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Where did I fly on this flight?
Qantaslink Bombardier Dash 8-Q200
Booking the Flight & Cost of the Flight
This flight was booked through the Qantas application on my phone using a mix of frequent flyer points and cash (8055 points + $60). An economy class fare from Canberra to Sydney on Qantas starts from $233, or $795 if there is a business class fare available on certain flights. The Qantas app worked well. Qantas has both a website and application for booking flights, both work fine, but I find the website to be slow compared to the phone application.
Operating Aircraft
The operating aircraft used was Bombardier Dash 8-Q200 VH-TQX, which carries the name Lord Howe Silvereye. The aircraft was 26 years old at the time of this flight and has had an interesting operational life. The 439th Bombardier Dash 8 built, it was built in 2006 and was originally bound for Malaysia's Pelangi Air (as 9M-PGA) but was not taken up by them. Instead it was used by Bombardier (as C-GHRI) from delivery in January 1997 to March 1997 where it went to Brazil with Tavaj Transportes Aereos Regulares (as PT-TVB), where the aircraft was from April 1997 to November 1999, before going to the United States of America with FSBU First Security Bank of Utah (as N439SD) where it remained until coming to Australia with Eastern Australia Airlines (later became Qantaslink) as VH-TQX in March 2000. The aircraft is powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PWC PWC123D turboprop engines. It did not seem like the aircraft had aged alot in its life; it was very clean and well maintained.
Cabin
The cabin onboard this Bombardier Dash 8-Q200 aircraft was nice and roomy. It was pretty clean and well maintained. I could not see any spare seats.
Seating
For this flight I selected seat 9A, which is a window seat in the back row. The seating layout on this Bombardier Dash 8-Q200 aircraft is comprised of 36 leather seats laid out in an all-economy class 2-2 configuration, except row 9 which has five seats altogether, but the middle seat is not sold as such. Each seat has a seat pitch of between 31 and 32 inches, as well as a width of 17 inches. I found the seat to be a little tight but quite comfortable, and the legroom was more than enough; not what you'd typically expect from an aircraft of this size. It was more comfortable than some of the jet aircraft used on domestic short-haul flights.
Inflight Customer Service
There was only one Qantaslink flight attendant onboard. He was very polite and happy and ensured every passenger was served on this very short hop. This is how a flight attendant should be on every flight. A happy and polite flight attendant gives off a very good impression of the airline. The flight crew were fantastic and were interested with my passion with this aircraft, and were more than happy for me to stay back and take photos of this aircraft in the cockpit and on the tarmac.
Inflight Entertainment
Qantaslink provides the standard seat pocket contents on their Bombardier Dash 8-Q200; the aircraft's safety card and inflight magazine. The airline does not provide any seatback or overhead TVs, Wi-Fi or streaming services. The magazine was pretty good, and the safety card was eye catching, and laid out in a very neat way with contents spaced apart evenly. Having no electronic inflight entertainment should not be too big of an issue on regional aircraft such as this one.
Photos
The operating aircraft taxiing to gate 20 after flight QF1425 from Sydney
View whilst waiting to step onboard
Economy class seats, notice the rear row of five seats together
Legroom
Seat 9A
Taxiing to the runway passing Canberra Airport's kangaroo sculptures lining the taxiway
Takeoff from runway 17
Cabin
Inflight snack - banana bread and tea / coffee / water
Inflight at 15,000 feet
Descending into Sydney Airport
Sydney CBD whilst on final approach
Landing on runway 16R
Docked on bay 19
Seat 1D
Cockpit
Photo with VH-TQX, curtesy of the captain
Closeup of VH-TQX while waiting on the tarmac for a plane to taxi out of a nearby bay
Next off, our baby Dashie will be off to the land where she is named after; Lord Howe Island, as flight QF2262
Final Verdict
This flight was originally meant to be flown by a Bombardier Dash 8-Q300, so I was quite ecstatic to learn I was going to ride on a Bombardier Dash 8-Q200; Qantaslink only have three of these in commercial service. I really enjoyed flying on this cool aircraft. It was comfortable and the flight crew were absolutely fantastic. I hope to travel to Lord Howe Island on this aircraft, it is the biggest aircraft to fly there.
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