Aussie Flyer

This is the continuation of my trip from Melbourne to London on Qantas' flagship Airbus A380, flight QF9. For part 1 go HERE . After landing in Dubai on schedule with 13.5 hours of flight behind me it was time to head to the Emirates First Class Lounge in terminal 3. This is the lounge which features direct boarding  to the aircraft, but more on that later. As I was among the first off the flight there was nobody waiting at transit security so I was through and up to the lounge in no time.  First up it's time for a shower since Qantas don't have them onboard like Emirates do!

Qantaslink have recently acquired some used Boeing 717's that they have reconfigured into a 98 economy and 12 business class layout. They are going to be replacing the Boeing 737-400's used on flights between Canberra and Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. In addition they will also operate all Qantas services between Hobart and both Sydney (daily) and Melbourne (4 daily). This is the first time that Qantaslink have operated a business class. I had an opportunity this week to sample the service on a short evening flight between Sydney and Canberra on VH-YQS, a 10 year old Boeing 717 which originally was delivered new to Midwest Airlines in the USA back in 2004. In 2009 it went to Mexico for service with Click Mexicana, a low cost division of Mexicana. But they went bust in 2010 and the aircraft was stored. When it came time for Qantaslink to source some new B717's they found this one and did a full refurb.  So let's have a look what it's like: VH-YQS at the gate ...

Is the Qantas service from Canberra to Sydney the world's shortest flight that still serves a full hot breakfast? It's only a hot breakfast in business class but I am still impressed that they have maintained it even in these days of cost cutting. It is 147 miles or just 236 kilometres as the bird flies between the two airports: In economy a light refreshment is available but in business here is what I was served this month on the QF560 departing at 06.45am: It's a couple of poached eggs,spinach, tomato with feta and sausages. The juice which on longer sectors would normally be poured by the crew comes in a bottle on the tray, and there is a banana on the side. Perfectly adequate and a good start to the day. The crew on this Boeing 737-400 flight have to work VERY hard to get this  meal out to up to 20 business class passengers in a flight that can be as short as 25 minutes in the air, which leaves about 10-12 minutes to have the meal served, eaten and cleare...

This past Christmas I gave myself a gift. It was a first class ticket to London on Qantas and flying on Christmas day too! It was to be my first First Class experience on the Qantas A380 and I was looking forward to it for months. Did it live up to my expecations? Let's see....

In November I  took up an opportunity to travel by sea from Sydney to Melbourne via Hobart. This was a short re-positioning cruise operated by Princess Cruises and it was for 4 nights with 2 sea days and 1 day in port in beautiful Hobart, Tasmania. This is an ideal itinerary for people who are new to cruising and want to just give it a try, or for those wanting a quick getaway. This was my second cruise and I really enjoy them! I arrived in Sydney on a Qantas Boeing 767-300ER. It was VH-ZXE which was Qantas' last Rolls Royce powered B767 and has since been taken out of service and retired. On approach to Runway 16R there was a great view of our ship at the White Bay cruise terminal. Dawn Princess in Port

I have not been flying much at all in the last few months so I do apologise for the lack of updates here. However I am  very excited to be soon flying on the Qantas A380 in First Class between Melbourne and London Heathrow. This is going to be quite a fun adventure to the UK and I will come home via Dubai and Bangkok stopping in both places. So I should be able to offer reviews soon of the Qantas A380 in both First Class and Business Class, along with Club Europe on BA and a review of the Emirates A380 again (booked in economy but hoping for an upgrade!) In my down time I have been on a short cruise with Princess Cruises and I plan to post some photos of that voyage on here, even if it isn't flying. I think some people may find it interesting. Happy flying!

It was a long time coming but finally I have flown on the Bombardier Q400 (also known as Dash 8-400).  This report covers my first flight on this high speed turboprop airliner and it is on a very interesting route, Brisbane to Longreach. Why is it interesting? Well Longreach is the original home of Q.A.N.T.A.S. The Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial service, which eventually become what we now know today as Qantas. So this Qantaslink flight on a very modern aircraft actually takes us to back in time to 1921 when the airline first commenced operations. The purpose of the trip was to visit the Qantas Founders Museum which I will cover in another post. Arriving at the Qantas and Qantaslink domestic terminal - Brisbane