Qantas to Add Extra Flights to Devonport, Hobart, and Launceston

25th Jul 2012

Business travelers between Tasmania and Melbourne in the mainland will soon find extra flights added on a daily basis. On October, Qantas will add more flights between Melbourne and the cities of Devonport, Hobart and Launceston in Tasmania.

The additional flights will augment the daily air links between the world's most liveable city and Tasmania's largest urban centers, making it more convenient for business travelers to fly between these routes.

The additional flights will be operated by Qantas' regional airline, QantasLink and will commence on October 29 using Bombardier Dash-8 Q400 turboprop. The Q400 turboprop is said to be the largest propeller-driven aircraft on service today. The Bombardier aircraft comprises the majority (80%) of QantasLink fleet, more than half of those are Q400 planes. The planes all have economy layout.

The Melbourne-Hobart sector will see a single extra flight per day on top of the two times daily service operated by Qantas utilizing its Boeing 737 jetliner.

Qantas is also adding 11 new flight schedules to the Melbourne-Launceston sector per week. The flights will also be operated by QantasLink, the flag carrier's regional airline using its Q400 fleet. These additional air services will mean a weekly load increase of 65%, from its current 17 flights a week.

The load factor on the Melbourne-Devonport route, meanwhile, will also see an increase but not through additional flights or frequency. Instead, the planes used will be upgraded to Q400 from the current Q300 which only seats 50 persons. The Q400 version seats 28 persons more, which means that the two daily flights in this sector will increase by more than half of its current daily load.

In addition to the additional flights between Melbourne and the three Tasmanian cities, Qantas is also changing its schedule between Sydney and Hobart cities. The flight QF1019 that originally leaves Sydney at 1415, will now depart in an earlier time slot at 0925, while the return flight QF1020 which leaves Hobart at 1040, will now have a new schedule, at 1155.

The extra flights mounted by Qantas provide travelers from Tasmania who want to get access to more travel options across its domestic and overseas network. Besides, Tasmania is said to be a significant market for the flag carrier.