QantasLink

QantasLink
IATA ICAO Callsign
QF QLK/QJE Q-LINK/Q-JET
Founded 2002
Operating bases Adelaide Airport
Brisbane Airport
Cairns Airport
Hobart Airport
Melbourne Airport
Sydney Airport
Perth Airport
Alliance Oneworld (Affiliate)
Subsidiaries Eastern Australia Airlines
Sunstate Airlines
AirLink (operated by Cobham Aviation Services Australia
Network Aviation)
Fleet size 80
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 1,900 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).

In May 2014, Qantaslink 717's took over Qantas 737 operations in Hobart travelling to and from Melbourne and Sydney.

On 31 July 2015 Network Aviation was rebranded to QantasLink. This was announced by Qantas with the unveiling of a Fokker 100 in QantasLink colours.[2]

Fleet

QantasLink flights are operated by the individual airlines that make up the group - Eastern Australia Airlines, Network Aviation and Sunstate Airlines; and also contracted carrier Cobham Aviation. As of September 2016 the QantasLink fleet consists of the following aircraft:[3]

Boeing 717-200 taking off from Perth Airport
Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 taking off from Sydney Airport
Fokker 100 taxiing at Wagga Wagga Airport
Bombardier Q300 at Brisbane Airport
QantasLink fleet
Aircraft In Service Orders Passengers Notes
J Y
Total
Boeing 717-200 20 12 98 110 Operated by Cobham Aviation
0115115
0125125
Fokker 100 15 3[4] 0 100 100 Operated by Network Aviation
de Havilland Canada DHC-8-200 Dash 8 3 0 36 36 Operated by Eastern Australia
Bombardier Dash 8 Q300 11 0 50 50 Operated by Eastern Australia
Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 31 0 74 74 Operated by Sunstate
Total 80 3

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").

Expansion

QantasLink increased capacity by replacing many of its smaller Dash 8 aircraft with Bombardier 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.[5]

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 airport to be serviced by the Dash 8 Q400, commencing in mid-August 2008.[6]

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".[7]

On 18 December 2014, QantasLink announced that it would add Whyalla, South Australia, to its network, with double daily flights to commence on 13 April 2015. The route is serviced by the 50-seat Q300.[8] In July 2015, Network Aviation was absorbed into the Qantas Link brand.[9]

Alliance Airlines delivered the first of three additional Fokker 100s in July 2016, with two more to be delivered by the end of the year.[10]

Former fleet

BAe 146-100 taking off from Perth Airport in 2003.
Dash 8-102 at Canberra Airport in 2004.

QantasLink previously operated the following types:

Destinations

QantasLink 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. 2. ^ QantasLink flights operated by Network Aviation do not use an ICAO code and utilise the aircraft registration as a callsign.

References

  1. ↑ "QANTAS Fact File" (PDF). Qantas. September 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  2. ↑ "Network Aviation becomes QantasLink | Australian Aviation". australianaviation.com.au. Retrieved 2015-08-01.
  3. ↑ CASA civil aircraft register search, using "Eastern Australia Airlines", "Network Aviation" and "Sunstate Airlines" as keyword search parameters; and "Boeing 717" as Aircraft Model search parameter. Search conducted 11 April 2016. Included in the results are five Eastern Australia DHC-8-300s operated on behalf of Jetstar in New Zealand.
  4. ↑ http://australianaviation.com.au/2016/08/the-slow-reveal-qantas-continues-its-787-tease/
  5. ↑ New QantasLink for Adelaide-Port Lincoln route - AdelaideNow
  6. ↑ Bigger is better: Qantas introduces 72 seater - Northern Daily Leader Archived 24 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ↑ Creedy, Steve (19 March 2010). "QantasLink seeks openings for young fleet". The Australian.
  8. ↑ "QANTASLINK ADDS WHYALLA TO ITS MAP - Qantas News Room". www.qantasnewsroom.com.au. Retrieved 2015-08-01.
  9. ↑ http://australianaviation.com.au/2015/07/network-aviation-becomes-qantaslink/
  10. ↑ "Alliance delivers Fokker 100 to QantasLink". Austraian Aviation. 13 July 2016.
  11. ↑ "AIRPORT TAKES FLIGHT WITH QANTAS DEAL". Qantas Airways Limited. 3 September 2014.
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