Qantas upgrades regional flights

Qantas is steadily reshaping the fleet of its regional arm QantasLink, and we’re getting vibes of the old wedding tradition “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue“ – or at least red, in the case of the Flying Kangaroo.

Something old: well, how about old-ish..? That might be the 14 ‘mid-life' DeHavilland Dash 8-400 turboprop, also known as Q400s, which will be rolling into the QantasLink hangars from the end of this year.

This will swell the size of the QantasLink Q400 workhorse fleet to 45, and in turn allow the 19 smaller and older Q200 and Q300 turboprops aircraft to be gradually phased out of the fleet.

Qantas notes the Q400 is “more than 30% faster than the Q200 and Q300 aircraft, saving customers time travelling to and from regional destinations” while adding comfort and increasing reliability.

QantasLink turboprops carry more than 3.5 million passengers to more than 50 destinations around regional Australia every year,

“By consolidating our turboprops into a single fleet type, we’ll be able to further improve our reliability and provide a better recovery for our customers during disruptions as well as reducing complexity and cost for our operation,” suggests Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson.

Addressing reports that the Q400 isn't suitable for the runway at Lord Howe Island, unlike the smaller Q200 series, a spokesperson for Qantas said “We remain committed to ensuring that Lord Howe Island maintains an air service and we will be working with the community and Government on those options over the coming months.”

Review: QantasLink Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 economy class

Something new: of course, that’d have to be the Airbus A220.

Qantas has 29 of the modern jets on order, although only two have been delivered, with the third due to be delivered in the coming weeks.

As more A220s arrive they’ll edge out the noisier and less comfortable Boeing 717s on key inter-city routes: the forward schedule already pegs Melbourne-Hobart, Melbourne-Coffs Harbour and Melbourne-Launceston As A220 routes through to the end of this year.

Read: What it’s like to fly on the Qantas A220

Something borrowed: those Embraer E190s leased from Alliance Airlines continue to backfill the QantasLink fleet, at least until the full complement of A220s is in the hangars.

Qantas currently flies 26 of the nimble E-jets, with options for four more, and will rely on the E190 to launch Darwin-Singapore flights from March 2025 with 10 business class seats and 84 seats in economy.

Something blue: something red, obviously, but if we’re on the subject of colours, Hudson is determined to keep Qantas in the black while also funnelling more profit back into areas that make a difference for the traveller.