Review of Qantas flight from Maroochydore to Melbourne in Economy

Introduction

Welcome back to this return flight from Maroochydore. Once again a direct flight, though this time flying on Qantas not Qantaslink.

A reminder of the routing…

Maroochydore Airport

We arrived at Maroochydore airport in a far calmer manner this time, with plenty of time to spare. The drop off area is very busy due to the terminal renovations which blocks off half of the drop off zone.

Check-in went very smoothly with only a 10 minute wait. Though for a tourist destination I was surprised to see two business counters open for check-in and only one economy counter. I think I saw only 1 passenger actually come through the business line while the economy line always had people waiting.

The boarding pass…

We headed to security which was a mess. The line for security ran all the way back to the check-in counters. There are only two security checkpoints and with four flights leaving at the same time it was chaos. We waited for 30 mins to get through to the terminal. 

We eventually made it through to discover most of the terminal is closed due to the renovations as well. Maroochydore is typically a small airport with a few cafes, shops and an outdoor bar which I enjoyed sitting at looking over the tarmac. Though these were all closed except for 2 cafes and a WH Smith convenience store.

With very little to do we took a seat and waited until it was nearly time to board.

We eventually made away down to our gate.

The departure gates are now all located in a temporary facility, which is essentially just a large shed…

Boarding commenced about 20 mins late with no explanation given. 

We boarded from the back…

The Flight - QF919

Today we were flying on a Boeing 737-800 which was 24 years old at the time of flying. Configured in a 3-3 layout in economy.

You could immediately tell the age of the aircraft when stepping onboard. The aircraft felt used and had the old fashioned small B737 windows.

It even had the old drop down screens which were only utilised for the safety briefing.

We pushed back not long after boarding, with a Virgin B737-800 to our right.

We took off not long after with a nice view over the coast.

Once we reached our cruising altitude the service commenced. 

The snack today was chicken and leek pies which I had alongside a beer.

Cheers!

It was a very uneventful flight and mostly cloudy so made for very little viewing outside…

The cabin mid-flight…

We made up all the delay on the ground in the air and began our descent on time. The clouds started to disperse a bit allowing for a bit more sight seeing.

And touchdown!

Can spot Emirates and Singapore Airlines A380's…

And a close-up of the EK A380.

The remainder of the trip was uneventful. Bags were picked up easily and we made our way back to the long term car park.

This brings this series to a close. Thanks everyone for reading!