QantasLink

QantasLink
IATA
QF		 ICAO
QLK/QJE		 Callsign
Q-LINK/Q-JET
Founded 2002
Operating bases Brisbane Airport
Cairns Airport
Melbourne Airport
Sydney Airport
Perth Airport
Alliance Oneworld (Affiliate)
Subsidiaries Eastern Australia Airlines
Sunstate Airlines
AirLink (operated by Cobham Aviation Services Australia)
Fleet size 69
Destinations 56
Headquarters Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Website www.qantaslink.com.au

QantasLink is a regional brand of Australian airline Qantas and is an affiliate member of the Oneworld airline alliance. It is a major competitor to Regional Express Airlines and Virgin Australia Regional Airlines. As of September 2010 QantasLink provides 1900 flights each week to 54 domestic and international locations. [1]

History

Prior to 2002, Qantas' various subsidiaries operated under separate brands. In 2002 a common brand was created, encompassing AirLink (a franchise, operated at the time by National Jet), Sunstate Airlines, Eastern Australia Airlines, and Southern Australia Airlines.

For a short while, QantasLink took over some of Qantas' non-trunk routes, such as Sydney - Sunshine Coast, using Boeing 717s that were inherited after Qantas acquired Impulse Airlines. QantasLink ceased operating some of these routes after Qantas formed low-cost subsidiary Jetstar Airways, transferring the Boeing 717 aircraft and routes to the new airline. In 2005/06, eight of the 717s were returned to QantasLink following Jetstar's acquisition of Airbus A320 aircraft, to be operated in Western Australia, Northern Territory and far north Queensland by National Jet (now Cobham Aviation Services Australia).

Fleet

A QantasLink BAe 146 taking off from Perth International Airport
QantasLink Boeing 717-200 taking off from Perth International Airport
QantasLink Q400 at Wagga Wagga Airport
QantasLink fleet (as of July 2014)[2]
Aircraft In Service Orders Passengers Notes
J Y
Total
Boeing 717-200 18 12 98 110 Operated by Cobham Aviation
0115115
0125125
Bombardier Dash 8 Q200 3 0 36 36 Operated by Eastern Australia
Bombardier Dash 8 Q300 16 0 50 50 Operated by Eastern Australia
Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 31 0 74 74 Operated by Sunstate
Total 67 0

QantasLink flights are operated by the individual airlines that make up the group - Eastern Australia Airlines and Sunstate Airlines; and also contracted carrier Cobham Aviation. All flights use QF IATA codes, and on 5 January 2009 both Eastern and Sunstate changed from their previous individual callsigns to the common Q-Link (pronounced "Cue-Link").

QantasLink Boeing 717-200 landing at Perth Airport

Expansion

QantasLink increased capacity by replacing many of its smaller Dash 8 aircraft with Dash 8 Q400s. QantasLink pursued this deal despite landing gear problems with Q400 aircraft by some airlines. This problem also saw a grounding of the Q400s by QantasLink, though all were deemed safe and returned to service.

As part of its further expansion, QantasLink entered the South Australian market in December 2005, with flights from Adelaide to Port Lincoln and Kangaroo Island. Interstate flights were also introduced between Kangaroo Island and Melbourne. Due to low passenger loads, these services ceased operation at the end of June 2006, along with the services from Melbourne to Burnie. On 8 December 2009, QantasLink announced that it would re-enter the Adelaide to Port Lincoln market from February 2010, using Q400 aircraft flying 23 return services a week.[3]

Since 2005, QantasLink 717 services in Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory have been contracted to Cobham Aviation (formerly National Jet Systems), using the QantasLink brand. The hubs for QantasLink under the Cobham contract are in Perth, Western Australia, Cairns, Queensland and Darwin, Northern Territory.

Qantas replaced its daily Melbourne-Launceston mainline service with a three times daily QantasLink Dash 8 service from 1 August 2006. This has now been increased to a four times daily service.

In May 2008, QantasLink announced that Tamworth would be the first New South Wales regional port to be serviced by the Dash 8 Q400, commencing in mid-August 2008.[4]

On 29 March 2010 QantasLink and the Qantas Group announced that it would start the first international QantasLink route, from Cairns to Port Moresby, utilising Q400 aircraft already based in Cairns. The service commenced in July 2010. A QantasLink spokesperson stated that "the airline would not turn into a fully fledged international airline, but could operate international routes in the future".[5]

On 18 December 2014, QantasLink announced that it would add Whyalla, South Australia, to its expanding network, with double daily flights to commence on 13 April 2015. The route will be serviced by the 50-seat Q300. [6]

Destinations

Qantaslink International Destinations
QantasLink Domestic destinations served by Eastern Australia Airlines
QantasLink destinations served by Sunstate Airlines


QantasLink destinations served by Cobham Aviation Services Australia (National Jet)

Accidents and Incidents

See also

Footnotes

Notes

1. ^ Qantaslink flights operated by Cobham Aviation Services Australia (National Jet) use the call-sign "QJET", with the ICAO code QJE. All flights continue to operate under the IATA code QF.

References

  1. ↑ "QANTAS Fact File" (PDF). Qantas. September 2010. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  2. ↑ CASA civil aircraft register search, using "Eastern Australia Airlines", "Sunstate Airlines" and "Boeing 717" as search parameters. Search conducted 15 May 2014.
  3. ↑ New QantasLink for Adelaide-Port Lincoln route - AdelaideNow
  4. ↑ Bigger is better: Qantas introduces 72 seater - Northern Daily Leader
  5. ↑ Creedy, Steve (19 March 2010). "QantasLink seeks openings for young fleet". The Australian.
  6. ↑ http://www.qantasnewsroom.com.au/media-releases/qantaslink-adds-whyalla-to-its-map
  7. ↑ "AIRPORT TAKES FLIGHT WITH QANTAS DEAL". Qantas Airways Limited. 3 September 2014.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to QantasLink.