After launching a host of new regional routes from previously underserved major cities such as Adelaide and Darwin, Qantas has now turned its attention back to the northeast state of Queensland with the launch of a new route from Brisbane to Proserpine Whitsunday Coast Airport (PPP), around 30 kilometres away from the popular tropical holiday destination of Airlie Beach.
The Brisbane to Whitsunday Coast route is currently served daily by competitor Virgin Australia using Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The airport was also served by Virgin Australia’s former budget subsidiary, Tigerair Australia from Sydney prior to its collapse in March 2020.
In addition to Virgin Australia, Qantas’ own budget subsidiary, Jetstar Airways also operates flights to the airport from Brisbane, as well as Sydney and Melbourne using its Airbus A320-200 aircraft.
Qantas plans to offer 14 weekly flights between Brisbane and Whitsunday Coast Airport, amounting to 2 flights each weekday and are scheduled to begin from the 17th of September. The new services will be operated by Qantas’ regional arm QantasLink using its Dash 8 Q400 aircraft which has a 74-seat all-economy configuration.
The airport has almost been exclusively served by low-cost carriers, however, that it is set to change when Qantas reinstates services to Whitsundays later this year following a seven-year absence from the airport. According to Qantas, these new services will go on to “complement” those already provided by its subsidiary, Jetstar.
Qantas has scheduled the new flights under a 2 hour slot time and will be roughly about 20 minutes slower than rival airlines due to Qantas deploying the Dash 8 turboprop aircraft on the route, in comparison to Virgin Australia and Jetstar which are both serving the airport using jet aircraft.
QantasLink CEO John Gissing stated, “the new route will encourage greater connectivity to popular North Queensland tourist destinations” and allow travellers to access world-famous areas such Whitehaven Beach and the Great Barrier Reef whilst Australia’s international borders still remain largely shut, forcing Australians to think more locally when it comes to travelling.
The Chief Executive of QantasLink also stated that demand for intrastate travel within Queensland is reaching an all-time high as a result of constantly changing state border restrictions within Australia. According to Mr Gissing, Qantas believes that this route to Whitsundays will serve this market perfectly, as well as provide seamless connections to Qantas’ extensive domestic network stemming from its hub in Brisbane.
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