Qantas expands regional network, announces new Broken Hill flights
Despite the country just weeks away from reopening to the world, Qantas has launched a new route — but in our very own backyard.
Australian airline Qantas has celebrated the reopening of Australian borders to vaccinated tourists by launching a new route — but the destination is not where you’d expect.
Qantas Group announced on Monday that the airline will expand its regional route to include the outback NSW town of Broken Hill.
Operating twice a week using the carrier’s 50-seat Q300 aircraft, Sydneysiders will be able to fly out to the region from April 8.
The announcement came on the same day the Federal Government revealed Australia’s international borders will be open to vaccinated travellers from around the world on February 21.
The new route ends an 18-year monopoly on flights to and from Broken Hill, dominated by Regional Express Airlines (Rex).
“Broken Hill is a unique Australian town and as the national carrier, we are thrilled to be adding it to our route map today,” QantasLink CEO John Gissing said.
“We are constantly looking for new opportunities to stimulate domestic tourism and support small business operators across regional Australia.”
The airline hopes the new route will allow for “an easy long weekend in the city, and allow visitors to make the most out of their outback exploration”.
Broken Hill Regional Council Mayor Tom Kennedy welcomed the new service, saying it will provide the local community with additional choice and flexibility.
“I think the community will be very excited to see the arrival of Qantas and to see some competition in the local market,” he said.
“Air travel is of vital importance to our community for tourism, health, and education, and I’d like to thank Qantas for providing locals with more options and more flexibility by offering their services out of Broken Hill.”
Fares to Broken Hill will start from $189 one way on sale until February 21, jumping to $269 beyond that date.
The new route announcement comes as Australia officially moves into the reopening phase of the pandemic.
Since 2020, international arrivals have been banned from entering Australia unless an exemption is granted. But from February 21, anyone who has two vaccinations will be allowed to enter.
The hope is the new announcement will reinvigorate intentional travel, which despite being reopened for Australians to go overseas since November 2021 — carriers have recorded a slow start.
It’s believed Australian travellers’ more cautious approach to overseas trips since November — due to the level of complexity surrounding Covid testing requirements and fear of being locked out — has caused the slower bounce back.
In the airline’s third quarter trading update, the airline said it’s international capacity had dropped from 30 to just 20 per cent.
As a result, Qantas pushed back the date for the restart of flights to San Francisco, initially intended to resume this month.
Instead, according to The Australian, Sydney to San Francisco flights have been rescheduled to July 29, while no firm date has been set for services out of Brisbane and Melbourne.
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