It’s the end of an era as QANTAS operated its last 747 service with a First Class service this week to Hong Kong. First Class service from the 747s was removed several years and was only offered on two weekly flights from Sydney to Hong Kong complementing the A380 services operating the rest of the week. Hong Kong is also the last remaining Asian city served by QANTAS that offered a First Class service. Starting 29 September flights from Sydney to Hong Kong will be operated daily by 747s offering three cabins of service – Business, Premium and Economy. The A380 will operate during peak periods with the First cabin being sold with Business Class service – these seats will be reserved for top tier frequent flyers.QANTAS 747 service to Asia will now be limited to only Hong Kong and Tokyo Narita. The last regularly scheduled 747 service from Sydney to Singapore is set for 29 September. The A330s are the backbone for the Asian services.
The reasoning behind QANTAS removing First from Hong Kong could be there is a limited market for it in current conditions. As the business class product is consistently upgraded the disparity between First and Business Class is narrowing in many carrier’s product offering. The choice has been to remove First Class completely from the network, limit it to selected markets or as Etihad has recently done completely redefine the First Class concept to significantly differentiate over business class. In a more competitive environment, customers are more selective in terms of premium cabins and would need to justify the extra cost of flying in higher class cabins. Investments in offering the latest cabin products, particularly in First and Business is a obviously costly, however if it attracts the right high yielding customer and the market exists for it, then it is highly lucrative for airlines.

QANTAS’ only competitor on the non-stop Australia – Hong Kong market is Cathay Pacific (Virgin Atlantic suspended services earlier in 2014). Cathay withdrew First Class from the Australian market around ten years ago. It also offers a three cabin product including Premium Economy from Brisbane, Cairns, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. QANTAS also serves Hong Kong from Melbourne and Brisbane with A330s however these do not offer a Premium Economy cabin.

There are only two aircraft in the QANTAS 747 fleet that have a First Class cabin that features 14 of the original seats introduced in the late 1990s and SkyBed Mark-1 Business Class. Another two 747s in a three class configuration also feature the original SkyBed Mark-1 Business Class seat. These will be phased out leaving a total of nine 747s, six of which are “Extended Range” versions of which QANTAS is only operator in the world of the type for the passenger version. These 747s have been refurbished with a product similar to the A380s.