mOZzy

someone mentioned they had a fueling stop in singapore for 30min where they had to get off the plane?!?! and then on to sydney where they had the proper stop ... then obviously to adelaide!

anyone else experienced that?!?!?


i don't want 2 stops - and why wouldn't it say so when you book the flight?!!?

Damson

We flew BA to Sydney and refuelled at Bangkok for about 2 hours. We had to disembark (as they clean inside the plane you have to take all your stuff with you), go through customs, get in a lift, walk to the other end of the airport, go through customs again and sit in a packed departure lounge. It was in the early hours and we had to wake the kids up to get off the plane, so they were less than chuffed. All in all it was a real pain. For me it's much better to have a decent period of time to have a relax etc. It did say somewhere on the itinerary that there was a refuelling stop, but it wasn't obvious. We went with Emirates this time where it was more transparent.
At the end of it, you don't have a choice I guess - the plane needs fuel!
Have a good flight though

bcworld

There are no non-stop flights between Europe and Australia so a stopver somewhere is unavoidable. Qantas does operate a Singapore - Adelaide flight on some days of the week - this would get you London - Adelaide in 1 stop with Qantas. You might not have booked for one of those days or the via SYD option may have been much cheaper.

As Lorrielou said, the stop is a lot longer than 30 mins, more like 2 - 3 hours. I'm a bit confused about the going through customs bit though as if you're simply getting off and straight back on the Qantas flight, or even swapping to another airline there shouldn't be any need to clear customs.

quoll

With refuelling you stay on the same flight number and I have never had to go through customs while on a refuelling stop in Asia. Everyone has to go through security at the gate again. There just isnt enough fuel to make it in one hop and these days you do have to take everything off the plane for refuelling (so travel very light!)

With the Syd-Adelaide leg, is that on the same flight number? Because if not then you will have to change terminals in Sydney and that takes a bit more effort - your bags will have to be taken off and go through customs and immigration in Sydney then you will have to lug them to the other end of the terminal to get into the domestic transfer area - check the bags in again and then catch the bus to the domestic terminal. If your flight number remains the same however then you will probably just stay in transit rather than go through immigration in Sydney.

bcworld

Anyone whose final destination is Australia MUST clear customs at the point of entry i.e. Sydney - so you have to do what you described. I managed to do it in record time of about 40 minutes last week but most people advise about 2 hours is safe.

The only flight numbers that stay the same are the direct QF flights from London to Sydney & Melbourne - the onward connections will have a different flight number.

IvanM

Not always. I did not have to with JAL when doing Kansai - Brisbane - Sydney. Had to get out in Brisbane intl and did not clear imiigration there. Did it at Syd.

moneypenny20

On our outward and inward trips to the UK with Royal Brunei we had to get off the plane at Dubai (leaving all our stuff on board), clear customs, walk along a corridor, maybe nip into a shop if you wanted to and could be fast, back through customs and then back on the plane where our rubbish was still waiting for us. Fun and games and totally bloody pointless in our opinion

Damson

As Lorrielou said, the stop is a lot longer than 30 mins, more like 2 - 3 hours. I'm a bit confused about the going through customs bit though as if you're simply getting off and straight back on the Qantas flight, or even swapping to another airline there shouldn't be any need to clear customs.[/QUOTE]

Twas true unfortunately, and a real pain. We had no idea and thought, like you, you would just go into a reception lounge. This was 18 months ago at Bangkok airport - may be they've stopped doing it?

Hills Boy

One stop from LHR to ADL? Try Malaysian Airlines. I recenty flew with them and it's one stop (change of planes) at Kuala Lumpur. It was only a short layover too (a couple of hours), most of the layovers I've had in Singapore have been between six and 12 hours, so going via KL really cuts down the end to end travel time.

Hills Boy

Twinset

My wife flew BA from LHR to SIngapore, then Qantas to Adelaide direct - if you are booking via BA check the website, as the direct flights are there but hard to find. You can swim at Singapore if you get a longer stopover - always a bonus!

Word of warning - my luggage took 48 hours to reach me and my wife is negotiating over a lost bag.

Still, don't care now we are here.......

sassie

30 minutes doesn't sound quite right, it's normally 1-2 hours as apart from refuelling, the aircraft has to be cleaned and recatered and passengers are usually required to disembark and to take all their belongings with them, so as not to get in the way of ground staff who have to board to clean and recater. If the flight then goes to Adelaide via Sydney, you will probably be required to clear customs in Sydney. Are you continuing on to Adelaide on the same flight or changing to a domestic flight at Sydney. If its the latter, you will need to also change terminals.

Damson

We flew Bloody Awful direct to Sydney with just the refuelling I mentioned above. We didn't get our cases for 3 days. BA couldn't give a monkeys - not even an apology when they turned up. Pretty cheesed off as they contained about half of the kids xmas pressies.