Qantas launched its Adelaide-Auckland service on Friday, October 31. Photo / Simon Casson
John Weekes flies Adelaide to Auckland on Qantas’ new direct service.
Departure airport experience: Adelaide Airport has an integrated terminal and is close to the city, about 6km from downtown.
It’s bright and mostly user-friendly, relaxed and orderly, much like the city itself.
I stayed at the friendly Atura airport hotel. I’d recommend checking in to the Atura before 9pm so you can get a meal in the restaurant rather than room service.
At the terminal, after grabbing a boarding pass and checking in luggage, you go through security.
The ticket I had provided access to the Qantas lounge. There was a decent spread for the early morning passengers – eggs, sausages and also fruit and cereal. Then we went through Customs, and another security check, before reaching the gate.
Seat: 1F in business class on the Boeing 737-800. Right up the front, there was lots of legroom. I caught some shut-eye in the big seats. In business class, there are three rows, each with four seats. As a narrowbody, the 737 has one aisle.
Passengers: The bloke next to me on the way back wasn’t much of a conversationalist.
But on the flight over from Auckland, my rowmate was a very extroverted IT professional from Adelaide. He said the new Auckland-Adelaide direct Qantas service saved him many hours and he visited New Zealand frequently for work.
It should be mentioned Air New Zealand already flies AKL-ADL but my pal was a regular Qantas customer on various routes and favoured using them for his Auckland trips.
We also talked, as you tend to do when hitting it off with someone on a flight, about a whole lot more. His wife was seated on the other side of the aisle from him. One of the other Kiwis on board joked that she probably chose that seat so she wouldn’t have to listen to her husband for the whole flight.
The flight over had a fair few empty seats but the return service was much busier.
Crew: The pilot told us the twinjet’s auxiliary power unit (APU) wasn’t serviceable so that meant some minor alterations to the aircraft’s usual operation. Take-off was delayed about 15 minutes because apparently one of the suppliers or maintenance teams installed the wrong size refuse bin. But a decent northerly helped speed things up as we reached the eastern Tasman and flew down beside Northland before a smooth landing.
Food and drink: Champagne was offered at the start. For food, starters were either sourdough bread with butter or prosciutto, rocket and parmesan with balsamic dressing. For mains, I chose angus beef with red wine jus, mashed potatoes, carrots and green beans.
Entertainment: The flight had wi-fi of decent quality and activated easily with a device on Airplane Mode. With the in-flight entertainment system I didn’t have much joy and considered raw-dogging.
The guy next to me was using his phone and seemed to have success with the Qantas Entertainment app, which the airline says has more than 2500 hours of movies, TV shows and other content.
The best bit: Being part of a special occasion with the first direct Qantas Auckland to Adelaide flight in 18 years.
The worst bit: Mildly officious security at Adelaide and the repeat screenings, with belts off and liquids, even small bottles, needing to be extracted from cabin luggage.
Overall: If you have friends or family in Adelaide, you now have fewer excuses not to visit. The airport’s proximity to the city and the ease of getting around the state capital will be a pleasant surprise to many.
The Herald travelled courtesy of Qantas and the South Australian Tourism Commission.
John Weekes is a business journalist covering aviation. He has previously covered consumer affairs, crime, politics and courts.