
With a top temperature of 11 degrees forecast this weekend for the ACT, no wonder many are heading north. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
With the official reopening of the Queensland border yesterday, flights to and from Brisbane and Canberra have recommenced, just in time for Canberrans wanting to escape the winter cold.
Four flights headed north from Canberra Airport yesterday for the first day of the border reopening, while a further two flights are scheduled today.
Canberrans travelling up north to either see family and friends for the first time in months or escape the southern winter will have to declare that they have not been in Victoria in the past 14-days days and agree to mandatory testing if they develop symptoms while in Queensland.
A one-way flight direct to Brisbane costs around $260 for a weekday trip, and almost $400 on weekends, according to Skyscanner.
The Queensland border remains shut to Victorians, as do the NSW and ACT borders following wide-spread community transmission in Melbourne.
Early bird arrivals in Queensland yesterday probably didn’t get the welcome they were expecting with the official opening commencing at midday so arrivals on the first flights out of the ACT couldn’t leave Brisbane Airport until noon struck.
The resumption of commercial flights into Queensland comes a week after regional airline FlyPelican started direct flights between Canberra and Ballina to help expand domestic travel options to sought-after destinations including Ballina, Byron Bay and Tweed Heads.
The service started with one flight a day, departing Canberra at 8:50 am and arriving at 11:10 am and the return flight will depart Ballina at noon and arrive in Canberra at 2:20 pm.
Flights will start from $229 one-way, according to Canberra Airport.
Janie McDonald we have to book asap
Natalie you're in luck!!!
Jason Malcolm YES!!!!!!! 🤗😍
Seriously... you are all a bunch of wingers.. fly or don’t fly.. good luck to all of you & your health.. Stay Safe.. 🧐🤷♂️
I'm interested to know how passenger seating is used on these flights. Every second seat, alternate rows....?
Sally Tregellas Wodzinska I was on a Dash-8 QANTAS flight at 4:50pm on Tuesday 30th June and every single seat was taken. I had booked the flight at 12:20pm that day but a week before the flight I got a message from QANTAS saying that the flight was cancelled and I would be moved to the 4:50pm flight. I can see why, so they can fill one plane instead of probably flying two half empty planes (which in the current environment is what I would expect and that was how my flight up was). You can take a ‘Fly Well’ kit which contains a face mask, wipes and sanitizer.
So no, they will fill the planes up to save some cash.
Sally Tregellas Wodzinska I flew to Brisbane today from Sydney on Qantas. Every single seat was taken.
The problem is that every single seat was taken. Don’t fly. Then Qantas may only fill half the seats and won’t charge as much. Keep flying and they’ll keep doing exactly what they are doing.
Gabriel Spacca i guess yhey cant afford to fly planes half capacity. Most ppl can't afford to pay twice as much. Think I'm grounded. Which is ok.
Gabriel Spacca "Then Qantas may only fill half the seats and won’t charge as much." ...that is not how it works.
Simon Wheaton How does it work?
I understand that Qantas believes its air filtration in-flight is fine enough to filter out all germs. I do hope so.
Qantas was charging $979 one way economy CBR-BNE for Saturday 11 July....not sure when the fares were $400!
Anandi Venkatesh absolutely disgusting. If you want people to fly, you need to price accordingly. And I would expect that they are cheaper than what they were before pandemic.
Anandi Venkatesh cheaper to drive..
The current prices are crazy. Hopefully it gets better.