Qantas has confirmed new planes set form an integral part of its QantasLink fleet could reduce flying time from Orange to Sydney by 30 per cent.
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Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson revealed this week its regional carrier will acquire 14 additional mid-life Dash 8-400 aircraft (Q400), with 19 smaller Q200 and Q300 turboprop aircraft to be gradually phased out of the fleet.
At the moment, Orange is currently serviced by a mixture of Q200s, 300s and 400s but Qantaslink will transition those airlines out of its fleet and when that happens those flights will be operated by Q400 aircraft exclusively.
Q400s already operate services to Dubbo, and that will remain the case.
The first aircraft will join the QantasLink fleet by the end of calendar year 2024. QantasLink has been servicing the Orange community since July, 2020.
In a statement released this week, Qantas revealed the Q400 aircraft are more than 30 per cent faster than the Q200 and Q300 aircraft, "saving customers time travelling to and from regional destinations".
The average flight time from Orange to Sydney is around 50 minutes. Knocking 30 per cent off that flight time equates to a reduction of around 15 minutes.
The younger fleet will also help improve operational reliability and the new investment means QantasLink has a fleet of 45 Q400s.
Ms Hudson said the turboprop renewal program was part of the airline's ongoing commitment to serve regional Australia.
"QantasLink turboprops carry more than 3.5 million customers to more than 50 destinations around regional Australia every year, and these next-generation aircraft allow us to improve the travel experience with a faster and more comfortable experience," Ms Hudson said.
"By consolidating our turboprops into a single fleet type, we'll be able to further improve our reliability and provide a better recovery for our customers during disruptions as well as reducing complexity and cost for our operation.
"We know sustainable travel is important for our customers. These additional Q400s allow us to provide certainty to the regions over the next decade while we work with aircraft manufacturers and other suppliers on electric or battery powered aircraft that are the right size and range for our network."
Facts on Q400 aircraft:
- QantasLink currently has 31 Q400s in its fleet, which will increase to 45 following the new investment.
- The 14 new Q400s will have 78 seats (four more than the existing Q400s) compared to 50 seats on the Q300s and 36 seats on the Q200s.
- Q400s produce less carbon emissions per passenger than the Q300s.
- The additional aircraft are on average, more than 10 years younger than the aircraft they are replacing.
