This is part two of the Tim84 family holiday to Tasmania, which (as I mentioned in the last report) was special as we got to fly the brand new Qantas A220s both ways, and it also happened to be bubby Tim84's first ever plane rides.
Departure
Sadly the week flew by too quickly and soon it was time to leave all that glorious nature and great food behind, and return to Melbourne.
We dropped our rental car off at the airport, checked in quickly at the designated Qantas counters, and cleared security very quickly.
As mentioned previously, Hobart airport is quite small and there were two other flights leaving at the same time (from memory, a Qantas 738 to Sydney and a Jetstar A320 to Brissy) and this made for an incredibly packed airside area. Mrs Tim84 and I were quietly panicking until bub Tim84 spotted a very small - but very welcome - play area next to Gate 4 (handy tip for any families flying via Hobart) which helped us kill half an hour before boarding.
Pretty soon the announcement was made and we were literally the first on board! Again, the crew were so lovely and welcoming and made bub Tim84 feel so at home and happy.
I managed to snap a pretty low quality photo of our specially branded A220 taking us home.
Flight
The boarding process was smooth and again, the crew came by to help with the infant seatbelt and check in with us.
Flight loads both ways were at least 90% full - this is a pretty competitive route with VA and JQ also offering frequent services on the Melbourne - Hobart route, but it seems Qantas has absolutely no issues with filling up both their B717 and A220s on this short hop across the Bass Strait.
Seat pitch was a snug 30 inches but I absolutely love the new Recaro BL3710 seats on the A220s with the adjustable headrests. Free and fast wi fi is available on a gate to gate basis, as is inflight streaming via the Qantas entertainment app, Given the short duration of the flight, I did not get a chance to check out the entertainment options beyond a cursory look but it seemed like there was plenty of movie and tv options to keep you entertained on flights far longer than this!
Take off was a little bumpy as is to be expected from Hobart but we were soon in the air with magnificent views of a snow capped kunanyi / Mt Wellington as we departed.
As soon as the seatbelt sign was switched off, a hot refreshment / light lunch was served - which stunned me, given the shortness of the flight! Today we were offered either beef sausage rolls or a vegetarian pastry, together with complimentary non alcoholic beverages as well. I went with the sausage rolls and they were pretty damn good.
Within minutes of the lunch service wrapping up, the captain came on to let us know weather conditions in Melbourne and that we had commenced our descent. Again, the crew came around to proactively check in on us and prepare the cabin for landing. We had stunning views over Port Phillip Bay and the CBD as we descended into Melbourne airport.
Again, we touched down right on time at 1.20pm and taxied straight to the gate.
We waited until we were the last ones off the plane and the crew came around to help us with our carry on items and make sure we were OK to disembark.
Arrival
Whilst the airside portion of the Qantas terminal had been refurbished, the baggage reclaim and arrival hall was still the same, tired old layout.
We waited for almost 30 minutes before our bags finally came out, at which point bub Tim84 was almost ready to wreak havoc in the airport!
Thankfully we were able to exit quickly and made our way to the long term carpark where we had left our car, to begin the journey home.
Nice review of the short QantasLink A220! I'm glad I flew the QF 717 when I did last year and if I do get to go back to Australia, I will certainly look forward to a QF A220 flight! 😀
Thanks! Yes, the B717s have a certain nostalgia about them (I did a separate flight report on them a few years back and actually thought the hard product was pretty decent - if somewhat dated), but the new A220s are just a step above, especially for a short hop across the Bass Strait.
QF domestic as a whole seems to be really upping their game given the last 12 months of really bad press!
Nice light meal on this 1h flight! So much better than anything you'd get in North America or Europe on a similar flight.
Yeah, 30" is the new 32" ....it used to be that 32" was the standard up until about 15 years ago and that's just gone down more and more and now 30" is pretty standard for short-haul (and 31" for long-haul). But with the better slimmer design of seats these days 30" is bearable. 32" feels downright luxurious on the rare times I've seen it in Economy anymore.
I thought it was odd that there was no Kangaroo on the wingtip on this aircraft but then I saw it's the special livery. Nice to catch that one!
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you! Yes, I was stunned to get a hot refreshment on this flight - especially given the actual flight time was just over an hour. Seems like QF is really trying to lift its domestic game and not look like it is 'cost cutting' any more. We also had numerous mentions via the PA and check in / gate agents that the flight was departing on time, which was quite a (non subtle) way to address the on time issues plaguing Qantas this year 😂