So if I read the article right... Sydney to Singapore non-stop will no longer be daily but will only be four times a week with the other flights going via Adelaide. Not sure that sounds right... but if it is then it's a big backwards step for Sydney passengers to Singapore and goes against the comment "business travellers will be better served by Singapore being treated as a destination in its own right...". Let's hope there are more fight annoucements to Singapore to come....

I'm going to take a guess here that when FRA flights wind up at least one of the 3 747's currently used on that route will remain (possibly as QF 5/6 to do a daily afternoon flight to SIN with the 4x weekly morning flight as the 'additional' flight. The other option may be to offer the BA SIN-SYD flight as a code share, if only on the leg to SIN to help provide capacity.  I also hope that the PER flights are retimed ....

Yep, that's correct - as we note, the current timetable indicates the only direct Sydney-Singapore service will be limited to four days per week once Sydney-Singapore-Frankfurt disappears in October – again, this isn't allowing for additional services which may be TBA...

So my guess is everyone will try to get onto the current QF5/6 because it's a 747 with hopefully the A380 seats in them. The other flights are A330 with the original Skybeds.

I can't say people will be too happy with the product choices on these flights... especially since they will be used to the A380. It's quite disappointing actually.

That'd certainly be my pick, especially for the overnighter from Singapore to Sydney (the timing of the direct SYD-SIN QF81is much more to my liking, however, and I tend to work on daytime flights anyway). Once this all shakes out in the lead-up to 1/4/13 ('QF-EK Day') we'll of course put together a report on the best flight options for business travellers.

Is this a new flight? "the daily Brisbane-Singapore-London (QF51/52) Boeing 747, which is codeshared with British Airways on the leg to London"

QF51/52 is currently only BNE-SIN-BNE. I don't recall there ever being a tag on to LHR from BNE.

QF PR confirmed it's BNE-SIN-LHR "with Qantas doing the first leg and then a BA codeshare onto London".

Do you mean a Qantas aircraft BNE-SIN followed by a change to a BA 747? 

Yes, this is QF metal from Brisbane to Singapore, and then BA from Singapore to London.

Will the Brisbane flight be retimed?

Are the SIN-PER flights being retimed? QF72's 0455 arrival in Perth is absolutely horrendus. 

Interesting to note expertflyer.com is showing the new config. 747 for the 35/36 flight. That then begs the question, what about SYD-SIN flights. Unless QF are going to refurb more 747s are they really going to give a reconfigured 747 to melbourne and not SYD. If both get them are they doing more reconfigs or taking them from other routes....

It's also worth noting that a few weeks ago AJ announced the introduction of new product to the A330s as a possibility.....

The reconfigured 747's are meant to be on the SYD - SIN - FRA route so they will definitely be used for that... The additional SYD - SIN route is using an A330 so there is no risk of the refurbished 747's going there. I just hope that they refurbish some of the A330's otherwise everyone is going to be vying for the QF5/6 flights or moving to SQ!

Actually I dont think the reconfigured 747s were ever going to be on the SYD-SIN-FRA route.  9 have been done (2X for SYD-LAX-JFK, 2X for BNE-LAX, 2x for SYD-JNB, 1x for SYD-SCL, 1x BNE-SIN, 1x MEL-SIN) with a fairly full schedule that doesnt even really leave a spare fore maintnance.  The 12 A380s (3x SYD-LHR, 3x MEL-LHR, 2x MEL-LAX, 2x SYD-LAX, 1x SYD-HKG)  are essentially fully utilised, especially given the reconfig program and the anticipated maintenance for the wings.As it currenty stands several of the older 747s will be required to maintain the daily SYD-NRT 747 flight and even just the SYD-SIN component of the QF5/6 route.  One option may be that with 12 A380s available for use next year QF may consider an A380 for the afternoon SYD-SIN flight.  However, short of that in order to maintain their current flight schedule without reducing the likes of SYD-NRT and SYD-SIn to A330 operations they will need to keep some of the older 747s in 3 class configuration, or show a bit of faith and redo the cabins to help retain market share.  In reality to compete with SQ I think they at least need to consider a 1x daily A380 SYD-SIN, and have the A330 flight as a daytime on the way back.

I do not understand why Qantas is not offering a midnight/early morning flight out of MEL even though that airport has no curfew. Do business travellers really enjoy wasting their day on a daytime flight when the alternative is a full day's work, sleep on the plane and arrive bright and early in Singapore for another full day?

For the leisure market, arriving in SIN early morning also allows for more connections with 3K/VF to Asia.

 What is Qantas doing?

An overnight flight out of Australia means a day flight returning from Asia, unless they leave the aircraft sitting in Singapore all day. Qantas has always favoured day flights out of Australia, with an overnight return (presumably because that's what the majority of travellers prefer).

I know this is a business travel blog but, as retired leisure travellers now, my wife (with a disability) & I will not use QANTAS for our regular travel from Melbourne to/through Singapore until it provides day flights in both directions. As that seems unlikely to happen any time soon, SIA will remain our airline of choice,

Now Sydney siders you are starting to feel how Qantas treats their customers in Melbourne and Brisbane, oh and there will be more flights announced, Jetstar!

Yeah, but we're all still ahead of Hobart :P

Do you think Jetstar will begin to operate to Singapore from other cities?

The Red Roo giveth, and the Red Roo taketh away.

So you can still fly QF/BA from Sydney, Melbourne, Perth or Brisbane (sometimes Adelaide) to LHR and Frankfurt via Singapore.  So other than not having a QF A380, nothign much is changing... 

Yes, exactly the same except

* no consistency of product, eg compare QF premium economy to BA premium economy, the QF Y+ is much better

* super-long layover between arrival of flights from Melbourne (7.20pm) and Sydney (4pm) and departure of the BA flights to London, unless you fly on the QF Sydney-Singapore-Frankfurt flight

* inferior business class on the QF A330s compared to the A380s (again, only exception is if you hop the Boeing 747 flight)

Those difference can be quite significant for many passengers. If you want to go from Sydney or Melbourne to London with Qantas then, really, the QF A380 services are your best bet, going via Dubai instead of Singapore makes little difference in the end.

Can you still fly with BA on a Qantas ticket if you still want to connect through Singapore even after the Emirates deal begins?

In Response to Andrew It should be alright to do so.I last went back as a trip in it's own right in 2010 and was seated next to this passenger who was continuing onto London after Singapore on the connecting BA12.We were on the Adelaide to Singapore QF81 together.

I fly QF from SYD to SIN and typically connect through to other Asian cities on other regional airlines. It usually means a night in SIN on the way out. I thought Qantas was going to improve same-day connections via SIN to other Asian cities with its new timetable. Arriving at 16:00 is not much of an improvement and leaves limited options for same day connections. I would have thought an evening service out of SYD to KUL would be a good option for QF. They're meant to be the sponsor for MH into OneWorld (which I thought meant early code-shares). Arriving early into KUL and linking with MH services throughout Asia seems like a good outcome for passengers...