New QantasLink regional Queensland flights, routes, lounge

Qantas' regional subsidiary QantasLink is planning extra flights, new routes and more planes for regional Queensland beginning in early 2012.

That means more flights in and out of key mining sector hubs, mostly to Brisbane.

A twice-weekly Townsville-Moranbah flight will run on Wednesdays and Fridays, aiming to connect Cairns, Far North Queensland and the Bowen Basin coal industry hub.

More planes will also be based in Brisbane, which means more flights and more seats for:

• Moranbah-Brisbane: extra 5pm flights on Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, plus a new Saturday flight
• Emerald-Brisbane: new flights on Wednesdays and Saturdays
• Weipa-Cairns: extra flights on Tuesdays and Thursdays
• Roma-Brisbane: six weekday return flights plus two on weekends
• Charleville-Brisbane: extra weekly direct flight, making four direct returns per week

A new Qantas Regional Lounge will also open in Emerald for Platinum and Gold Frequent Flyers, and it'll also be available to Qantas Club members.

To run the extra flights, Qantas is basing two Boeing 717 jet aircraft in Brisbane, and will also up the number of turboprops: one 74-seat Bombardier Q400 and one 50-seat Q300.

John Walton

Aviation journalist and travel columnist John took his first long-haul flight when he was eight weeks old and hasn't looked back since. Well, except when facing rearwards in business class.