The good news is that Qantas is bringing back their Boeing 737 aircraft to the Mount Isa-Brisbane route from December 1.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The bad news is that they are removing many of the afternoon direct flights.
A Qantas spokesperson said they they had been listening to feedback from the community in Mount Isa about the planes but did not explain why they were removing afternoon flights on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
“From December, we’ll be returning our jets to the Mount Isa-Brisbane route, offering customers the option to travel in Business and inflight entertainment for all customers, including fast, free inflight wi-fi on some of our Boeing 737 flights,” the spokesperson said.
From December, we’ll be returning our jets to the Mount Isa-Brisbane route, offering customers the option to travel in Business and inflight entertainment for all customers
- Qantas
The airline said a new schedule would operate with a daily return Boeing 737 service and a second daily Boeing 717 return service on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“Alliance Airlines have been temporarily operating Mount Isa-Brisbane flights on behalf of Qantas as part of efforts to improve reliability across the regional network,” the spokesperson said.
“At the time we advised our customers this would be temporary and is not uncommon in the airline industry.”
Qantas said it was working to make sure regional air travel was both accessible and sustainable and residents in Mount Isa have access to the Qantas discounted fares program, providing discounts of up to 30 per cent off return flights from Mount Isa to Brisbane and Townsville when booked via qantas.com/residentfares or through local travel agents.
They said more than 1000 residents have taken advantage of these discounted fares since the program was launched last November.
Qantas’s Boeing 737s seats 174 passengers, and 717s seat 110 passengers, with both aircraft featuring a business cabin for customers.
Qantas is also offering a sale for Mount Isa-Brisbane flights with fares available from $199 one-way, for travel between 5 January to 30 June 2019. Sale ends Monday October 1.
However there is now only flight a day on all days except Tuesdays and Thursdays in both directions.
The North West Star has asked Qantas how removing afternoon flights squares with their statement “they are listening to feedback”.
A federal inquiry into the cost of regional air travel continues.