Qantas trials dual-door passenger access to cut turnaround time

Qantas is trialling passenger access through the front and the rear of its Boeing 737s.

Qantas has traditionally boarded people only through the front door.

Qantas is trialling passenger access through the front and the rear of its Boeing 737s as the battle over on-time performance supremacy heats up and the airline moves to boost aircraft use.

Using both front and rear exits allows the cabin to empty more quickly and has been used by low-cost offshoot Jetstar as well as ­rivals Tigerair Australia and ­Virgin Australia to cut the time it takes to turn aircraft around.

Qantas has traditionally boarded people only through the front door but the reaction of ­passengers to the dual-door boarding trial suggests this may soon change. Regular customers have told the airline the change makes sense because embarking and ­disembarking was that much quicker.

The trial comes after Qantas was pipped at the post for the best on-time service by Virgin Australia for the fourth consecutive month, although both airlines have recorded high levels of punctuality.

The flying kangaroo has been trialling the new system at a ­number of airports including ­Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney. Melbourne is due to be added soon.

A spokesman said the airline would not use dual-door boarding in wet conditions, and elderly and customers with special needs would be able to use the forward door and aerobridge.

“Boarding and disembarking from the front and the rear of the aircraft helps save time and also means our customers can get on with the rest of their journey ­faster,’’ a spokesman said

“We’ve conducted customer surveys on flights that have used dual door boarding and we’ve discovered that passengers appreciate the ease and speed it provides.

“It also helps make sure we stay on schedule as it allows us to prepare the aircraft more ­efficiently for the next flight.’’

Meanwhile, Shaw Stockbroking yesterday bumped up its forecast for Qantas’s underlying annual pre-tax profit by 30 per cent to $978 million. It said the move primarily reflected lower operating lease expenses, a stronger freight contribution and more than $100m in lower fuel costs than originally forecast.

The airline’s cost-cutting transformational program was also on track to achieve total benefits of $875m since it began in January last year, including an expected $675m in fiscal 2015, and capacity growth in international and domestic markets was ­“benign”.

Shaw said domestic market capacity growth was down 1.2 per cent in the first half of this financial year, while international competitor capacity fell 2 per cent. Shaw raised its target share price from $3.55 to $4.50 and retained its “buy’’ recommendation.