QantasLink will add three new seasonal routes to Cooma and Albury in NSW for this year’s winter ski season.
The Qantas subsidiary will fly from Sydney and Brisbane to Cooma from 1 July until 26 September 2021. During the same period, QantasLink will also add flights from Brisbane to Albury, supplementing existing flights from Sydney and Melbourne to Albury. All three of the new winter routes will be operated by Qantas Dash 8 Q400 aircraft with 74 Economy class seats.
The Brisbane-Albury and Sydney-Cooma flights will run three times per week, with Brisbane-Cooma running twice per week. The schedule is designed to make it easy for travellers heading away for a weekend ski trip.
Cooma’s airport, also known as Snowy Mountains Airport, is located between Cooma and Jindabyne in southern NSW. It’s the gateway to ski resorts including Thredbo, Perisher and Charlotte Pass. And from Albury, passengers can access the Falls Creek and Mt Hotham ski resorts. The routes will operate throughout the peak ski season and are targeted at holidaymakers heading to the ski slopes in Australia while international borders remain closed.
“We’re expecting these flights will be popular with skiers and snowboarders who might not have been able to hit the slopes through COVID last season in Australia or overseas,” QantasLink CEO John Gissing said.
“Our new direct flights to Cooma and Albury will mean ski enthusiasts can spend less time on the road and more time on the mountain,” added Mr Gissing.
Rex currently flies on Mondays and Fridays between Sydney and Cooma, but will cease flights from the end of March. Rex announced two weeks ago that it was withdrawing from five Australian towns including Cooma, if certain federal government subsidies weren’t extended beyond March, in retaliation against Qantas launching flights on some of its other regional routes.
Following that Rex announcement, Mr Gissing said his airline would “be reviewing our network and consider whether we can offer services on any of the routes that Rex is threatening to pull out of.”
New QantasLink schedules to Cooma & Albury
The Sydney-Cooma flights will run on Thursdays, Fridays & Sundays to the following schedule:
- QF2183 Sydney 17:05 – Cooma 18:05 (Thursdays/Fridays) or Sydney 16:25 – Cooma 17:25 (Sundays)
- QF2184 Cooma 18:30 – Sydney 19:30 (Thursdays/Fridays) or Cooma 17:50 – Sydney 18:50 (Sundays)
Brisbane-Albury also runs on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays:
- QF2385 Brisbane 09:40 – Albury 12:15
- QF2386 Albury 12:40 – Brisbane 15:00
Brisbane-Cooma will operate on Fridays and Sundays:
- QF2383 Brisbane 09:55 – Cooma 12:20
- QF2384 Cooma 12:50 – Brisbane 15:05
Seats start from $179 one-way for Sydney-Cooma, and $239 from Brisbane to Cooma or Albury. There are also Classic Flight Reward seats available for booking with Qantas points on the Brisbane flights. But Qantas does not appear to have released any reward seats yet between Sydney and Cooma.
For some reason, the Qantas website incorrectly shows Brisbane-Cooma flights as costing 20,300 Qantas points + $45 taxes & carrier charges each way. But the correct price of 12,000 Qantas points (plus $45 taxes) is displayed on the payment page.
Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: Qantas to fly to Cooma
