Qantas has announced a further expansion of its ever-growing domestic network. The Australian airline confirmed start dates for seven new domestic routes. In addition, Qantas outlined further routes it would operate wet-leased Embraer E190 jets on, and confirmed the growing presence of its widebodies jets on domestic routes.
“Our strategy of adding new domestic routes is generating revenue from our aircraft rather than leaving them on the ground. It means more work for our people and even more low fares for our customers,” said Qantas Domestic and International CEO Andrew David on Tuesday.
Simple Flying has previously reported on the deal to wet lease three Embraer E190s from Brisbane-based Alliance Airlines. Those planes are commencing flights throughout central Australia today. Recently, Qantas agreed to take five more Embraers. Now Qantas has outlined the routes passengers will see the additional Embraers fly on.
Townsville gets three new Qantas routes and Embraer E190s
The big winner is the northern Queensland city of Townsville. From August, three return Qantas E190 services per week will operate between Townsville and Adelaide. In September, daily Embraer services will commence between Townsville and Sydney and Townsville and Melbourne.
In August, four return E190 services will operate between Adelaide and Cairns. The following month, daily Embraer services will commence between Adelaide and Hobart.
Qantas will also launch Boeing 737-800 services thrice weekly between Perth and the Gold Coast and five times a week between Sydney and Uluru. Qantas’ low-cost subsidiary, Jetstar, already operates on several of these routes. Now the Qantas Group is complementing its low-cost product with the premium full-service product.
“Our customers now have 45 more routes to fly than we had pre-COVID, making it even easier for them to get to their next holiday or business meeting,” said Mr David.
“Previously, traveling between these cities meant a connecting flight in the middle, but now they can fly direct and save at least an hour in the process.”
More Qantas widebody domestic flights, including Dreamliner services to Perth
Fans of the Qantas widebodied product also got some good news on Tuesday. In addition to existing routes like Sydney-Cairns, where you can already score a flight on a Qantas international grade plane, Qantas today said it was adding or up gauging its widebody services across four domestic routes.
There are now nine return services a week between Brisbane and Darwin, three of which are now operated by Airbus A330 aircraft. Up to 12 return Qantas services a week fly between Sydney and Darwin, of which seven will be A330 flights. It is a four-hour-plus flight to Darwin from Sydney, and it’s great to see Australia’s often unloved northern outpost city get some attention from Qantas.
Between Melbourne and Perth, Qantas is now running 37 return flights a week. Up to 24 of these services will be flown by A330 aircraft. Sydney now sees 34 return services a week to Perth. Only four return flights a week will be operated by A330 aircraft. However, a cruisy 787-9 Dreamliner will also fly up to nine return services a week between Sydney and Perth.
“We know how popular the 787s and A330s are with our customers on our international network and we think there will be huge demand for the domestic flights these aircraft operate on,” says Mr David.
The first time Qantas deploys a Dreamliner onto a domestic route
Until the travel downturn saw flights axed, it was possible to catch a Dreamliner on the Melbourne-Perth leg of the Perth-London Heathrow flight. However, today’s announcement marks the first time a Qantas 787-9 has been solely dedicated to a domestic route.
What’s the big deal? Well, both the Airbus A330 and 787-9 aircraft offer a far superior inflight experience to the standard Boeing 737 flight. That’s important on some of the longer domestic flights, such as across to Perth. If you fly up the front, the Qantas A330 and Dreamliner Business Suite is superb. With Qantas running a 30% off sale on both domestic economy and business class flight rewards for the next few days, a jaunt up to Darwin or across to Perth on a big Airbus is a tempting proposition.
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