At or near cruising altitude.
They are a substantial part of the Australian consumer's choice in regional flights and are growing with the new COVID trend to move to the regions. Recently I took a flight with them from Hervey Bay to Brisbane and have added some facts below about the company and my flight - photos were taken from around 4 to 5.30 pm, mainly in ideal flying conditions on Thursday 29 July 2021.
In the sky
Flying, at least from the passenger's (my) perspective, was fun, safe, a novelty, and an experience along with a faster mode of transport. Informatively captioned photos of my Hervey Bay to Brisbane QantasLink flight are below in order of the flight's progress.
A profile of a QantasLink plane Hervey Bay to Brisbane.
Ready for takeoff.
Taking off @ Hervey Bay.
Over Hervey Bay
At cruising altitude
The food onboard (manna not nanna) - a box with nuts, crackers and a cake.
Descent starts after the snack
About to reach Moreton Bay on descent - most likely the land below is the suburb Beachmere.
Over Moreton Bay with wing tilted and setting sun (taken at 5.07PM).
A lovely landing despite the westerly winds.
Back at Brisbane Airport and ready to disembark.
According to the
QantasLink website, they fly 2000 flights a week to 56 destinations - with Qantas points earned, an online check-in, and seamless connections to other Qantas flights possible. In terms of necessary facts, I've left images of seating, which felt cramped but comfy, and the departures and arrival schedule, and, of course, Brisbane Airport, where after landing, I used the Airtrain, for a big train fare (peak times on the Airtrain are naturally a bit expensive).
The aircraft noise is interesting - being a bit different compared to jumbo jets - i.e. less roar with more humming. For a light refreshment, the crew quickly serve you a few dry snacks, a bottle of water and an optional soft drink or beer or wine. To be health-conscious, I found drinking water cleared the head and munching the dry snacks took my mind off things instead of drinking alcohol. While during the middle of the flight standing is permissible, it's not recommendable and the narrow isles mean it's again a lot different to jumbo jets.
My flight was also packed or near capacity, and the flight's passengers filled a bus where as last to board, I found myself standing at the very front of the vehicle. This was because the plane on its Brisbane arrival doesn't directly connect to a gate - instead, the passengers need to be transported by bus to the domestic terminal buildings. While outdoors, it's amazing being surrounded by so many Qantas planes when walking to the transit shuttle bus.
Departures@ Hervey bay Airport
Arrivals @ Brisbane Airport -my flight is Hervey Bay 17:20 arrival
The Seating is crammed but comfy.
A concept on the small but comfy seats.
At the domestic terminal on flight completion.
Brisbane Airport
Demand is high due to regional popularity and thus prices are not cheap - it's not priced like a budget airline. If wanting or needing to visit somewhere remote or hard to travel to, QantasLink is good value for money. An example fare is the flight Hervey Bay to Brisbane - it's usually 150-200 dollars one way in economy class. Fares are inclusive, so they include checked baggage and light refreshments on board. Cancellations require an upgrade to a refundable ticket - the only chance of reimbursement is a voucher/credit when non-refundable.
The company
Below are facts about QantasLink such as business, flying and safety.
Ownership
According to
qantas.com, QantasLink is one of Qantas's
subsidiary companies - to put things in context,
Jetstar is a well-known example of a Qantas subsidiary company. QantasLink has a
homepage linked here. In terms of commercial purpose and existence, its online presence is blended into the official Qantas website, so if you are wanting a ticket from the airline, then one must visit
www.qantas.com.au.
The company's purpose is being a company owned by Qantas - it is used by Qantas to operate smaller regional flights - it also relates to marketing - they market such flights using different branding. For example, in the same way, most large cheaper flights are branded
Jetstar, most small specialised regional flights are QantasLink, yet they are also different companies all owned by a larger company. It's not as confusing as I first thought, and if I step back, I can see the point to the different companies and the one parent company and that they serve both marketing and human resources related purposes.
Safety
As I appear to have taken from Hervey Bay to Brisbane a Dash 8 aircraft,
I've linked its Wikipedia article here - it is fascinating reading, however in terms of safety, Australia is not on the article's safety incident record for Dash 8 planes - which does indeed give plenty of confidence in Aussie plane trips and/or pilots. In terms of overall safety record, it is almost unblemished with the only blemish some sort of bizarre incident, as seen on the
QantasLink Wikipedia page. Considering they are short flights and Australia's excellent airline safety record - now is indeed a great time to book a ticket and find a hidden gem, a new holiday favorite or an outback adventure.
The plane/fleet
The fleet is comprised of smaller Airbus, Boeing, Fokker and Bombardier (or can be referred to as
De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Ltd) planes, with the one on my flight being a turbo prop plane (a Dash 8 aircraft),
as seen, linked here.
Conclusively
QantasLink continues to be a provider of air access to regional destinations with
quality air services where needed - with journeys done safely, reliably and comfortably and is a substantial part of the Australian aviation industry.
All images courtesy of the author, 2021.
