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.
History
Prior to 2002, Qantas' various subsidiaries operated under separate brands. In 2002, a common brand was created encompassing the regional subsidiaries, Airlink, Sunstate, Eastern Australia Airlines, and Southern Australia Airlines.
For a short while[citation needed], 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, 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. However this time they are being operated in Western Australia, Northern Territory and far north Queensland by National Jet.
Fleet
QantasLink fleet (as of october 2009)
| Aircraft |
Total |
Orders |
Notes |
| Bombardier Dash 8 Q200 |
5 |
0 |
Used within various routes of Qantaslink network. Used by Eastern Australia.[2] |
| Bombardier Dash 8 Q300 |
16 |
0 |
13 are used by Eastern Australia and three by Sunstate.[2][3] |
| Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 |
16 |
5 |
All are currently used by Sunstate, Eastern Australia use of the Q400 is pending. |
| Boeing 717-200 |
11 |
0 |
Operated by Cobham[4] flying to destinations in Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory & Queensland. |
QantasLink flights are operated by the airlines that make up the group - Eastern Australia Airlines and Sunstate Airlines; and also contracted carrier National Jet. Although all flights use QF IATA codes, on 5 January 2009 both Eastern and Sunstate changed from their previous individual callsigns to the common Q-Link (pronounced "Cue-Link"). Eastern and Sunstate operate the Dash 8 services, with the Boeing 717 flights being operated by National Jet.
The codes used by these airlines are:
| ICAO |
Callsign |
| EAQ |
Q Link |
| SSQ |
Q Link |
| NJS |
National Jet |
Expansion
Currently QantasLink has 14 Dash 8 Q400s, with an additional seven on order plus 24 options. The AUD$400 Million dollar investment will increase capacity on various key routes and was to also allow for the retirement of all DHC-8-100s by the end of 2010; due to rising fuel costs this was accelerated so that all were retired by November 2008. Qantaslink pursued this deal despite recent 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 their 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.
Since 2005, Qantaslink services in Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory have been contracted to National Jet, using the QantasLink brand. The hubs for QantasLink under the National Jet Systems contract are in Perth, Western Australia, Cairns, Queensland and Darwin, Northern Territory.
Qantas replaced its daily Melbourne-Launceston Boeing 737 service with a three times daily QantasLink Dash 8 service from 1 August 2006.
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.[5]
Destinations
-
- Australian Capital Territory
- Canberra Hub
Accidents and Incidents
- On 7 February 2008, Qantas Flight 1944, a National Jet Boeing 717 flight from Gove to Darwin suffered airframe damage on landing in Darwin, when the aircraft entered an area of high sink on final approach and made a heavy landing. Wrinkling was later found in the aft fuselage.[6] A Boeing team repaired the aircraft in Darwin and it was returned to service in May 2008.
See also
References
External links
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