Qantas Does Well at Skytrax Airline Awards, Virgin Australia... Not So Much

15th Jul 2016

Of the two biggest Australian carriers, Qantas and Virgin Australia, the former has a lot more to be happy about when it comes to Skytrax Airline Awards for this year, as its representatives walked out of Skyview Hall in London with three prizes, plus the fact that Qantas has been ranked number nine for the "Best Airline in the World".

Customers voting for the best airlines have decided that Virgin Australia did not merit any awards this year.

Qantas has won three awards, including: "Best Airline in the Australia-Pacific", "Best Premium Economy On-Board Catering" and "Best Airline Staff in the Region", while its low-budget partner Jetstar received the award for the "Best Low Cost Carrier in the Australia-Pacific".

Emirates has won the "World's Best Airline" by beating last year's winner Qatar Airways.

QantasLink Cancels Melbourne-Coffs Harbor and Sydney-Hervey Bay

Meanwhile, QantasLink will no longer operate routes between Melbourne and Coffs Harbour and Sydney and Hervey Bay. Both of these will be dropped at the beginning of August.

QantasLink will no longer operate Melbourne-Coffs Harbor as of 6th August, when it will fly the route for the last time. It's been operating this route once per week on Saturdays, using Boing 717 aircraft for it.

In a note to travel agents, QantasLink said that passengers who booked to travel after 6th August will be transferred onto services via Sydney.

QantasLink will also stop flying between Sydney and Hervey Bay. This route is scheduled to end on 7th August, with Qantas rebooking passengers to flights via Brisbane. QantasLink has been flying this route twice per week, on Saturdays and Sundays.

If they don't want to be rebooked via Sydney (for Melbourne-Coffs Harbor) or Brisbane (for Sydney-Hervey Bay), QantasLink is also offering its passengers the opportunity to change their flight to a new destination of their choosing, get a full refund for their ticket or a credit to use towards future travel with Qantas.

Travelers that still need to use these two routes can do so thanks to Tigerair Australia and Virgin Australia, which operate non-stop services between Melbourne and Coffs Harbor (Tigerair) and Sydney and Hervey Bay (Virgin).