Here’s A Surprise – Virgin Australia Is Hobart’s Number 1 Airline

Sleepy Tasmania isn’t exactly an aviation hotspot. Its busiest airport, Hobart (HBA), is a true end-of-the-line airport. Once you land there, unless you are on one of the seasonal flights to Wilkins Base in Antarctica, there’s no further to go. Traditionally, most flights to Hobart go to and from Melbourne, one hour’s flying time north, with a few flights from Sydney thrown in for good measure. But that’s changed recently with a more diverse range of destinations served from Hobart and the Qantas Group’s stranglehold on the Tasmanian capital’s airport under serious challenge.

Virgin Australia makes its mark at Hobart Airport

The most recent Australian Government passenger movement figures only go up to March 31. Over that month, 176,000 passengers moved through Hobart Airport, making it Australia’s ninth busiest airport on this metric. In March 2019, 244,00 passengers passed through Hobart, so some numbers are still to be regained. The busiest route out of Hobart is to Melbourne, followed by Sydney.

Over the course of seven days, from Thursday, June 9, through to Wednesday, June 15, Simple Flying tracked movements through Hobart using Cirium data. Over the seven days, there were 204 departures and 207 arrivals. Why the slight difference? Some jets landed on the last evening and parked overnight to provide the next day’s first departures out of HBA.

Qantas (including QantasLink), its low-cost subsidiary Jetstar, Virgin Australia, Link Airways, and Sharp Airlines fly into Hobart. Qantas and QantasLink offered 123 arrivals and departures over the seven days or 30% of the total. Jetstar offered 126 arrivals and departures over the week or 31% of the total. The big surprise is Virgin Australia’s current strength in Hobart. Well before the pandemic and the airline’s 2020 collapse, Virgin Australia’s interest in Tasmania had been, shall we say, average. Now, going into the winter off-season down south, Virgin Australia offered 140 landings and takeoffs in Hobart over the observed week or 34% of the total.

The range of destinations served from Hobart Airport grows

Going from the third-placed also-ran before the pandemic to market leader in Hobart is a significant shift for Virgin Australia – and good on for them for making an effort. Instead of flying just to Sydney (SYD), Melbourne (MEL), and Brisbane (BNE) from Hobart, Virgin Australia has also added Perth (PER) and Adelaide (ADL) to its departures board in Hobart.

Qantas/QantasLink offers flights to the same destinations with the bonus addition of Canberra (CBR). But whereas Virgin Australia sticks with Boeing 737-800s into HBA, Qantas mixes it up with its own Boeing 737-800s and smaller QantasLink Boeing 717-200s and Embraer E190s. By offering more flights and consistently using bigger planes, Virgin Australia’s share of the total seat numbers in and out of Hobart is even more substantial.

Qantas competes with Link Airways, which offers Saab 340 flights to and from Canberra each weekday. Those turboprops compete against QantasLink Boeing 717-200s on the route. The other small airline servicing Hobart, Sharp Airlines, has a limited but electric range of flights flying in and out just three days a week. But if you want to head to King Island (KNS), Flinders Island (FLS), or Burnie (BWT), Sharp Airlines is your ticket to ride.

Air New Zealand puts the “international” back into Hobart International Airport in July

Jetstar offers a reliable, low-cost service to Hobart, flying in from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide. Jetstar is also the sole operator on the Gold Coast (OOL) – Hobart city pair. Jetstar exclusively flies Airbus A320s into Hobart, meaning they too offer far more seats over the seven days than their more upmarket sister airline, Qantas.

Air New Zealand remains missing in action. The pandemic and border closures continually interrupted their thrice-weekly but short-lived Auckland (AKL) – Hobart flights. Air New Zealand has slated those flights to resume in July and be operated by Airbus A320neo jets. The Kiwi carrier is the sole international carrier servicing Hobart “International” Airport.

Combine the two Qantas Group airlines, and they have 61% of the total passenger aircraft movements in and out of Hobart over the week. But Jetstar and Qantas are distinct airlines pitching to different markets, so they are being treated as separate airlines here. On that basis, you can rightly say Virgin Australia is the dominant airline flying into Hobart right now – they offer more flights and more seats than any other airline. If they ever offered a lounge in Hobart, they could have the Tasmanian capital sewn up even tighter.