QantasLink Cuts Gladstone Airport to Sydney Flights from end of August

The Gladstone Observer newspaper has broken the story that QantasLink's Dash-8-Q400 operated direct flights from Sydney to Gladstone Airport will be no more after August.

Flights were scaled back from eight to five per week in April this year, and with continuing low passenger numbers, QantasLink has now decided to axe the poorly performing route completely, with the final departure expected on Friday 29 August.

Gladstone's airport and tourism leaders supported the route but in the end it came down to passenger support.  Gladstone Airport Corporation had worked with QantasLink to support the service but in the end there just weren't enough passengers.

Passengers who booked on the service after August will be offered a refund or rebooking on another service.

QantasLink's Gladstone to Brisbane flights are not affected with all 52 direct flights to Brisbane retained in a move confirming Qantas's commitment to Gladstone.

It should also be noted that QantasLink currently also operates 2-3 additional flights between Gladstone and Sydney each week that appear to be closed Fly-in Fly-out (FIFO) charters.

File photos of QantasLink's first arrival into Gladstone from Sydney on Monday 4 March 2013 by Dash-8-Q400 Next Gen VH-LQH taken by Jamie C  ©