Review of Alliance Airlines flight from Port Macquarie to Brisbane in Economy

Firstly I want to just let you all know that this is my first flight report and that I do intend on improving as I get more experience.
So this flight was a very exciting one for me as this was my first ever flight on board a Fokker F70. A little background info on this service. Virgin Australia recently pulled out of the Brisbane to Port Macquarie sector due to the reduction of the ATR fleet. With that came the closure of the Brisbane ATR 72 base. As the sector was originally operated by the ATR 72 it meant that VA would have to end this service. Circa a month after the BNE ATR base closure was announced it was announced that this sector would be continuted by Virgin Australia but would be operated by Alliance Airlines. This meant that we would have two jet services to Port Macquarie but that thought was short lived with the announcement that the other jet operator Jetgo, was pulling out of their Melbourne to Port Macquarie sector due to low demand. The inaugral QQ flight to Port Macqaurie was on the 17th of July and I was there to see it first touchdown. So with that I knew I had to experience it and I am lucky enough to have to travel to Brisbane quite regularly. I am used to flying on ATR 72s but this is a fantastic change. So lets get into the details.
Airline: Alliance Airlines on behalf of Virgin Australia
Aircraft: Fokker F70
Rego: VH-JFB
Age: 23.3yrs
Departure: 1823L
Arrival: 1928L
Seat: 10G

So this flight being VA2982 is the Sunday evening flight. The daily flight to Brisbane departs at lunchtime and this was the only day that the flight was in the evening. Which I was somewhat dissapointed about but I didnt care that much as I was trying a new aircraft for the first time.
I left home at the usual time which is circa an hour and a half prior to departure giving me plenty of time to spare and even see the late afternoon VA and QF flights to Sydney.

A few grey clouds east of the field. Hopefully it makes for some bumps because we all love bumps :).

My boarding pass.

A VA ATR 72-600 (VH-VPJ) preparing for departure to Sydney operating flight VA1192.

Here she is! my ride to Brisbane.

The flight was delayed by only around 30mins or so. So boarding was called as soon as possible.

The first thing I noticed once I sat down was how comfortable the seats were. And the amount of legroom.

Boarding was very quick and I was one of the last people to board. I was originally given seat 3G but elected to move to 10G as the aircraft was only around 40% full. 10G does offer a good view of the wing.

As it was a night flight. I didnt take any photos outside the window until our descent into Brisbane. You can view the departure here: https://youtu.be/2oxqexUvqAw
The takeoff from runway 21 was uneventful but the climb was very very bumpy as we made a left hand turn to intercept our track and climbed to FL280. The flight time was due to be a very quick 56min which is very different to the ATR on this sector that flew it in 1hr 22min.
The food service was quick to begin due to the short flight time.

I decided to get up and take a pic of the lavatory and the cabin as this report wouldn't be a report with out those :)

As this pic shows. The flight was barely half full. I hope this inst the norm as It would be a shame if they had to cancel this service.

Not long after that we begun our descent into Brisbane. Here are a few bad quality shots of our arrival on the CG1A STAR.

The landing was uneventful with a low decel and no reverse. Note the spoilers are actually called "lift dumpers" on the Fokker 70/100 which can be seen in this pic. You can view the landing video here: https://youtu.be/jjyyf_GEdvo

We taxied to our arrival bay which was 49.

The engines were shutdown and everyone disembarked. I had to wait because I had to visit the flight deck. Its a thing that must happen on every flight for me :)

I had a nice chat with the crew and left them to finish their business and I disembarked and walked via the tarmac to the terminal. One last shot of JFB on bay 49 having finished her day of flying.

A few gates at the end of the concourse.

A few VA 737s at their bays.

All in all I was impressed by the service that Alliance Airliner provide on such a short flight. The seats are really good and comfortable. Legroom is bigger than the previous ATRs that VA provided on this route. The crew were quite friendly and accommodating. And I look forward to travelling on QQ on my next trip in January.

Thanks everyone for getting this far in the report hahaha I know it may not be a top notch report but as I stated at the beginning. This is my first every report. Feel free to leave a comment with any improvements that I can make to ensure my future reports are top notch.
My flight radar 24 log: https://my.flightradar24.com/zac77w
Cheers everyone
Zach Clark (clarkeyaviation)