Qantas, Alliance Airlines set up E190 base in Darwin

Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingsford Smith) is setting up a new E190 jet base at Darwin to service key QantasLink routes across Australia, as well as a new international passenger service from Darwin to Dili, the capital of Timor Leste.

At least four E190s will be based in Darwin, the airline announced. The Embraer jets – which have a five-hour range – are being deployed on Qantas’s network as part of a three-year deal with Alliance Airlines (QQ, Brisbane Int’l) to ramp up domestic flights and increase connections and schedules between smaller capital cities and regional centres.

“The size, range, and economics of the aircraft have opened up more flights on existing routes as well as new routes that wouldn’t be viable with larger aircraft, including three new domestic routes from Darwin to Canberra, Cairns, and Townsville,” the carrier said in a statement.

Qantas has been operating weekly flights between Darwin and Dili since February 2021 in partnership with the Australian government to maintain critical passenger and freight links with Timor-Leste. This service will now become a permanent commercial route with the E190 operating three flights per week, ramping up to five-weekly from July.

Meanwhile, all E190s operating as part of the Alliance Air deal will progressively be painted in QantasLink livery.

Unveiling the first E190 in the livery at Darwin Airport recently, Qantas Group Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce said the new base would secure more travel options from the Northern Territory: “As we prepare to welcome back international visitors, the E190s will make it easier to fly directly between Darwin and other popular tourist destinations including Alice Springs for central Australia, encouraging travellers to see more of Australia”.

“When we first introduced the E190 on our Darwin to Adelaide flights, we were able to double the number of flights we offered each day, giving customers more choice about when they travel. We look forward to providing this flexibility across other new and existing routes,” he added.

Qantas Group currently operates 18 routes from Darwin, Alice Springs, and Ayers Rock and connects Darwin directly to eight domestic destinations.

Meanwhile, Qantas has also announced it will extend the operation of its double daily Australia to London Heathrow flights via Darwin until June. This follows ongoing uncertainty around the reopening of the West Australian border and testing requirements for passengers transiting through Singapore Changi. When international travel recommenced in November but Western Australia remained closed, Qantas temporarily re-routed its Perth to London service via Darwin. The Perth to London service was scheduled to revert to Perth in April.