Longreach to Brisbane in Economy with Qantas
After lunch, we headed back to the terminal to wait for the aircraft to arrive. We thought that we had it sussed and knew where the aircraft would come from so we stood around waiting, near to the Qantas hangar.
Qantas Hangar
I had my camera and was ready to take a few shots as it passed over. However, at about 2.05, we heard a roar of engines, but from the other direction. Ooops, the aircraft had snuck up on us!
Here she comes
Getting closer
Parking up
Boarding was reasonably organised. The agent stood at the door and ushered people through to board. There was quite a large crowd of people, mostly saying good bye to friends and relatives.
Flight: QF2533
Carrier: QantasLink
Aircraft: Bombadier Dash 8-300 - VH-TQH
Scheduled Departure time: 14.25
Duration: 2h 25m
Scheduled Arrival time: 16.50
Class: Economy
Seat: 3A
seat plan)
I was about fourth or fifth in the queue and was on board before my seat mate, this allowed me to get a couple of very quick snaps of the cabin. The 300 series Dash-8 is smaller than the 400, with 50 seats, versus 74. The seats are the same though, and the cabin width is also the same, the aircraft is just shorter.
I was seated in 3A for this flight and as my seat mate joined me, it was clear that I was going to feel much more cramped in than the last flight. As mentioned before, the curvature of the cabin encroaches on the feet space for those seated in the window seats. This was certainly the case for me.
Boarding
Boarding
The cabin, looking towards the rear
3C and D
View from my seat, 3A
The woman next to me seemed to have no idea that it was a bit cramped and decided to stick her phone in my face by leaning herself towards the window whilst texting. She also decided that it was ok to take the middle arm rest too. Very annoying.
We were all on board by 2.25pm and the doors were closed. The engines were started up and the peace and quiet was shattered once again. I really cannot believe the noise of these things! The recorded audio safety demo was completed and we taxied out to the runway.
We took off at 2.35pm and started to climb to our cruising altitude. The Captain came on to the PA at 2.45pm to give us some information about our flight. The flight was expected to take two hours, and we should arrive into Brisbane on time.
Taking off
Nice views of the Australian outback
Small town, with it’s own air strip
Still climbing
As the seat belt sign was turned off, the man in the seat in front of me moved up towards the front where there were two rows of empty seats. I prayed that the woman next to me would do the same, but she didn’t seem to think it was necessary. I was really starting to resent her at this point.
The crew came around to offer a refreshment box. It really wasn’t as good as the catering that we got on the outbound flight, with a homemade sandwich, some biscuits and juice. The crew did announce that they would be service wine, and beer was available on request.
Snack box
Spare seats up the front
The sandwich was ham and cheese which was good, so I took a bite and…yuck! There was piccalilli in it
That’s the end of that then. I’d have to eat in the lounge.
The rest of the flight mostly involved me trying to watch my iPad whilst the woman next to me tried her best to encroach even more on the little space that I had.
We hit some turbulence at 4.10pm which was interesting in a small aircraft, and then shortly after we started our descent. The Captain asked the crew to prepare for landing at 4.20pm and the seat belt sign was turned on. I packed everything up as best I could but that basically meant sticking a few things down by my feet.
We had a very bumpy approach and landing, although it was fun to be able to turn around and watch the landing gear make contact with the tarmac, something that isn’t possible on with most aircraft, unless perhaps you are right at the back. We were on the ground at 4.40pm.
We taxied around to the same area where we had departed from before, except that this time we were much further away from the terminal, so that meant a bus. It wasn’t too bad though, the entire journey can’t have lasted more than 30 seconds!
Bags being offloaded
I met up with my friends after they arrived on the second bus. I’d managed to leave my hoody on the floor by my seat and had completely forgotten about it. My friend’s wife spotted it and handed it to me. Rather lucky really, since I probably wouldn’t have realised until I was home in Sydney!
Verdict
I can’t say that I enjoyed this flight. It was loud and cramped and the food was not as good as the previous flight. To be honest, the novelty had worn off! I’d try to avoid flying on this type of aircraft again in the future if possible. Still, the views from the air were great, and boarding and disembarking were both easy and efficient. So it wasn’t all bad.