Qantas will launch flights from Sydney to Broken Hill in far west NSW from April, challenging Rex on a route where the regional airline has held a monopoly for the past 18 years.

Starting on 8 April 2022, Qantas will operate two weekly flights from Sydney to Broken Hill on Mondays and Fridays. The services will be operated by QantasLink Bombardier Q300 aircraft with 50 Economy seats.

The new flights provide another option for Broken Hill residents travelling to the city, as well as people travelling to the town for work or a holiday. Broken Hill’s Mayor Tom Kennedy welcomed the announcement.

“I think the community will be very excited to see the arrival of Qantas and to see some competition in the local market. Air travel is of vital importance to our community for tourism, health, and education, and I’d like to thank Qantas for providing locals with more options and more flexibility by offering their services out of Broken Hill,” Kennedy said.

The new route to Broken Hill is also great news for Qantas Frequent Flyer members, who can now redeem their frequent flyer points to travel to and from the outback town. A Qantas Classic Flight Reward seat from Sydney to Broken Hill costs just 8,000 Qantas points + $28 in taxes & carrier charges one-way.

Qantas’ regular airfares on the route will start from $269 one-way, but the airline is currently offering sale fares for $189 each way until 21 February 2022 (or until sold out).

Rex fares on the Sydney-Broken Hill route start from $199 one-way.

Rex offers significantly more frequency between Sydney and Broken Hill, with 12 weekly services, although these flights all operate with one stop via Dubbo. The carrier also offers flights from Broken Hill to Adelaide and Mildura, with one-stop connections also available to Melbourne via Mildura.

In 2014, Rex threatened to withdraw services to Broken Hill after the local council proposed an increase to airport charges from $12 to $12.30 per passenger. But the regional airline clearly isn’t happy about Qantas encroaching on what it now considers to be its territory, with Rex Deputy Chairman John Sharp telling the ABC he believes this move by Qantas is retaliation for Rex starting jet services in competition with Qantas on capital city routes.

QantasLink CEO John Gissing responded by describing Rex as a “cockatoo airline”.

“Some people in aviation call them the cockatoo airline, lots of squawking. But sometimes you can’t work out what they’re actually on about,” Gissing said.

Rex has repeatedly attacked Qantas for launching flights on new regional routes over the past two years and complained loudly to the ACCC, even though the ACCC has so far rebuked most of Rex’s accusations. Rex also put out a series of media releases in mid-2021 announcing the company was appointing lawyers to pursue possible legal remedies against what it called “predatory and anti-competitive behaviour” by Qantas, although there have been no further announcements on this subject since last August.

Broken Hill is well worth a visit

For an outback town, Broken Hill punches well above its weight!

One local attraction is the Palace Hotel of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert fame.

You can also visit the Royal Flying Doctor Service visitor centre & museum, located right next to the airport.

There are some fun day trips available too, like to the nearby “ghost town” of Silverton where you’ll find the Mad Max Museum. In the evening, you can also take advantage of the clear night skies and enjoy an outback astronomy experience.

As an alternative to flying, NSW TrainLink offers a weekly Xplorer train service from Sydney to Broken Hill. This is a nice journey, albeit quite a long one which normally requires a stay of either 1 or 8 nights in Broken Hill due to the limited timetable.

With Qantas now flying twice weekly, this opens up more options if you’d just like to take the train in one direction. There are also coach services available from Dubbo, Mildura and Adelaide to Broken Hill.

Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: Qantas to fly to Broken Hill

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include aviation, economics & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.