#32 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings.
176 reviews
I could pass up such an opportunity, whilst in Australia I had to fly the countries busiest route, Sydney-Melbourne.
The two metropolis are the largest cities in Australia and home to the largest bases for Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia.
Overall its the sixth busiest route in the World and the busiest route in the Oceania continent.
In 2022 alone, 6,989,000 passengers flew between the two cities.
On Friday 23rd February 2024, Qantas alone offers 35 direct flights in one day using Boeing 737-800, Jetstar offers a further 21 direct flights that day with the Airbus A320-family, whilst rival Virgin Australia and their Boeing 737-NG fleet offer 30 direct flights. REX Regional Express offers a further 8 direct flights on the same day using their new Boeing 737-800 operation.
Excluding any in-direct flights offered with a connection, this means there are as many as 94 flights departing Sydney Kingford-Smith and arriving into Melbourne Tullamarine in one day!
I fancied trying out Qantas Boeing 737-800 against Virgin Australia Boeing 737-800, so doing this identical and popular route seemed like a very good idea to me, so I made the bookings, the big day arrived and Qantas Boeing 737-800 is up first!
The flight I took with Qantas QF425 on November 2023 started out with a walk from the Ibis Budget at Sydney Kingford Smith to the domestic terminal where I entered via the arrivals which were on ground level, I then made my way up to departures and check in.
The walk takes about 10-20 minutes depending on the person and how familiarised you are with the route. I even passed a fence which overlooked the Qantas gates at the domestic terminal, showcasing various Qantas Boeing 737-800.
I was only travelling with hand baggage on this occasion, so I didn't require a check in service at the Airport except the online check in via the Qantas App, which was easy enough to navigate. I did manage to acquire a paper boarding pass as a back up to my E-Ticket.
It did not take long to get airside, but as soon as I was airside, I learned my flight was to be delayed. A delay due to it being late out of Melbourne Tullamarine. Whilst a lot of the Qantas flights early in the morning leave from their Sydney base, a few that leave towards the mid-morning are Melbourne based planes on their first flights of the day. So it is a bit of a mix as to whether you get a SYD or MEL based Qantas plane.
I went to the Gate area for my flight, to find that the flight ahead of me going to Melbourne was being operated by the 1970s "Retro Roo" Boeing 737-800, a little kick in the face there, but something that does happen.
I did however get to take this impressive shot of the Retro-Roo 737 with an Airbus A380-800 being towed behind it with the Qantas hangars in the background, notice that cheeky Jetstar Boeing 787-8 occupying the hangar.
Eventually my aircraft turned up in its 2010s era Qantas livery. It was Boeing 737-800 VH-VXI, built and delivered new to Qantas in May 2002, the aircraft has spent its entire flying life to date with the airline and it bares the name "Oodnadatta".
Boarding commenced a good 30 minutes after the plane arrived onto the gate, the crew were probably keen to get caught up as best they could on their delay.
We boarded, and I made my way over to Seat 21F, this Boeing 737-800 wasn't fitted with IFE Screens at the seat like the previous one I flew on from Perth to Sydney, but it did have IFE Screens in the overheads which folded down for the Safety Demo. I know Qantas has introduced a new Safety Video, but I personally think this 100 Years of Qantas is far better.
Despite the lack of personal IFE in favour of shared screens, I did find Qantas provided inflight magazines and power ports. I wasn't too worried about the lack of an IFE Screen on a one hour flight.
We pushed back from the gate and made our way to the departure runway for the domestic flights. Our flight had been due to leave SYD originally at 08:45am, but we were getting under way at 09:30am. Not ideal for anyone on a trip with a schedule, but I didn't find too problematic on my spotting trip.
We taxied to Runway 16L, which we subsequently departed from, we headed out over Botany Bay flying over the sea as we climbed out, once we cleared the bay a right turn was made and we flew over the Tasman Sea for a bit before returning to fly over southern Wollongong and Albion Park- which is home to the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS).
The flight time was just over 1 hour, once we passed Wollongong it was a straight flight path across New South Wales, passing the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) flying just south of Canberra, and across the State of Victoria.
European Legacy Airlines, prepare to be put to shame!
On this 1hr domestic flight by Qantas, the economy class passengers were provided with the usual bottle of water, a hot tea and some vegetarian pumpkin & carrot Fritters heated up in a box. I was surprised by the Fritters and found them quite enjoyable!
Overall quite a nice flight, the seat was comfortable enough, a charging point was featured in the seat, free drink and snack service was available. I didn't have to pay extra for seat selection on basic a standard seat and the flight went relatively smoothly apart from the 45 minute delay, which could happen to any flight, but at least it was less than an hour.
For our arrival into Melbourne Tullamarine, we flew in from the North of the city flying parallel to the city for a short while during our decent.
The flight made one last turn just as it passed North of Craigieburn, before flying straight into Runway 16. We then taxied past the main International Terminal facility before parking up on stand at Melbourne Airport's Terminal 1 which hosts the Qantas and QantasLink domestic flights, where I had flown out a few days before on the Boeing 717-200.
The best bit is that despite being 45 minutes late departing Sydney, we were only a mere 5 minutes behind our scheduled arrival time in Melbourne, which is some catching up!
I grabbed a last shot of the cabin and left the Boeing 737-800, this will likely be my last time flying a Qantas Boeing 737 as they are due to be mainly replaced by the Airbus A321-neo (specifically the A321-XLR) starting in 2025 and as I don't know if or when I'll next be in Australia, my next visit will see my flying on the airline's next generation of short-haul product.
Overall a solid flight in most areas, I had nothing serious to complain about. Now, next up and coming soon- let's see how Virgin Australia Boeing 737-800 fares up!
Overall a good experience. I can't complain about the experience aside from the 45 minute delay. Nothing wrong with basic and getting the job done on a one hour flight, the snack service provided was nice enough and better than other "Legacy Airlines" I've flown on!
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