New Qantas deal with Alliance Airlines to increase flights between NT and Adelaide

Qantas has secured extra aircraft to fly between the Northern Territory and Adelaide in a new deal made in expectation of a surge in domestic tourism.

QANTAS has secured extra aircraft to fly between the Northern Territory and Adelaide in a new deal made in expectation of a surge in domestic tourism.

The Flying Kangaroo on Thursday announced it had inked a deal with Brisbane-based Alliance Airlines, of which it is a shareholder, to used 11 of its 94 seat E190 planes.

The three year deal gives Qantas access to three E190s to be based in Darwin and Adelaide.

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Alliance Aviation Embraer 190. Pic Lyndon Mechielsen

It is expected the initial routes flown will be Adelaide-Alice Springs, Darwin-Alice Springs and Darwin-Adelaide.

In its statement, Qantas said passengers would see an increase in frequency in those routes due to the size, range and economics of the E190 compared to the Boeing 737 that is currently used.

“Instead of one or two flights a day with a larger aircraft, we can offer three or four flights a day on the E190, which gives customers in these cities a lot more choice about when they travel,” QantasLink chief executive John Gissing said.

When this begins depends on how quickly demand recovers once snap border closures comes to an end.

Qantas expects this to be in June 2021.

The deal with Alliance Airlines also gives Qantas access to a further 11 E190s but also the ability to “switch off some or all of this capacity” depending on market conditions.

“We know this current climate of snap border closures will pass and we want to be ready for the recovery and for what is a structurally different market to what we had pre-COVID,” Mr Gissing said.

“By the time we switch on this extra capacity with Alliance, we expect all of our own domestic crews will have already returned to flying.