Six New & Resuming Qantas Domestic Routes Finally Take Off

Qantas and subsidiary QantasLink have launched five new domestic routes this week. Several of the new routes are fresh and first flying as originally scheduled, while one is the relaunch of a suspended service and two others are delayed launches. Qantas will be counting on Australians supporting these somewhat offbeat routes when a host of international flying opportunities beckon.

The routes commencing include Sydney – Uluru (Ayers Rock), Sydney – Toowoomba Wellcamp, Wagga Wagga – Brisbane, Adelaide – Newcastle, Darwin – Cairns, and Darwin – Townsville. Aircraft deployed on the routes include Dash 8-400 turboprops, Embraer E190 jets, and stock standard Boeing 737-800s.

Qantas Sydney – Uluru Boeing 737-800 flights begin

The Boeing 737-800 flights between Sydney (SYD) and Uluru (AYQ) was announced last May with first flights not slated to start until March 2022 – that’s now. It’s a long lead in time for a domestic route launch, but it is good to see a route planned back in the dark days of COVID-19 coming to fruition on schedule.

QF728 pushes back in Sydney at 08:30 every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for the three hour and 35 minute trek into Australia’s red center, landing at Uluru’s Connellan Airport at 11:35. After 45 minutes on the ground, the 737-800 turns around to operate QF729 back to Sydney on the same day, departing AYQ at 12:20 and landing in Sydney at 15:45.

“We are excited to provide a direct Qantas service to Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park, the destination is uniquely Australian and offers a special experience,” says Qantas Domestic CEO Andrew David. “It will provide both international and interstate visitors a convenient option to fly direct from Sydney to the heart of Australia and take in the highlights of the Red Centre up close.”

Low-cost subsidiary Jetstar also flies into Uluru from Sydney, Melbourne (MEL) and Brisbane (BNE). Mr David says between the two airlines, the Qantas Group will run 18 return flights to Uluru over the upcoming peak season.

A Qantas Boeing flying low over Uluru in the Northern Territory. Photo: Qantas

New QantasLink Embraer E190 flights from Darwin

Still in the Northern Territory, but a couple of hours flying time north, Darwin is also seeing two new QantasLink routes kick off. The Darwin (DRW) – Cairns (CNS) was originally scheduled to start about now whereas the delayed Darwin – Townsville (TSV) was set to start on January 19, but that launch was paused owing to lack of demand. However, both routes now have QantasLink Embraer E190 jets on them.

QF1994 departs Townsville at 10:40 every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday for the two hour and 55-minute trip over to Darwin, landing there at 13:05 – good timing to check into your hotel and whizz down to the waterfront for a swim. The flights to Townsville, QF1193, leaves Darwin at 06:40 on the same day and lands in TSV at 09:55 – probably too early to check in but not too early for brunch on The Strand.

Also, initially flying three days a week – every Thursday, Friday, and Sunday, QF1997 departs Darwin at 07:10 for the two hour and 30 minute jaunt across the Gulf to Cairns, landing there at 10:10. After less than an hour on the apron, the Embraer E190 operates QF1996 back to Darwin. The final door closes at 10:50 and doesn’t open again until at the gate at Darwin Airport at 13:00.

A QantasLink E190 on the apron at Darwin Airport. Photo: Embraer

QantasLink CEO John Gissing said the new services were among 52 new routes the national carrier has added to its domestic network since the beginning of the pandemic as Australians looked for local travel opportunities.

“Qantas has a tremendous history of connecting people and economies across Australia,” he said. “What we’ve seen over the past two years, is that what started as a way of meeting pent-up demand for Aussies to travel where they could, is being sustained as visitors discover new destinations and as business links flourish.”

Both new services out of Darwin are operated by Embraers based in the Northern Territory capital. Qantas began wet-leasing the Embraers from Brisbane-based Alliance Airlines last year and is finding success using them on relatively skinny routes outside Australia’s southeast corner.

QantasLink Sydney – Toowoomba Wellcamp route resumes

But the southeast corner is also seeing one route resume and two previously announced routes launch. QantasLink has recommenced flights between Sydney and Toowoomba Wellcamp (TWB) using Dash 8-400 turboprops. QantasLink is now offering double daily weekday flights and daily weekend flights on the 538 mile (866 kilometer) route.

Flying every day of the week except Sunday, QF1412 leaves Sydney at 07:10 and lands in Toowoomba at 08:50 – just in time for work. Also flying every day except Saturday, QF1414 heads out of Sydney at 17:10 and gets into Toowoomba at 18:50.

Sydney-bound passengers board QF1411 at Toowoomba every day of the week bar Sunday at 09:20 for an 11:00 arrival into Sydney. Later in the day, QF1413 rolls down Wellcamp’s runway daily except Saturday at 19:20 and gets back to Sydney at 21:00

A QantasLink Dash 8-400 at Toowoomba’s Wellcamp Airport. Photo: Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport

New QantasLink routes in Australia’s southeast

Not resuming but brand new is the QantasLink Dash 8-400 between Wagga Wagga (WGA) and Brisbane (BNE). Flying three times a week, the new route avoids a connection in Sydney. QF2376 pushes back from Brisbane at 08:40 every Friday for a 10:40 arrival in New South Wales’ largest inland regional city. QF2376 departs Brisbane at 14:00 on Mondays and Sundays for the two-hour flight down to Wagga.

Heading up to Brisbane, QF2377 leaves WGA at 11:05 on Fridays to land in Brisbane at 12:55. On Mondays and Sundays, QF2377 departs Wagga at 16:25 with a scheduled arrival time in BNE at 18:15.

The final new route is also in Australia’s southeast, linking Adelaide (ADL) with Newcastle Williamtown (NTL). These aren’t delayed flights, rather the announcement dates back to November last year. At the time, it was thought a canny move by Qantas, perhaps blocking a potential Bonza route.

“The Newcastle-Adelaide route is one of the most in-demand and searched for by our customers,” said Newcastle CEO Peter Cock at the time. Unfortunately for those online searchers, there’s been no direct flight linking the two cities since FlyPelican axed its short-lived service in 2018.

QantasLink & Newcastle Airport employees mark the first QantasLink flight to Adelaide today. Photo: Newcastle Williamtown Airport

Whereas FlyPelican used wet-leased Alliance Fokker jets on the route, QantasLink is deploying wet-leased Embraers – at least the Alliance pilots will know the route well. QF1948 departs Adelaide (ADL) at 09:40 on Fridays and 10:40 on Mondays and Wednesdays to land in NTL two hours and five minutes later.

QF1949 is the service back to Adelaide. After cooling their engines on the NTL apron, Friday’s flight leaves at 13:00 and Mondays and Wednesdays leave at 14:00. The flights land back in Adelaide at 14:45 and 15:45 respectively. Adding these new flights up, around 5,000 extra seats every week are being added into Qantas’ domestic network. The airline is flagging flying at 110% of its pre-pandemic domestic capacity by Easter so can comfortably handle the additional inventory.

QantasLink CEO John Gissing said the new services were among 52 new routes the national carrier has added to its domestic network since the beginning of the pandemic. The million-dollar question is how many of them will stick. Domestic flying was fine when that’s all you could do, but now Australia’s international borders are open and Australians are footloose and fancy-free, many will revert to their old habit of flying abroad before flying locally.

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