Australia’s regional airlines have been getting a lot of attention on our forums lately. Inspired by recent trip reports covering Fly Pelican and Regional Express, AFF member Bundy Bear recently reviewed their experience with another regional airline, Fly Corporate.
Based in Brisbane, Fly Corporate flies to seven regional destinations across Queensland and northern NSW. The airline operates a fleet of five Saab 340 and Metroliner turboprops. These aircraft seat 34 and 19 passengers respectively, making them ideal for shorter hops to regional centres.
After reading about a trip report about another Australian airline that most didn’t know about I thought I should add a quick report on another small local airline.
Fly Corporate have a fleet of SAAB340B and Metro 23 aircraft. The Fly Corporate schedule is geared towards residents of the smaller cities allowing them to catch and early morning flight and then depart Brisbane to arrive home at night.
This member flew from Brisbane to Coffs Harbour on a Friday afternoon. While there was no in-flight entertainment on board, the catering appears to be of a high standard for a short regional flight.
Once take off occurred the flight attendant came around to provide, cheese and biscuits, chips and a choice of wine or beer.
On the return flight, an early morning departure, breakfast including a croissant, biscuits, juice, tea and coffee was provided.
The flights seem to have been relatively uneventful, and flying conditions were smooth once at cruising altitude.
As well as offering reasonably reliable service, Fly Corporate has a well-maintained website that allows customers to check-in online.
Fly Corporate have a website that allows easy booking of flights, that doesn’t keep adding extras, I am looking at you Jetstar. Originally you could only use Visa/Mastercard but now you can use American Express. Web checkin is available at 24hours before flight, which is handy if you don’t have luggage and might miss the check in time for the flight.
Fly Corporate may not offer a frequent flyer program or airport lounges. But having now tried every possible way of travelling between Brisbane and Coffs Harbour, our member is confident that the direct flight is the way to go!
A 1 hour trip to Coffs from Brisbane is better than 3 hour trip via Sydney on Qantas, a 5 hour car trip, a 8 hour bus trip or an 6 hours overnight trip via train. I have done all options.
Fly Corporate also offers commercial flights from Brisbane to Tamworth, Armidale, Orange, Moree, Narrabri and Biloela.
Read Bundy Bear‘s full trip report HERE.
