Aussie Trip Report 2015 Part 2: Flying the Miners’ Express – Airnorth
The second part of the trip report will focus on some of the interesting flights connecting major Australian cities with various mining towns. I have been looking for interesting flights to take and Airnorth comes to my attention. My original flight is to take its flight from Perth to Darwin via Kununurra, but after looking at its schedule, I decide to go for a more exciting milk run from Karratha to Darwin via Port Hedland and Broome. The flight actually operates twice a week and is a circular route: Darwin-Broome-Karratha-Port Hedland-Broome-Darwin, and the stage length of each flight makes flying an EMB-170 tolerable. In addition, Qantas codeshares with Airnorth on that particular route, so it makes buying the ticket a bit easier, and if there is any irregular operation, I am at least more protected. From Perth to Karratha, I decide to pick a Qantas Link Fokker 100 flight operates by Network Aviation. Unfortunately, Network Aviation has painted many F100s into Qantas color now, so I don’t get to fly a more original aircraft. I think it is safe to say that I get a bit more excitement than I wish on this particular milk run.
Full album: http://s1213.photobucket.com/user/Ca...5/NTAdventures
October 9, 2015
QF 1624 Perth to Karratha Lv1240 Arr1440 Fokker 100 VH-NHK Operated by Network Aviation
I arrived Perth International airport about two hours prior to departure, and had a great chat with a cab driver, who has moved from Pittsburgh to Perth. Qantas operates a very large operation here in Perth, and the airport has already featured some of the most advanced check-in technology. Self-service is definitely the key here, and you even print out your own baggage tag. But as an Oneworld Emerald passenger, I headed straight to the priority line for a more personalized service. Most check-in agents here in Australia are very friendly and the agent was laughing when she saw my itinerary. She checked my bag all the way to Darwin and my request for an exit row seat was honored. She was even able to print out a boarding pass for the Airnorth flight, but no exit row on the EMB-170 flight.
Kiosk
Baggage dropoff point
We got a bus gate this afternoon and boarding began at 12:10pm. Our load was relatively light this afternoon, and the bus soon departed from the depot after they found every passenger. Our plane, VH-NHK, was parked at stand 502, and this Network Aviation plane has been repainted into Qantas’ livery.
This Fokker 100 looked great and the cabin, despite reflecting the design of a former era, was well maintained, and the seat pitch looked decent.
Entertainment for the flight – no audio/video but two QF magazines – one for QF link and one for QF mainline
Safety card
The second part of the trip report will focus on some of the interesting flights connecting major Australian cities with various mining towns. I have been looking for interesting flights to take and Airnorth comes to my attention. My original flight is to take its flight from Perth to Darwin via Kununurra, but after looking at its schedule, I decide to go for a more exciting milk run from Karratha to Darwin via Port Hedland and Broome. The flight actually operates twice a week and is a circular route: Darwin-Broome-Karratha-Port Hedland-Broome-Darwin, and the stage length of each flight makes flying an EMB-170 tolerable. In addition, Qantas codeshares with Airnorth on that particular route, so it makes buying the ticket a bit easier, and if there is any irregular operation, I am at least more protected. From Perth to Karratha, I decide to pick a Qantas Link Fokker 100 flight operates by Network Aviation. Unfortunately, Network Aviation has painted many F100s into Qantas color now, so I don’t get to fly a more original aircraft. I think it is safe to say that I get a bit more excitement than I wish on this particular milk run.
Full album: http://s1213.photobucket.com/user/Ca...5/NTAdventures
October 9, 2015
QF 1624 Perth to Karratha Lv1240 Arr1440 Fokker 100 VH-NHK Operated by Network Aviation
I arrived Perth International airport about two hours prior to departure, and had a great chat with a cab driver, who has moved from Pittsburgh to Perth. Qantas operates a very large operation here in Perth, and the airport has already featured some of the most advanced check-in technology. Self-service is definitely the key here, and you even print out your own baggage tag. But as an Oneworld Emerald passenger, I headed straight to the priority line for a more personalized service. Most check-in agents here in Australia are very friendly and the agent was laughing when she saw my itinerary. She checked my bag all the way to Darwin and my request for an exit row seat was honored. She was even able to print out a boarding pass for the Airnorth flight, but no exit row on the EMB-170 flight.
Kiosk
Baggage dropoff point
We got a bus gate this afternoon and boarding began at 12:10pm. Our load was relatively light this afternoon, and the bus soon departed from the depot after they found every passenger. Our plane, VH-NHK, was parked at stand 502, and this Network Aviation plane has been repainted into Qantas’ livery.
This Fokker 100 looked great and the cabin, despite reflecting the design of a former era, was well maintained, and the seat pitch looked decent.
Entertainment for the flight – no audio/video but two QF magazines – one for QF link and one for QF mainline
Safety card
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