QantasLink RPT Flights to Barcaldine Airport Suspended Due to Poor State of Runway

The CQ News newspaper reported last week that the Barcaldine Regional Council recently identified issues with the surface of the main Runway 01/19 at Barcaldine Airport which has resulted in the suspension of QantasLink's three-times-per-week Regular Passenger Transport (RPT) services.

A Qantas engineer reportedly recently inspected the runway and as a result, QantasLink flights into Barcaldine Airport have been suspended since Friday 24 June.  Unconfirmed reports suggest that the amount of little stones being kicked up by the QantasLink Dash-8-Q400 prop-wash is even damaging the aircraft.

The Barcaldine Regional Council is reportedly working on a solution to the problem with the runway surface however, it is not expected to be rectified for around 3-4 weeks.  The Council has already swept the runway and even sent a vacuum truck over the surface in an attempt to remove the small stones.

The Council has, in the meantime, organised a bus to transport passengers from Barcaldine to Longreach to meet their QantasLink flights each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

It is possible that QantasLink flights may not resume to Barcaldine Airport until the main Runway 01/19 is completely re-surfaced.

All photos taken by 'AC'  ©