Review of Qantas flight Perth → Sydney in Economy

Australia Tour 2023 So Far!

Connecting in PERTH AIRPORT

Having gotten off the mammoth QF10, I had to clear immigration into Australia at Perth Airport, collect my bag and re-check the bag all in 3 hours. I wasn't sure how easy or difficult it would be doing this in Australia, I was expecting it to be like going into the USA and taking ages, but alas I was off the plane, stamped into Australia (with a big thank you to the Perth Immigration Team who gave my passport a stamp), acquired my red suitcase and had it rechecked in 70 minutes!

I did take a five minutes to exit the Terminal for some fresh air and to take in the fact I'd finally made it into Australia- I would not be in the mood for this when I get to Sydney that night!

Luckily for me, Qantas has all their flights in the same place as Terminal 3 and Terminal 4 are one facility. I just had to ensure I went to domestic departures and not international departures once I sent my bag off. It was time to get onward for Sydney Kingford-Smith!

Going through security was easy enough. It took me about 5 minutes to get through. Quite efficient.

I was very surprised to see my Boeing 787 Dreamliner had been joined by another special livery aircraft- the 1970s Retro Roo Boeing 737-800, which was operating a Melbourne-Perth service. It allowed for this amazing photo.

I went to a coffee shop which had a massive seating area by the window, which allowed me to chill out with the opportunity to snap away at some of the aircraft activity at Perth Airport that afternoon. 

Just after seeing my Dreamliner (VH-ZNJ) departing for Melbourne Airport continuing the QF9 service, the Airport was suddenly closed and all staff taken off the ramp as some severe storm weather moved in making it unsafe for the Airport workers to go out. There was lightning in the area, though I didn't see any. It caused a bit of delay time to various flights, including a 45 minute delay to my flight, which I was worried somewhat as I know Sydney Kingford-Smith has a strict curfew imposed by the city.

The airport was at a standstill. However the storm did pass and activity commenced. Our flight had to wait for the Melbourne bound Retro Roo Boeing 737-800 to vacate the stand before it was our turn, but I got a final look at the Retro Roo in case it proved tricky to snag again during my 2 week visit around Australia.

During the wait I had a wonder down a part of the domestic terminal that looked quite eerily deserted  with the bars and cafes in that area all shuttered up, though it made for this interesting photograph!

Eventually boarding began. We managed to all board and the crew closed the door for us to be heading off before the curfew would prevent us from taking off.

We made the departure slot with three minutes to spare!!!

Qantas QF652 (PER-SYD): Flying

I've done the iconic LA-NY flight on a Delta 757 (twice in one trip) as well as trying a "Trans-Con" service in Europe with Finnair from Helsinki to Tenerife, now lets see how the Australians handle "Coast to Coast" with a Qantas Boeing 737-800!

I did book this flight with the intention of flying an Airbus A330 on the PER-SYD, but a plane change occurred between me booking and me going on the trip. Changing flights to get an A330 wasn't possible, plus I had already built my trip plans up by then, so I didn't want to hassle.

My aircraft that day was Qantas Boeing 737-800 VH-XZB, named Mudgee. This aircraft was delivered brand new to Qantas in October 2012 and has continued to operate for the airline ever since. The aircraft features 12 business class seats and 162 economy class seats, it received this configuration to its cabin in November 2016. During the pandemic is was stored from March 21st 2020 to August 27th 2020 at Melbourne Avalon Airport as Australia enforced some of the strictest travel restrictions at the time.

We boarded and closed the door 3 minutes before we would be refused to leave in order to meet the strict curfew rules at Sydney Kingford-Smith, the crew did the announcements and safety demo alongside another airing of the Qantas safety video adjusted to suit the Boeing 737-800!

We taxied back and made our way over to the Runway for departure, the weather had really cleared up, so the issues in the Airport were a passing storm. We were mean to have departed at 15:20pm, but we left at 16:10pm local time.

We taxied over to Runway 03, we then powered out of Perth Airport on our "Coast-to-Coast" flight. We headed North over the town of Guilford before making a huge sweeping right turn to head Eastward passing around a place called "Midland". 

Our route that afternoon took us over Western Australia flying along the South coast of Australia. We then crossed over the sea (Great Australia Bright) before entering South Australia just north of Adelaide before flying into New South Wales and entering Sydney.

Pretty standard route for the "Trans-Con" Qantas route from Perth to Sydney. The afternoon section of the flight provided some nice views in between flying over cloud covered area!

A hot meal was offered by the crew on this flight, only one option which was this beef pasta dish. A cold salad was offered as the vegetarian option- not for me, sorry! I accompanied this with a can of Australian beer as well as a hot tea for a little later on. A water was handed out before the meal service.

Eventually as we powered through the last rays of daylight and the night fell as we came into South Australia and New South Wales.

Given the tight curfew, there was little hanging around to get into Sydney Kingford-Smith.

We flew North past Sydney before taking a right turn to the South over Carlingford. We made our final decent into Sydney Kingford-Smith coming in with the main Sydney city being visible to the left side of the plane. We landed on Runway 16R.

After taxiing over to the domestic terminal at Sydney Kingford-Smith. We arrived less than 5 minutes before 11pm, making us one of the final arrivals of the night for the Airport, talking about the "Knick of Time" as we say in the UK!!!

Once we parked up it was time to exit the plane. I was one of the last off the aircraft, but it allowed me to grab a quick cabin shot before leaving the aircraft. I made a short walk through the terminal building before finding my way through into the arrivals and baggage reclaim, where my bag was already spinning around the carousel. 

After that, it was a short walk to my hotel- which I found myself having to be diverted around as SYD officials decided they didn't want pedestrians using a particular route as it was very busy with cars and taxis as well as some of the roads around this part of SYD being worked on by construction workers.