QantasLink

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QantasLink
IATA
QF		 ICAO
EAQ, SSQ, NJS, UTY		 Callsign
Eastern, Sunstate, National Jet, Unity
Founded 2002
Alliance Oneworld (Affiliate)
Fleet size 49 (+12 orders)[1]
Destinations Regional Australia
Headquarters Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Key people
Website: www.qantaslink.com.au

QantasLink is a regional subsidiary of Australian airline Qantas and is an affiliate member of the Oneworld airline alliance. It is a major competitor to REX Airlines (Regional Express Airlines).

Contents

[edit] 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 Australian Airlines. For a short while[citation needed], QantasLink took over some of Qantas' non-trunk routes, such as Sydney - Sunshine Coast, using Boeing 717 planes 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, 8 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 Systems.

[edit] Fleet

QantasLink fleet (as of September 2007)
Aircraft Total Notes
de Havilland Canada Dash 8 Series 100 9 Used within various routes of Qantaslink network.
de Havilland Canada Dash 8 Series 200 5 Used within various routes of Qantaslink network.
de Havilland Canada Dash 8 Series 300 16 8 used by Sunstate whilst 8 are used by Eastern Australia.
de Havilland Canada Dash 8 Series 400 9
(12 Orders)		 All 8 are currently used by Sunstate, Eastern Australia use of the Q400 is pending.
As of 30/10/07, 12 Q400's have been ordered with 24 options.
Boeing 717-200 14 11 are operated by National Jet Systems flying to destinations in Western Australia, Northern Territory & Queensland. The other 3 are currently in storage for unknown reasons at Adelaide Airport.
Fokker 50 1 This aircraft is operated by Alliance Airlines between Adelaide Airport and Olympic Dam Airport in South Australia.
Fokker 100 1 This aircraft is operated by Alliance Airlines between Perth International Airport, Karratha Airport and Port Hedland International Airport in Western Australia.
QantasLink Boeing 717-200 landing at Darwin International Airport
QantasLink Boeing 717-200 landing at Darwin International Airport

QantasLink flights are operated by the airlines that make up the group - Eastern Australia Airlines, Sunstate Airlines and National Jet. Although all flights use QF IATA codes, the actual ICAO codes and callsigns used in the Air Traffic Control system vary as to the airline operating the service. Eastern and Sunstate also use special two letter ICAO codes for use in Australia only. As a guide 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 Eastern
SSQ Sunstate
NJS National Jet
UTY Unity (Alliance Airlines)

[edit] Expansion

Currently Qantaslink has 7 Dash 8 Q400's, though as of October 30, 2007 has signed a deal for an additional 12 Q400's with 24 options. The AUD$400 Million dollar investment will increase capacity on various key routes and will also allow for the retirement of all the Dash 8 100's by the end of 2010. Qantaslink pursued this deal, despite recent landing gear problems with these aircraft by some airlines. This problem also saw a grounding of the Q400's 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 ex Melbourne to Burnie.

Since 2005, Qantaslink services in Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory have been contracted to National Jet Systems, 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 twice daily QantasLink Dash 8 service from August 1, 2006.

On February 25, 2008, Alliance Airlines commenced flying QantasLink services between Perth, Karratha and Port Hedland with Fokker 100 Aircraft.

In May 2008, Qantaslink announced that Tamworth will be the first New South Wales regional port to be serviced by the Dash 8 Q400, commencing in mid-August 2008.[2]

[edit] Destinations

[edit] Accidents and Incidents

  • On 7 February 2008, Qantas Flight 1944, a domestic 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.[3] A Boeing team repaired the aircraft in Darwin and it was returned to service 17 May 2008

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Qantas adds to Bombardier fleet - Business - Business - theage.com.au
  2. ^ Bigger is better: Qantas introduces 72 seater - Northern Daily Leader
  3. ^ Aviation Safety Investigation Report - ATSB

[edit] External links

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