Key Details

Date: 28th January 2023

Flight No: QF1768

Route: Cairns to Canberra

Aircraft: Boeing 717-200 (2 class config)

Cabin: Economy (Exit row)

The Route

The route between Cairns and Canberra is one of the least frequent routes out of Cairns Airport. It is an important one nonetheless providing a vital and convenient connection between North Queensland and the nation’s capital. The route is currently just operated by QantasLink who operate a daily Boeing 717-200 service in either direction with flight time taking around 3 hours and 10 minutes. The inbound flight to Cairns laves at 9.30am for a 12.40pm arrival whilst the outbound service leaves Cairns at 1.20pm for a 4.30pm arrival back into the nation’s capital.

With just one daily service which is well patronized by public servants, politicians and the business community you can generally expect to pay more for the convivence of the direct service as opposed to an indirect flight. Combining strong demand with no competition on this route you would rarely expect heavily discounted flights on this route with economy fares usually starting from $300 upwards. This route can be a good one to redeem with points if you can find a Qantas Classic Flight Award with both economy and business redemptions costing the same as they would for the other similar length flights which have much stronger competition and hence cheaper cash fares.

Checking in at Cairns Airport

On today’s flight out of Cairns I was not just checking in for the flight to Canberra but also all the way to Perth whereby I would be transiting in the nation’s capital. Cairns Airport check in hall is not quite as sophisticated as the major capital city airports with automated bag drop facilities although you can still use the self service kiosks to check in and print of bag tags. If travelling with checked luggage however you’ll still need to visit a manned counter to send it off.

Despite it being fairly busy at Cairns Airport this morning I was nonetheless served within only a few minutes and soon I was through to a rather busy security checkpoint that took around 10 minutes to clear. Unfortunately Cairns Airport hasn’t yet installed the latest CT scanners yet unlike many other major Australian airports so you will still need to remove laptops and other large electronic devices from your bags at the security screening checkpoint.

Seating in Economy Class

QantasLink operate two separate configurations for it’s fleet of Boeing 717-200 aircraft. The first comes in an all economy class 125 configuration whilst the version I am travelling on today has a total of 110 seats including 12 in Business Class with 98 in economy class. Compared to Qantas’s workhorse Boeing 737-800’s which have a cramped 30in seat pitch and the turboprops in QantasLink’s network the 717 seems surprisingly roomy. Configured in a 5 abreast 3-2 configuration the cabin seems roomier and airier and there is more leg space between rows.

Fortunately on this flight I was able to select an emergency exit row free of charge online immediately after booking this economy reward redemption which was a real bonus. On a comparable length flight I had taken on a Melbourne to Townsville service a week earlier such selection would have cost $65 albeit on the Embraer E-190. The moral of story is that it is always worth checking just in case as its not the first time I’ve been able to secure an emergency exit row seat free of charge!

Inflight Service and Food and Beverage

On today’s flight the in flight service can be described as being fairly decent overall but there could still be some avenues for improvement. The main service included one choice of a substantial snack including a 3 pack of hot pastries including a miniature pies, sausage rolls and quiche. Accompanying this was a main beverage service which consisted of tea, coffee, beer, wine and soft drinks with the crew also offering on several occasions small bottles of water. Considering it was a lunchtime flight and a significant duration of over 3 hours and nearly as long as a trans-continental service it would have been nice if a proper heat meal was served instead. After the main meal service further drinks could be ordered on request with the crew appearing happy to oblige.

In Flight Entertainment

QantasLink’s Boeing 717-200 aircraft don’t have in-screen entertainment screens like some of there Boeing 737 counterparts nor do they have external Wi-Fi access for your own use. Luckily they do however have the stream to your own device entertainment option whereby all you have to do is place your phone or tablet on flight mode then connect to the plane’s internal wifi network. Once connected there is a reasonable (although certainly not humongous) range of movies, tv shows, music and other content. Strangely though there did not appear to be inflight information and a moving map. Also available is the Qantas inflight magazine if you are a fan of some good old fashioned reading literature.

Arriving in Canberra

This afternoon’s flight landed into the nation’s capital on time as scheduled and fairly clear skies made for a rather pleasant landing and some great views coming into Canberra on this hot Saturday afternoon. After today’s flight I did not need to collect luggage as I was transferring to another Qantas service bound for Perth which you can read about here. Canberra Airport is a relatively large, modern and spacious terminal with excellent views of the tarmac and plenty of natural light which makes for a comfortable 3 hour transit. Just keep in mind though if you arriving late on a Saturday afternoon like i did most of the food and beverage outlets had either closed or were in the process of closing even in despite of there advertised hours suggesting otherwise. If you do decide to exit the terminal to get some fresh air getting back airside is also a breeze thanks to the latest CT scanners installed at the checkpoint.

Summing Up

Overall, today’s flight with QantasLink was a really good one and it is really refreshing to see that there is now a direct link between the nation’s capital and the North Queensland tourist hotspot of Cairns. QantasLink did a reasonably good job of covering all the right bases with the flight with a reasonably decent in-flight food and beverage service (albeit a hot meal would have been appreciated over a snack), the stream to your own device entertainment worked well and everything from scoring a free emergency exit row seat, a smooth check in and bag drop to the flight operating on time were also a bonus. The Boeing 717-200 is a relatively comfortable plane to fly on and its a great advantage that you can still fly on them here in Australia with Qantas!

Perhaps one downside of this flight can be its price which can be on the steeper side due to lack of competition on the route but the flipside of this is that it can make a great classic flight reward redemption with the same amount of points as for flights of similar durations on more competitive routes with cheaper cash fares.