Major Qantas changes announced on Northern Territory routes

DIRECT Darwin and Adelaide flights to Uluru will begin from March 31 next year. The two new routes are among a number of major changes announced by Qantas to its Northern Territory network

Passengers board a Qantas Link 717 at Alice Springs airport. Flight services between Alice and Darwin are being upgraded from a B717 to a B737 aircraft. Picture: Stuart McEvoy

DIRECT Darwin and Adelaide flights to Uluru will begin from March 31 next year.

The two new routes are among a number of major business changes announced by Qantas to its Northern Territory network.

Other changes include

• THE Darwin to Alice Springs route will be upgraded to a Boeing 737 with Business Class
• FLIGHTS on some routes to Cairns will cease; reduction of flights to Perth
• INTRODUCTION of discounted fares program for Alice Springs residents

Qantas said that as part of the changes it is making, Qantas Link will be moving the Cobham B717 flights to other parts of Australia and there are no job losses for QantasLink.

Qantas said it has consulted the Government, tourism industry and customers about the changes over the past few months.

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The company said in response to feedback from local businesses, government and the tourism industry, flights between Alice Springs and Darwin will be upgraded from a B717 to a B737 aircraft, an increase of up to 1300 seats per week on the route.

Flights between Perth and Darwin will operate daily, year-round (down from 11 per week during peak season), and flights between Perth and Alice Springs will move from daily to two per week.

Qantas will no longer have flights on the Darwin-Cairns routes.

A Qantas Boeing 737-800. The Darwin to Alice Springs route will be upgraded to using Boeing 737s with a Business Class. Picture: AAP/Dan Himbrechts

Instead Jetstar will increase flights between Cairns and Darwin from four a week to daily during peak season.

Qantas is also axing flights between Cairns and Alice Springs.

Connections are available for customers to fly between Cairns and Alice Springs via Uluru.

Qantas Domestic CEO Andrew David said on Tuesday that the changes were about having the right aircraft on the right route with a schedule that reflects customer demand from both holiday and business travellers.

“We are adding more flights or bigger aircraft where we see demand or new tourism opportunities and we are making changes to routes which are just not sustainable,” he said.

“Our flights between Cairns and Alice Springs and Cairns and Darwin are on average only operating around half full, which is not sustainable, so we have decided to redirect these aircraft to other routes in the Northern Territory and other parts of our network.

“Uluru is in more demand from international and interstate tourists than we have seen in a long time. In the past few years the Qantas Group has added new routes and more flights to Uluru from Brisbane and Sydney and now Adelaide and Darwin.

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Qantas has also announced it will offer discounted fares for Alice Springs residents, giving access to more affordable air travel to Darwin.

Alice Springs residents can access discounts of at least 20 per cent and up to 30 per cent off any flight to Darwin.

Each resident can use the discount on up to 12 return fares for personal travel to Darwin each year.

The company said the discounted fares are commonly used for medical appointments and family events when it’s not always feasible to take advantage of lower fares available well in advance.

Eligible Alice Springs residents can book discounted fares from Wednesday at qantas.com/residentfares.

The Qantas Group will offer up to 58,000 seats per week to the Northern Territory after these changes have been implemented.

Qantas will operate up to 206 return services per week.

Jetstar will operate up to 52 return domestic services per week, as well as up to 14 return international services per week out of Darwin to both Singapore and Bali.

Figures recently released showed the Qantas Group contributed more than $150 million to the Northern Territory economy last year and supported more than 400 jobs.

Customers holding existing bookings who are impacted by any of the schedule changes will be contacted by Qantas or their travel agent and provided with alternate travel options.

The new routes and network changes will start from 31 March, 2019 and go on sale from Wednesday.