Qantas 2008 Annual Report Download - page 18

16 Qantas Annual Report 2008
Qantas
Regional
QantasLink is the Qantas Group’s dedicated
regional airline, with a fleet of 47 aircraft serving
50 metropolitan and regional destinations with
approximately 2,000 flights each week.
During the year, QantasLink continued to add substantial capacity
to its operations, in particular to support key regional routes and
dynamic economic growth in Western Australia, Queensland and
the Northern Territory. Capacity growth has now averaged 16 per
cent each year for the past three years.
To support future growth, QantasLink announced a $400 million
investment in an additional 12 Bombardier Q400 aircraft, which
were delivered from July 2008. This brings the total investment
in Q400s to over $650 million since 2006. QantasLink has options
and purchase rights for a further 24 Q400s. These new aircraft will
enable QantasLink to retire all of its Dash 8-100 aircraft.
QantasLink also brought into service three additional B717 aircraft,
bringing its total B717 fleet to 11, and entered into short-term wet
lease agreements with Alliance Airlines for two Fokker 100 aircraft
to further increase capacity in Western Australia and Queensland.
QantasLink’s contribution to regional tourism was recognised
this year with the airline’s induction into the Outback Queensland
Tourism Awards Hall of Fame after winning Major Tour and
Transport Operator three years in a row.
Network Developments
• Additional capacity was added in Western Australia to the
regional destinations of Broome, Kalgoorlie, Karratha, Newman,
Paraburdoo and Port Hedland. A new Paraburdoo-Newman
service was also introduced.
• Queensland capacity was increased with additional services
and larger Q400 aircraft on many key routes including Biloela/
Blackwater, Bundaberg, Emerald, Gladstone, Hervey Bay and
Roma/Charleville. QantasLink was awarded new Air Service
Contracts by the Queensland Government to continue serving
Western and Far North Queensland communities for a further
five years from April 2008.
• In the Northern Territory, QantasLink commenced codeshare
services with Airnorth in September 2007 to provide services from
Darwin to Broome, Kununurra and Perth, while in South Australia,
QantasLink commenced codeshare services with Alliance Airlines in
December 2007 to provide services from Adelaide to Olympic Dam.
Capacity on the Brisbane-Mackay route was increased from June
2008, with QantasLink forming a partnership with Alliance Airlines
to operate 13 weekly return services using Alliance Airlines 100-seat
Fokker 100 aircraft.
• In response to high fuel prices, QantasLink exited the loss-making
Melbourne-Wollongong route in July 2008 and permanently
withdrew from previously suspended services between Newcastle
and both Melbourne and Sydney.
Other Developments
• QantasLink established the fully-funded QantasLink Pilot Trainee
Program in March 2008 to accelerate the supply of pilots for its
operations. The Program, offered through an approved training
school in Moorabbin, Victoria, will train approximately 100 new
pilot graduates during 2008. The first group of 14 graduates was
employed by QantasLink in June 2008.
• A new $13 million Q400 flight simulator became operational in
Sydney in April 2008. The simulator is an essential resource for
QantasLink’s Pilot Trainee Program.
• QantasLink received the Best Major Transport Award at
the 2007 Mid North Coast Tourism Awards and was a finalist
in the same category at the 2007 NSW Tourism Awards.
During the year, QantasLink
continued to add substantial capacity
to its operations, in particular to
support key regional routes and
dynamic economic growth in Western
Australia, Queensland and the
Northern Territory.
$400m $400m
QantasLink announced a $400 million plan to
purchase an additional 12 Bombardier Q400
aircraft, which were delivered from July 2008.
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