Qantaslink is AirlineRatings.com’s Best Regional Airline for 2022 with new aircraft and new routes across the broad expanse of Australia. Qantaslink, which won the award in 2021, has grown significantly over the past two years despite COVID, supporting the country’s massive resource industry, particularly in Western Australia. AirlineRatings.com Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Thomas said that “Qantaslink is an outstanding operation and brings the safety and product of Qantas to the remotest corner of Australia. “At every touchpoint, it is a class operation and there is innovation – driven by isolation – everywhere,” Mr Thomas said. The airline had been a significant part of the parent Qantas’s expansion of the domestic network with over 50 new domestic routes added to the network. Qantas has expanded its three-year contract with Alliance Airlines, which provides QantasLink with capacity using Alliance’s Embraer E190 regional jet aircraft. The expanded agreement lifts the options under this deal from 14 aircraft to 18. Of these, eight are already in operation. The E190s (above) are painted in QantasLink livery and are part of Qantas growing its domestic capacity to at least 107 per cent of pre-COVID levels in FY22. Qantaslink in Perth has added more Airbus A320s (below) and Fokker 100s to its fleet which now number 11 and 18 respectively. That jet fleet supports Fly-in/Fly-Out (FIFO) workers working on resource projects throughout Western Australia. Qantaslink also has a fleet of 717s which are now based in the Eastern States after a long stint in Perth. These 717s will be replaced by Airbus A220s in 2024. Making up the roster of aircraft are 45 turboprop aircraft which have just been upgraded with a refreshed interior.

The airline has three 36-seat Q200s, 11 50-seat Q300s, and 31 74-seat Q400s. They operate on regional routes in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory, Tasmania, and South Australia.