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Shane T was on the scene at Gladstone Airport on Thursday 15 March as QantasLink (Cobham Aviation) Boeing B717-200 VH-NXN touched down as QLK1712, to mark the return of QantasLink RPT jet services to Central Queensland.
VH-NXN arrived to a salute from two fire trucks, which gave the B717 a warm welcome as it taxied to its gate on the lower apron at Gladstone Airport.
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Shane reports that fanfare in the Gladstone Airport terminal for the B717's arrival was relatively low key, with only a small number of media personnel on location, as well as some balloons at Gate 3 where the B717 parked. There were no speeches from any officials of any sort, although there was a brief speech by a Public Relations person from Qantas at Brisbane Airport before the boarding call was announced.
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Passenger numbers disembarking at Gladstone Airport was fairly small with about a one-third load factor, however numbers were greater for the trip back to Brisbane.
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VH-NXN departed as QLK1713 to Brisbane about 10 minutes late at around 3:30pm. It later operated to Rockhampton and back to Brisbane as QLK1744/1745.
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Meanwhile, while waiting for the B717 to depart, Shane noticed the Qantas Lounge at Gladstone Airport is now open. Seemingly a very low key opening with little or no coverage in local media or on the Internet. Without authorised access, Shane did the best he could and took a sneaky photo as the door opened and closed!
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Shane did note though, that the Lounge does look nice and new and has a very modern feel. There appeared to be a bar in the centre of the lounge, and a variety of different seating arrangements around this.
Elsewhere at Gladstone Airport, Shane also spotted a couple of interesting General Aviation aircraft arriving on Thursday 15 March.
Nixon Communications Cessna 210 Centurion VH-NCG arrived from Dubbo and Melbourne.
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While Cessna 208 Caravan VH-LNI arrived from Caloundra. The 1998-build Caravan is owned by Aviation Tourism Australia and is based in the Whitsundays where it has previously been photographed with floats and full Hamilton Island titles.
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Thanks Shane!
looks nice the qf 717. i regularly holiday in Gladstone, so it'll be a nice change to use the B717-200 rather than the regular Dehavilland Dash 8 Q400
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