Qantas to Base Five Embraer E190s in Adelaide

Qantas has confirmed that it will base five Embraer E190 aircraft in Adelaide as the airline continues to boost domestic flights in response to growing leisure and corporate travel demand.

The E190s are 94-seat jets with a five-hour range which are being deployed on Qantas’ network as part of a three-year deal with Alliance Airlines.

The deal provides the national carrier with the capacity provided by up to 14 jet aircraft, depending on market conditions. Including the five E190s in Adelaide, the number of aircraft activated as part of the agreement is now eight.

Basing the five aircraft in Adelaide will bring an additional 200 jobs to the state, including pilots, cabin crew and engineers recruited by Alliance.

The aircraft will be painted in QantasLink livery and will help Qantas to grow its domestic capacity to 107 per cent of pre-COVID levels in FY22.

The decision allows Qantas to launch a new Adelaide-Gold Coast service in time for the winter school holidays.

From 25 June, South Australians will be able to fly direct to the Gold Coast with Qantas, with four return services per week, increasing to daily during school holiday peaks.

A number of additional routes from Adelaide are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

Qantas will also begin flying between Darwin and Canberra using E190 aircraft from 21 June.

The two new routes bring the total number Qantas and Jetstar have announced since the start of the pandemic to 38, responding to the fact more Australians are holidaying domestically.

The five E190 aircraft can carry almost 1 million additional passengers to-and-from Adelaide each year.

The use of E190s will also free up Qantas’ Boeing 737 aircraft to be redeployed across the domestic network. All Qantas domestic crew have returned to flying.

Qantas has also confirmed a number of capacity increases for South Australia, including an additional daily return flight from Adelaide to Sydney and Melbourne.

The national carrier will also more than double services between Adelaide and Mt Gambier from five to 12 flights per week from 1 July. The services are timed to make it possible for travellers to make same-day return trips in both directions.

Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce, said, “The E190 is a great aircraft for the Adelaide market, with its size, range and economics opening up a number of new destinations that wouldn’t be viable with the larger 737 aircraft. Instead of one or two flights a day with a larger aircraft, we can offer three or four flights a day on the E190, which gives customers a lot more choice about when they travel.

“We’re continuing to see really positive signs of sustained recovery, with strong travel demand and forward bookings expected to see our domestic capacity back above 100 per cent of pre-COVID levels in the coming months. That’s great progress when you consider we were as low as 20 per cent of our normal flying levels at the height of lockdown.

“The return to flying has huge flow on benefits, helping to boost tourism which is so vital to local economies and businesses around the country,” added Mr Joyce.

Qantas’ Fly Flexible policy offers customers who book flights before 31 July 2021 added flexibility with unlimited fee free date changes when travelling before 28 February 2022.

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