QANTAS Link operates a fleet of nearly 100 aircraft on secondary routes and to small, regional airports around Australia. There are several airlines operating under the QANTAS Link brand. The Cairns to Darwin Service I’m taking today is operated by Alliance Airlines.

Routing

> ZRH LH Y FRA A319

> FRA AF C CDG E195

> CDG AF C SIN B77W

> SIN SQ C CNS A359

> CNS ZL Y ISA SF34

> ISA QF Y TSV DH8D

> TSV QF Y CNS DH8D

> CNS QF C DRW E190

> DRW QF C SYD B738

> SYD KE C ICN B781

> ICN KL C AMS B789

> AMS KL C FRA E175

> FRA EN Y BSL E190

Check-In

Exactly 24 hours before depature, I’m sitting on Nudey Beach (not a nudist beach) on Fitzroy Island, when I receive notification from QANTAS that my flight to Darwin is open for check-in. I’ve already selected my seat, making this one of the quickest online check-in experiences I’ve ever had – in just two clicks!

The next day I arrive at Cairns Airport at 09h15, ninety minutes before departure to Darwin. QANTAS checks in on rows 1 to 7. The entrance to the security checkpoint is at the far end of the departures concourse. There’s a bit of a queue, but with three 3D scanners simultaneously in operation, the process is swift.

QANTAS Club Lounge Cairns

Behind security I briefly browse through the shops before heading one floor up to the QANTAS Club Lounge. The signs in the terminal point to the Airline Lounges, plural, though I’m not sure there actually is another lounge here in Cairns. As I enter the QANTAS lounge, I’m greeted by the delectable smell of warm raisin bread toasting. I park my belongings at a seat by the window and then go and order myself a double shot flat white from the QANTAS barista.

QANTAS Business Class Boarding

At 10h15 I receive a message from QANTAS informing me of a delay. Our departure has moved from 10h45 to 11h05. Boarding should now start at 10h45 instead of 10h25. At 10h10 I watch the inbound from Darwin glide down onto runway 33 and make its way to gate 22. I slowly pack up my things and make my way to the gate, which I reach just as passengers in group 1 are called forward for boarding.

QANTAS Business Class Cabin & Seat

The last time I flew with a QANTAS Link E 190 was a year ago, flying in the opposite direction from Darwin to Cairns. Presumably, it was because of the ungodly time of departure early in the morning that I didn’t pay much attention to the cabin. In the light of day, it certainly looks attractive and a lot more spacious than the European interpretation of a Business Class product.

Alliance Airlines operates the E 190 in two configuration. On this bird there are nine seat on three rows in a 1+2 abreast configuration. However, there are other aircraft in the fleet with one extra seat on the port side. The seat is spacious and wide. Pitch is very good on row one and the seat also features adjustable headrests. My only complaint is that even in the upright position, the seatback reclines too far.

QANTAS Crew & Service

There are two crew on this flight. In this configuration the aircraft has a seating capacity of only 97. The young lady working the forward cabin is an interesting study. When she makes her announcements, she has a natural tendency for the pitch of her voice to go down towards the end of an utterance, which gives the impression of her being unmotivated or uninterested – even though she’s great and her interactions with passengers one-on-one are friendly.

We pushback and taxi to runway 33. The crew is intending to use the full length, which means we’ll have to backtrack for the last bit. However, there’s a bit of a hold up. First, we have to wait for one aircraft to depart ahead of us, and then a Virgin B 737 and a QANTAS Link aircraft arrive. And then something weird happens: outside I can hear the roar of something big. Initially, I think it must be an aircraft ahead of us. I check on Flight Radar 24 and see nothing. I look out just in time to see a Boeing C-17 Globemaster do a very low pass over the airport. After that, we enter the runway, backtrack to the end and immediately take-off at 11h25. Our flight time is two hours and fifteen minutes, so the crew expect us to be on the ground at 13h15. I try doing the maths in my head, but they somehow don’t add up, but I figure it’s just me and my jet lagged state or something…

QANTAS Business Class Meal – Lunch

There are two choices for lunch: one is a salad with everything but the kitchen sink, whereas the other is described by the crew as a chicken curry with rice. As I’m a sucker for Indian food and both options have meat, I go with the latter. The chicken is pretty revolting. It has an unpleasant rubbery texture. However, the gravy it is served in is rich and flavourful.

With the main course, the crew serve slices of sourdough bread. To drink I just have sparkling water. For dessert, there’s a ricotta cheesecake with orange, which is light and refreshing. The crew comes to clear my tray and inquires if there’s anything else I’d like, so I request a coffee. The service concludes with the crew handing out small pieces of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk which, I must confess, I demolish before I remember to take a photo.

Arrival in Darwin

I doze off for the rest of the flight and only come to when the aircraft is jostled about as we pass through a layer of fat clouds during the descent. We land at 13:39, and I still don’t get what’s going on with the time until I turn off the airplane mode on my iPhone and realise that Darwin is only thirty minutes behind Cairns instead of a full hour. It’s only just 13h09 here. We quickly disembark, I exit through arrivals and make a right turn towards my hotel.

Conclusion – QANTAS Link Business Class

Flying Business Class in Australia is so different (and nicer) to the experience you have in Europe. It makes you wonder what on earth the Australians visiting Europe must think when they end up sitting in Business Class on a KLM or Helvetic Embraer in what is, essentially, a, Economy Class seat. And on a flight of only two hours you mostly don’t even get a hot meal anymore in Europe nowadays.