Qantas orders Seven More Q400s

[Ash W]

Originally Posted by Zac M

I have to disagree with most of you. If you ask me, the Dash 8 Q400 is an awesome aircraft. I find it to be very comfortable, there is plenty of leg room (I am over 6ft tall) and I find the seat wide enough. The angle of climb is comfortable, and it tends to handle turbulence very well.

For flights like CBR-SYD it is an ideal aircraft, it can operate at lower altitudes and can have a quicker turn around time.

The biggest issue is the lack of cabin baggage space. Q400's (BTW they are NOT called Dash 8's and Bombardier has never called the 400 a Dash) are very limited and only have a 105cm, 5KG limit. A 737 is 115 and 7KG. They also have a 20KG limit for check luggage and technicaly speaking frequent flyers are not allowed any extra. So really crap if your connecting to an international flight, or another domestic for that matter too.

The 400 is even worse in this regard than the 300's. Think of the number of people that have their bags checked in as premium hand luggage when boarding one.

Now compare to the jungle jets that Virgin Blue fly. Full sized overhead bins, full sized aisle, more comfortable, bigger seats etc etc etc.

[Jarden S]

The Manager of QantasLink back in 2000 wanted a big order for a large fleet 20+ of 717s to replace the BAE-146s but was knocked back by the board who eventually decided the Q400 was the best option. I wonder if he got his way and was allowed to have a bigger 717 fleet today we could have seen Qantaslink 717s on heaps more routes eg HBA-ADL, HBA-BNE, SYD-TSV, SYD-MCY, SYD-ROK, CBR-DRW, CBR-TSV etc as the 737-800 is a bit too big for a lot of domestic runs. While the 717 is the right sized aircraft for many routes.

[Ash W]

Originally Posted by Ash W

The biggest issue is the lack of cabin baggage space. Q400's (BTW they are NOT called Dash 8's and Bombardier has never called the 400 a Dash) are very limited and only have a 105cm, 5KG limit. A 737 is 115 and 7KG. They also have a 20KG limit for check luggage and technicaly speaking frequent flyers are not allowed any extra. So really crap if your connecting to an international flight, or another domestic for that matter too.

Gord, surprised no one corrected me. The Bombardiers now have a 7KG weight restriction, but still a 105cm bag, plus the checked bag limit is 23kg, except on some specific flights. Bottom line though it is still different to mainline jet services and is a real pain in the bum when you connect to elsewhere in the Qantas network, especially international. I also find it odd on the CBR-SYD flights which are mostly business oriented and people don't want the hassle of checked baggage. Hence like I said the explosion in premium hand luggage on these flights.

Speaking of premium hand luggage, as I ordinarily live in Canberra and use the Q400's and the Q300's before that a lot I have brought a carry on bag which meets the 105cm requirement.(most you will find in the shops will be 115cm). But on about half the flights I do it gets relegated to premium hand luggage, despite being 105cm and fitting in their test rig. It normally only weights 5KG too, so not over weight. Wonder what gives there?