Wollongong (Albion Park) - First QantasLink Flight!

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Jun 6, 2005, 8:57 pm

QF NB

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Wollongong (Albion Park) - First QantasLink Flight!

Yesterday (6th June) was the first flight into Wollongong with a QantasLink Dash-8. The new service was announced earlier this year:

Quote:

First QantasLink Flight: One giant step for the Illawarra

.....
Most of the passengers on the incoming flight had bought tickets, to the delight of Elsa D'Alessio, head of commercial operations at QantasLink.

She became the first person to fly the return trip when the Dash-8 touched down at Tullamarine Airport, Melbourne, at 10.29am, delayed for a few minutes by festivities at Albion Park.

Assuming the weekday service to Melbourne is successful, she said the next upgrade would be to include weekend flights, followed by an assessment of other destinations such as Brisbane or the Gold Coast.

The idea that Illawarra Regional Airport may be the hub for national or even international travel was not as far-fetched as it sounded, Ms D'Alessio said.

"You can now go to Adelaide or Perth using a Qantas connection in Melbourne," she said.

"This is not just about Melbourne."

Source:
By WILLIAM VERITY
June 7, 2005
Available here

Congratulations QFLink. I hope you do well out of this service. As I have family in the area I would fully support a service to Brisbane or the Gold Coast. Fares have been quite high and in demand according to the QF website!

Does anyone think that they will use this new service?

Cheers
David

Last edited by QF NB; Jun 6, 2005 at 9:01 pm

Jun 6, 2005, 10:57 pm

GoldFlyer

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International flights! Elsa is getting a bit carried away. Perhaps she enjoyed too much of the festivities at Albion Park.

Jun 6, 2005, 11:00 pm

Kiwi Flyer

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Maybe Wollongong to NLK?

Jun 6, 2005, 11:33 pm

deeruck

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Kiwi Flyer

Maybe Wollongong to NLK?

Do we count NLK as international?

I suppose it's as international as the North-East and South-East Islands of Australia, KiwiFlyer

Jun 7, 2005, 1:12 am

RickyT

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Quote:

Originally Posted by deeruck

Do we count NLK as international?

I suppose it's as international as the North-East and South-East Islands of Australia, KiwiFlyer

And don't forget Tasmania since it is a stretch of water known as Bass Strait. It is an 'international' route to the large island south of Victoria and Hobart has its own 'internaitonal' airport!

(tongue firmly in cheek!)

Jun 7, 2005, 3:13 am

GoldFlyer

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Quote:

Originally Posted by RickyT

And don't forget Tasmania since it is a stretch of water known as Bass Strait. It is an 'international' route to the large island south of Victoria and Hobart has its own 'internaitonal' airport!

(tongue firmly in cheek!)

Shouldn't that be "intranational"?

Jun 7, 2005, 7:54 am

cpShawnie

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Quote:

Originally Posted by deeruck

Do we count NLK as international?

I suppose it's as international as the North-East and South-East Islands of Australia, KiwiFlyer

Actually, QF have always counted NLK as an international destination. As strange as it is, even though Norfolk Island is an Australian territory, it has its own Immigration Act, quite separate from the Australian Immigration Act!

Meanwhile, I wouldn't rule out using this new service, particularly as the current fares to WOL are cheaper than MEL-SYD on QF. Less money for a more convenient option - I'm there!

Jun 7, 2005, 8:04 am

the_nomad

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Quote:

Originally Posted by QF NB

Does anyone think that they will use this new service?

Cheers
David

Probably not me.... I do love Wollongong, but I always visit Sydney when in Oz and it's a pleasant drive down South from there.

Cheers, Jim

Jun 7, 2005, 11:59 am

thadocta

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Quote:

Originally Posted by QF NB

Does anyone think that they will use this new service?

I quite possibly will - I often stay at Stanwell Park, on the southern frige of the Royal National Park. A train ride form Albion Park Rail to Stanwell Park would certainly be quicker than a train ride PLUS connections through SYD.

Dave

Jun 7, 2005, 12:01 pm

#10

thadocta

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Quote:

Originally Posted by the_nomad

Probably not me.... I do love Wollongong, but I always visit Sydney when in Oz and it's a pleasant drive down South from there.

It is an even more pleasant train trip, particularly in fine weather. Some of the views, particularly around the Stanwell Tops area, are breathtaking. And training means you don't have to worry about your BAC.

Dave

Jun 9, 2005, 7:27 am

#11

bers

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How easy is it to get a train to the airport down there (Albion Park/Illawarra Regional/Woollogong/Bruce - whatever you want to call it)? Strikes me as a nice way to get around the rather repetitive weekly Sydney to Melbourne commute.

Jun 9, 2005, 9:46 pm

#12

thadocta

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Quote:

Originally Posted by bers

Trains are hourly, from memory - http://www.cityrail.info/ - the airport is located adjacent to the railway station, and the terminal is directly across the road from the station, making for an easy transfer, even with luggage (and no airport link access fee!)

Dave

Last edited by thadocta; Jun 9, 2005 at 9:50 pm

Sep 27, 2005, 9:35 pm

#13

QF NB

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YWOL is doing quite well...

Quote:

CORPORATE and holiday travellers have propelled QantasLink past 5000 passengers since it launched the Wollongong to Melbourne service just over three months ago.

The airline celebrated its 5000th flyer on the route on Monday.

QantasLink has confirmed that the success means a new weekend service is likely to be added soon and flights to other destinations are also being investigated.

Head of commercial operations Elsa D'Alessio said the immediate focus was to consolidate the seven weekly return flights.

"On key days the passenger loads are very healthy and on other days they are lighter than anticipated," she said.

Sorry to bring back an old topic.. Good news that Wollongong is working but if like NM said some deal was struck with Bluescope (I think) make no wonder it's doing well.

I believe those destinations QF are looking at are BNE, OOL and NTL. I'd love to see a DH3 flight BNE-OOL (reinstated) -NTL-WOL or BNE-NTL-WOL and OOL-NTL-WOL (Put QFLINK flights on OOL-NTL the days JQ doesn't operate).