Airlines generally avoid serving a full meal on flights that are very short. When I fly short sectors on American Airlines the most I am given in first class is usually a drink and some nuts.
People paying for domestic first class in the USA or domestic business class in the rest of the world pay a substantial price premium over economy class. Due to this, I would expect a meal to be provided regardless of flight length.
QF1513 – Sydney to Canberra (SYD-CBR)
21 April 2017
Boeing 717-200 – VH-YQY
Seat: Business Class 1F
Departure: 08:15 Arrival: 09:15
I arrived at the gate just seconds before boarding was announced meaning I was the second person on board. The cabin crew member greeting me was particularly bubbly which is nice on an early morning departure.
Front Row Seating
It has been years since I flew on a Boeing 717 and it is notably different to the usual aircraft I travel on. Little things like the speakers overhead or the placement of the windows mark this as not originally a Boeing.
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- Which airline is this?
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- Leg room in row one
Business class seating is arranged in three rows of two and today there were several seats free making for a half full cabin.
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- Centre console
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- The toilet is on the left
Boarding was completed relatively quickly and the crew swung into the manual demonstration. They noted that Q-Streaming is available on this aircraft with over 200 hours of entertainment. Not sure how much I would get through on such a short flight, but nice to know!
Full Meal Service
This flight is 237km or as I mentioned in the title 147 miles meaning it is very short. A full meal service is offered and as soon as we were in the air the crew were out with the trolley. A single choice is offered and of course I took it.
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- Cloudy apple juice before departure
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- Here’s the food
Today’s breakfast is poached eggs with chorizo, mushrooms and kale. Everything is something that I quite like so I was pretty pleased with the offering.
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- Here’s the breakfast spread
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- Yummy yummy!
A lovely Greek yoghurt is on the tray as well and I found it to be deliciously sweet. The whole meal was exactly what I wanted and I attacked it with gusto. Just as well really as when I finished we were already descending to land.
Overall Thoughts
Guessed the airline yet? It is QantasLink who are the regional brand of Australia’s Qantas. They fly Boeing 717 and Dash 8 aircraft to smaller destinations within Australia’s states. The service between Sydney and the capital Canberra is served by jet aircraft a few times a day offering business class and a full meal.
I am impressed by the service on board. Interestingly, I think I was the only person eating – everyone else seemed to restrict themselves to a drink only. Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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SYD-CBR is also serviced by turboprop Dash-8 aircraft.
It is indeed. I deliberately chose the 717 as it had been ages since I’d been on one. Thanks for the comment!
I had a full meal on a short flight on Qatar Airways from Doha to Abu Dhabi as well. including a coffee service after meal. lol
That’s brilliant! I’ll have to try to give that a go sometime! Thanks for the comment!