Qantas is boosting its Hobart base with more pilots and cabin crew as it plans to add extra services from the Tasmanian capital to the mainland from March 2016.
The airline says there will be a extra 11 flights a week to Sydney and Melbourne, adding 10 pilot and 15 cabin crew positions to its Hobart base.
The flights, which represent an extra 2,420 seats a week, will be operated by QantasLink Boeing 717.
QantasLink chief executive John Gissing said the additional services would offer travellers more choice.
“Our new schedule offers more options for QantasLink flights throughout the day, with early morning flights delivering customers to Sydney or Melbourne early enough for a full day of business meetings,” Gissing said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Customers travelling to or from Qantas’ international destinations, such as Shanghai, Los Angeles, Tokyo and Johannesburg, will now have shorter connection times in Sydney and Melbourne.”
Qantas said the extra pilot and cabin crew positions would “almost double” the current workforce.
Tasmanian Premier and Minister for Tourism, Hospitality and Events Will Hodgman said Tasmania depended on “reliable and regular access” to support the local tourism industry.
“The additional flights and almost doubling of the workforce are an enormous vote of confidence in Tasmania’s thriving tourism industry, which is attracting a record number of visitors, and our strengthening economy,” Hodgman said in a statement.
Qantas’s two-class Boeing 717s have 12 business and 98 economy seats, while the single-class configuration has 125 economy seats.
The new schedule, which kicks in from March 8 2016, shows Qantas operating 13 return flights a week on the Sydney-Hobart route and 33 return services between Melbourne and Hobart.
