Alliance to begin extra NT Qantas services from May 25

The Qantas/ Alliance airlines deal will see a doubling of the national carrier’s flights into out of Adelaide to Darwin from May.

THE Qantas/Alliance airlines deal will see a doubling of the national carrier’s flights out of Adelaide to Darwin starting May to match an expected dry season surge.

From May 25 there will be 12 Qantas flights a week between Adelaide and Darwin.

In February Qantas announced Alliance’s E190 jets would replace Qantas’s larger Boeing 737s on various routes between Adelaide, Alice Springs and Darwin, with the deal contracted for three years with an option to extend to 14 years.

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Frequencies on the three routes are increasing 30 per cent from current levels, that is from 24 to 36 flights a week.

Alliance last week won regulatory approval from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority for commercial operations with the E190s.

The regional charter carrier will operate the airline and crew; however, cabin crew and services will resemble an ordinary Qantas flight.

Alliance says its E190s pilots are training with Finnair in Helsinki and expects its full flight simulator to be available for use in early May.

Alliance disclosed in August last year it was acquiring 14 E190s from Azorra Aviation and in December signed for another 16 E190s from Jetran, both US-based lessors.

Alliance said 18 of the E190s had been paid for and delivered.

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Of these, five were delivered to Australia, three are currently overseas undergoing base maintenance, and 10 in storage pending base maintenance.

QantasLink chief executive John Gissing said the deal represented the level of flexibility needed in the aviation industry, which is having to adapt because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“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.