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Qantaslink Bombardier Dash 8-Q300
Booking the Flight & Cost of the Flight
This flight was booked through the Qantas application on my phone, paying full fare. An economy class flight between Adelaide and Mount Gambier on Qantas starts from $179, but I paid $228.78 for this flight. The Qantas app worked fairly well. Qantas has both a website and application for booking flights, both work fine, but I find the website to run somewhat slow in comparison to the phone application.
Operating Aircraft
The operating aircraft used was Bombardier Dash 8-Q300 VH-SBT, which carries the name Rockhampton. The aircraft was 21 years old at the time of this flight and has operated exclusively for Qantaslink. The 580th Bombardier Dash 8 built, it was delivered way back in February 2002 to Sunstate Airlines on behalf of Qantaslink, and operates today on behalf of Eastern Australia Airlines. The aircraft is powered by two Pratt & Whitney PW123E turboprop engines. The aircraft was very clean and well maintained, it had been well looked after.
Cabin
The cabin onboard this Bombardier Dash 8-Q300 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 2D, which is a window seat in the second row. The seating layout on the Qantaslink Bombardier Dash 8-Q300 is made up of 50 leather seats laid out in an all-economy class 2-2 configuration. Row 1 has two rear-facing seats, seats 1E and 1F. 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 still quite comfortable, and the legroom was more than enough. It was more comfortable than some of the jet aircraft that Qantas uses on domestic short-haul flights, such as their Boeing 737.
Inflight Customer Service
From memory, there were two Qantaslink flight attendants onboard the flight. They were very polite and ensured every passenger was served on this short hop. They kept us well-informed about a short delay incurred before takeoff and served us water during the deley as well.
Inflight Entertainment
Qantaslink provides the usual airline seat pocket contents on their Bombardier Dash 8-Q300; consisting of 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. Having no electronic inflight entertainment should not be too big of an issue on regional aircraft such as this one, and I was more interested on the view outside anyway.
Photos
The operating aircraft ready to fly in some quite dismal early-morning Adelaide winter weather
Visit to the Qantas Club in Adelaide Airport
Economy class seats
Legroom
Seat 2D
Interesting thing to note is the lack of window shades on this aircraft
Water offered during a slight delay prior to departure due to a fuel figure discrepancy in the paperwork
Taxiing to the runway
Takeoff from runway 23
Cabin
Inflight snack - orange and fig muffin
Seat 1A
Inflight at 17,000 feet with the Coorong below
Descending into Mount Gambier Airport
Landing on runway 18
Taxiing to the parking bay
Docked on bay 1
Flight QF2253 back to Adelaide is VH-SBT's next task
Final Verdict
This was a good flight onboard the Qantaslink Bombardier Dash 8-Q300, an aircraft I have been waiting to fly on. I have previously been booked on this plane but the flight was either cancelled by Qantas or an aircraft swap happened. The seat was fairly comfortable and the crew were good. I look forward to another regional flight on this aircraft again.
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