to the limited availability of landing and take-off slots at crowded Hong Kong airport, with the new Sydney-Hong Kong route obviously taking precedence.
The new schedule sees a Melbourne departure of 12.30am – yes, that's half-past midnight – every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, reaching Hong Kong at 8.10am.
By comparison, Virgin's current (pre-Sydney) schedule sees the northbound flight leaving Melbourne around noon, depending on the day (exact timing varies from 11am to 12.40pm).
Flights out of Hong Kong undergo relatively little change: they're currently departing around 8pm, depending on the day, to reach Melbourne around 8am-9am the next morning.
The new Hong Kong-Melbourne leg is wheels up at 6.10pm for a Melbourne arrival at 5.40am except for Monday, when the times are pushed back around an hour to 7.15pm and 6.45am respectively.
So it's the Melbourne-Hong Kong leg which gets the most dramatic shift, moving a whole 12 hours.
In its favour, the new time allows for a solid working day plus dinner at home before heading to the airport – with a flying time of almost ten hours in which to get your sleep and ideally awake refreshed and ready to tackle the day ahead (even if that means a connecting flight into mainland China with Virgin partner Hong Kong Airlines).
Of course, not every traveller sleeps well on flights – and many would undoubtedly prefer a daytime leg which sees them able to land into Hong Kong that evening and head straight to their hotel.
So we're asking our Melbourne-based and Hong Kong-bound readers: how will Virgin's change to its Melbourne-Hong Kong schedule affect you, and will it impact your choice of airline the next time you fly?
David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
24 Aug 2011
Total posts 1207
I don't mind the overnight flight up. These flights typically connect very well for onward services.
24 Dec 2013
Total posts 97
If they can turn the inbound flight into a day flight, it would make a good point of difference to QF.
10 Aug 2016
Total posts 20
We were booked on the old schedule to line up with VS to London on the same day. Obviously that no longer works. Has that been confirmed. We were flying Sydney Mel Hong Kong so it could still work if we fly ex Sydney
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
08 Feb 2016
Total posts 35
I don't mind seeing night time flights as it is currently dominated by CX. This way, it gives travellers options to flight during the day (via Sydney) or night (via Melbourne). I personally think this is a good thing.
13 Sep 2016
Total posts 35
I am actually okay with the late night or is that 'early morning' departure out of Melbourne. It reminds me of when Qantas changed QF9 to a late night departure, at first a lot of people protested but once the change took effect many people found it was actually better for them.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
09 May 2011
Total posts 362
Typical inconsistent Virgin...
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
07 Aug 2013
Total posts 248
I dont get the basis for your comment - are you referring to schedule/times being inconsistent on alternating days? Like how often is this going to have an effect on you? They have 6 A330s in their fleet, atleast they are making routes like this work.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
09 May 2011
Total posts 362
Because this is what Virgin does. Swap and change so often I'm surprised their passengers aren't dizzy! MEL/LAX in, then out then in, PER/AUH cancelled before it even began, MEL/HKG daily, now 5 times a week, BNE/LAX changed due to them re-entering MEL/LAX and now two different times depending on what day you fly... Seriously inconsistent.
04 May 2015
Total posts 261
Not forgetting that VA uses different lounges in LA on different days of the week for Brisbane flights either...
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
07 Aug 2013
Total posts 248
Your referring to changes that span over years - for an airline that only had 5 aircraft fit for international flights to begin with...you could say the same about Qantas but because they have so many intl flights it doesn’t have the same magnitude. QF changes to LHR/DXB flights and times, in and out of Perth to Sin. Back to San Francisco - to name a few. I see virgin as going strength to strength now flying from all major cities on east coast to LA and soon to offer HKG from the 2 biggest cities of Aus. So what if Mel drops by 2 days - look at what VA gains from doing so.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
09 May 2011
Total posts 362
I just can't imagine anyone booking them with confidence. I'd be constantly worried about a schedule change or an email saying "soz we don't fly there anymore lol" from them.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
07 Aug 2013
Total posts 248
Meh - I had 3 flights cancelled on me with American Airlines and Delta last year - if an airline canceled a route they re route you or put you on another airline and you can get some sort of compo. In my case I was upgraded to Delta One. So I don’t actually mind if that happens - in fact I’d embrace the compo and welcome a change :p
07 Oct 2012
Total posts 1250
All true. But in this situation, what is the alternative?
Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer
17 Nov 2014
Total posts 101
I welcome the change of the Melbourne timetable and I hope they can get 2 extra slots to make the same time daily and also make this permanent.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
07 Aug 2013
Total posts 248
That’s a good point - I was surprised to see how long their a330 would be sitting at HKG. Seems like a waste of an aircraft - I mean if it left HKG on a quick turn around it could fit in another east-west flight potentially.
07 Oct 2012
Total posts 1250
I guess if VA can get extra slots, wouldn't they just turn the plane around?
British Airways - Executive Club
05 Mar 2018
Total posts 3
I was thinking VA might be doing this long lay-over on purpose given their JV with HX. A morning departure, especially one that's before 10 am, won't give HX any chance to bring in passengers from China, Japan, Korea.
07 Oct 2012
Total posts 1250
I'd suggest it is completely around the slots. For an airline like VA, which has a small A330 fleet, having a plane sit on the ground all day is not ideal. There are some benefits, as you point out, but I think if they had the slot to turn the plane around, they would.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
16 Apr 2013
Total posts 29
My only issue with flights just after midnight is not getting the day I’m travelling mixed up!
23 Oct 2014
Total posts 238
There are no morning departure slots available on airport website, otherwise the airline would have been allocated them/and took them. I think it’s a case of the only arrival slot INTO HKG is early morning, the only new takeoff slot OUT of HKG is early evening. So another sector in between would be ideal but there are no slots. If they found/allocated one it would be to head back to OZ in morning.
British Airways - Executive Club
05 Mar 2018
Total posts 3
Since the MEL-HKG departs at 0030 everyday, the "Saturday" flight is actually the "Friday" evening flight right? Seems like Flynn step on one of the "early morning" schedule trap here. So I would say the new MEL-HKG schedule still quite good for corporate travelers or anyone like me, who want to maximize their time in Asia with a Friday night over-night flight.
British Airways - Executive Club
05 Mar 2018
Total posts 3
*everyday* should be *every time*, my apologies
10 Aug 2016
Total posts 20
The VA website still shows an 11am departure ex Melbourne 7 days a week. I contacted the VA call centre as we were connecting from Sydney and had organised a flight for my partner's daughter on the Syd_Mel sector. The. Flights are in November however the call centre could not tell me when schedules will change
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
26 Apr 2016
Total posts 21
Hope mid 2018 rmeans June onwards. We're booked to fly SYD-MEL-HKG on a Wednesday in April.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
05 Mar 2018
Total posts 1
To me, the new flight arrangement works for me - I like to sleep on board airplanes so I can pass time easily. However, I don't know why they changed their flight numbers from 87 to 85 or from 86 to 84. VA 89 has been moved to Sydney with VA 88 being added on the list, so I think Virgin hasn't gotten their business with Hong Kong (and mainland China) settled. But, I am confident that they will finalise the details soon. Thanks VA, I really mean it!
06 Dec 2017
Total posts 110
not too bad but lousy if connecting from Adelaide.I might go Cathay Pacific outbound and return via VA THROUGH MELBOURNE homewards.a more bearable 7:45am in the summertime departures nonstop even if it means being at the airport at 0500 like what we had when VA WERE 11AM ex MEL and having to leave ADL at 6:35am to arrive in Melbourne at 8:25am then continuing onwards.
01 Feb 2012
Total posts 2
Does anyone know when this will be updated in their systems? I called them up and they said the call centre agent said they are not aware of any changes...
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
16 Apr 2016
Total posts 17
Last month I flew MEL-HKG because I'm VA Pt and it was a day flight. As the return flight was at night I chose to fly day flight(s) with SQ HKG-SIN-MEL. Yes I can arrive refreshed after a night flight but only if a lie flat bed in J/F and my employer paid for a non-upgradable economy ticket.
Singapore Airlines - The PPS Club
19 Mar 2016
Total posts 30
Thanks Chris - I was soon going to book the Mel-HKG for later this year but will now stick with SQ or even give CX a try. I was just wondering how SQ manages to have day flights from Sin to Melb/Syd/Bne etc and QF, VA despite the ability does not??
Thai Airways International - Royal Orchid Plus
13 Jan 2017
Total posts 31
Glaring point out of this is the idle aircraft for the day in HKG.
11 Nov 2017
Total posts 8
We do an annual trip to HKG and this time are flying VA due to its brilliant departure time out of MEL. Guess next year its back to CX out of ADL
06 Dec 2017
Total posts 110
outbound on CX EX ADL FOR ME BUT WILL GIVE VA VIA MEL A GO COMING HOME.granted i am frequent flyers in both qatar privilege club and velocity that will determine things in such a combo.i did also consider QF VIA MEL a go too.
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