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Australian Airlines Passenger Reviews and Australian Airlines Customer Trip Reports
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Australian Airlines by Andrew Wright
24 April 2006
CNS-KIX. The 767 looked a bit tattier than the Qantas 767 I had just flown up to CNS on, but that
was the only negative comparison. The young cabin crew were very helpful and friendly while
maiNtaining full professionalism. Food was excellent, chicken and field mushrooms or vegetable gratin
mains and perfect cold soba noodles with a soy and sesame dressing, strawberry cream bun and
wholemeal roll. Weiss ice cream bar for dessert. No IFE, but they showed movies and a very funny
Japanese mime game show on the cabin scReens. Cabin air was good and the single class meant that we
could sit at the front of the plane to minimise turbulent movement. An excellent flight and one that
exceeds those of their parent company (Qantas).
Australian Airlines by A Hall
24 April 2006
MEL-DPS. Its about a day after the annoucement by Qantas that Australian Airlines would be absorbed in the
next few months into the main QF airline and its leisure routes will be taken over by Jetstar.
Nevertheless the crew are as friendly and welcoming as ever. The flight is full and the all economy
seating is Qantas International standard, but without personal IFE. Take off was on time at 0840,
refresher towelettes were handed out, glasses of water, followed by brunch (choice of 2 dishes) and
a bar service. Wine service continued throughout the flight for those getting into the holiday
spirit. Our CSM was very friendly and chatted with us about her favourite places to eat in Bali.
Two movies were shown on the main screens, and over the middle of Australia the pilots announced
when we were passing Uluru (Ayers Rock) and ensured that everyone could have a look. It was such a
great atmosphere on board and was a great way to start the holiday. Sad to see Bali go to Jetstar
Australian Airlines by Hugues Martel
29 January 2006
SIN-DPS-SIN: The plane was an old 767 but the cabin was very clean. The
seats are comfortable with good legroom. The flight attendants are very
friendly and spend time to talk to the passengers. For this short
flight, a full hot meal was served (vegetarian on both flight) with
drinks. Request for an additional drink was granted with a smile.
Overall Australian Airlines was a very pleasant surprise for a “leisure“
airline and I will definitely fly them again if I have the chance.
Australian Airlines by Thomas Girke
27 January 2006
Sydney-Phuket. At just under AU$1000 return, including transfers
to/from Melbourne with QF, this was my second trip with AO and I find
the service to be superior than QF/BA economy. A full bar service was
provided, hot lunch with either chicken or vegetarian dish, followed by
ice-cream. Bar open throughout the flight and requests granted with a
smile. Two hours before landing on this nine hour flight a second hot
meal including a cheese pasta was served, following bar service. AO
utilise a fleet of 767's. No personal entertainment system but rather
large overhead screens positioned at bulkheads, no footrests, but a
reasonable pitch. Only drawback is that no FF points are earned on this
QF owned carrier. Highly recommended.
Australian Airlines by Mark Thomson
19 January 2006
CNS -SIN. First experience with AO and was generally very impressed. We completed other
long haul sectors during this same trip in economy with BA and QF and found the seat pitch with AO
to be the most generous. After circling SIN for some 45 mins waiting for thunderstorms to clear, an
aborted landing at SIN added some excitement and was dealt with by the crew safely and
professionally. Plenty of clear communication given to the cabin from the cockpit. Flight
attendants were genuinely friendly and worked hard. They really seemed to want to be there and to
actually enjoy their jobs. Not at one time did they do the famous "retreat" from the cabin that was
common to all FAs we encountered in the subsequent BA and QF flights. We only wish we could have
had the same AO aircraft and crew for the rest of our flights. We were unable to fly directly out
of BNE to SIN due to full flights and our late booking. Transiting through CNS and taking the AO
flight to SIN proved to be the best flight of our trip.
Australian Airlines by Richard Lawrence
5 December 2005
Melbourne - Bali . Good flight and service seats are on the small size
and the plane was a little stuffy at take off. Staff were freindly but
slow and tea and coffee came way too late. Overall they try hard and
around 7 out of 10.
Australian Airlines by J Barge
9 September 2005
Flew MEL-DPS with Australian last month and I thought the service was
sensational. The cabin crew worked tirelessly for 6 hours, with
complimentary wine, OJ, soft drinks, and the meal was business class-
like.
Australian Airlines by J Flynn
15 August 2005
Cairns - Singapore last week with Australian Airlines - the best Y class food I have
experienced. Crew were helpful and attentive and a very funky and casual uniform.
Only downside is lack of decent IFE. 2x4x2 seating means good window seats for
couples.
Australian Airlines by Guy Baxendale
29 June 2005
This was our first experience with Australian Airlines from SYD-CNS on 11 June 2005. We checked in
quite late, however, the queue moved fairly fast. Check in staff was excellent. Being Qantas Club
members we were able to use the Qantas Club Lounge prior to departure. We were told on that day we
were lucky to be able to use it as the aircraft was parked near the lounge, normally is would have
been quite a distance from the aircraft. We were also warned that no points accrued on the flight,
which we knew, however, given the low cost of the ticket we did not mind. We found the cabin crew to be
excellent with no attitude. Drinks offered regularly and the best hot breakfast I can recall for
economy class (omelette). The only gripe was the time it took to receive a cup on coffee after the
breakfast was served. The 767-300 aircraft was clean and well maintained. We arrived early into Cairns.
Much better that Qantas domestic over the same route, which we flew on three days later.
Australian Airlines by Jon Veel
4 June 2005
Singapore - Cairns 23rd May and return Cairns - Singapore via Darwin on 28th May.
Have taken this flight around a dozen times since Australian Airlines started on this route. The
cabin crew are consistently good and the meal and drinks service is fine for what, in theory at
least, is a "leisure" service.
My three gripes are as follows:
1) No FF points. Though its doubtful whether QF points are even worth collecting now, with their
recently revised awards.
2) Poor legroom. I am 6ft 5" and there is no business class and no full exit row seating on this
767-300 aircraft. The bulkhead seats, whilst having extra space at knee height and the advantage of
nobody reclining back into you have absolutely chronic foot space and force you to sit in a bolt
upright position. The only seats worth requesting are 35 AC and JK as they have about an extra 6" -
8" legroom due to the adjacent overwing exit.
3) Flight Timing. The Singapore - Cairns flight departs Singapore around 8:00PM and gets into Cairns
around 4:30AM local time (2:30AM Singapore time). Guaranteeing what should be a relatively painless
6Hr flight will cause lost sleep and jet lag for at least a day or two. i really dont understand why
the Cairns - Singapore flight cant leave about 5 Hrs earlier (around 9:00AM) and arrive back before
midnight allowing a reasonable nights sleep for both the pax and crew.
Australian Airlines by Rakesh Panchal
16 May 2005
Flew with Australian AIrlines on 2nd May fron Cairns to Singapore. Lengthy check in at Cairns
airport with only 2 desks open. Single class seating throughout the aircraft. No individual personal
inflight entertainment which was a little disappointing but strategically placed general cabin TVs.
Attentive crew, good food and ample drinks. All in all a good flight. However, cannot accrue
frequent flyer points on this airline which is annoying as I only flew with them as they were the
only direct airline between Cairns and Singapore. Rest of my flights were with BA/Qantas. As they
are part of the Qantas Group, they should consider standardising their inflight services e.g.
amenity kits, IFE etc.
Australian Airlines by Karen Clark
7 February 2005
Perth - Bali on the 29th Jan return 3rd Feb. I have flown this route
several times using Air Paridise, Garuda, Qantas. I found Australian Airlines the best of this
bunch. The plane was clean, the staff friendly and efficient and the food excellent. Although this
is only a 3.5 hour flight a full meal with wine was served.
Australian Airlines by Isaac Seidl
30 January 2005
SYD-DPS-SIN) on November and quite enjoyed it. There
was a generous bar and wine service (second and third pass during the meal).
Water service was frequent and the crew were well turned out in their orange
casual uniforms designed by Weiss. During the meal they wear aprons with the
AO Aboriginal Kangaroo design (which can be purchased from the duty free
cart for A$35). They lay a table mat (a la Business Class) before setting
the tray (small size), the coffee cup is a café style cardboard cup, but
that allows a decent cup of coffee/tea. The Asian style hand towels were
very welcome too. During meals, there are two choices, one of which is
always vegetarian. This is one of the ways AO saves money - by reducing the
number of service items. Another example of this is the fact that they only
carry one type of beer (Victoria Bitter) and a fairly limited selection of
other drinks. On the shorter flight (DPS-SIN) only beer and wine, and not
mixed drinks, are available. Overall a good flight, although the stop in DPS adds 2.5 hours to the total
trip over a direct QF 744 flight. Also, AO do not offer FF points or status
credits, but they do allow QF lounge access for those entitled to it.
Perhaps more would fly with them if they gave a few points/credits?
Australian Airlines by J Nakanishi
18 August 2004
Recently I returned to Sydney via Cairns with Australian Airlines. The flight was reasonably full. I
have heard good stories about this airline. There was different choices of meals, both meat and
vegetarian, and 2nd service of wine. I was amazed by how efficient the crew were. They really do
treat their passenger's like business class. I was approached using my surname by the manager
shortly after take who gave me my arrival cards. Then again before landing explained my transit into
Sydney. I must say I was totally impressed, and will use this airline again.
Australian Airlines by Addy Chemler
13 April 2004
Just flew Australian Airlines on the 3rd of April between Sydney International and Melbourne
(Tullamarine) International. I got off at Melbourne but the plane continued to Kota Kinabalu. I'm a
Qantas club member, so got to enjoy the classy comforts of the Qantas Club, but they placed the
lounge on the other end of the terminal, so when they called the flight from the lounge the plane
was held up by my companion and myself. The plane itself is a re-decorated Qantas plane with the
Australian Airlines logo. The staff were warm, but when we checked in we found out that you do not earn
any frequent flyer points! I was rather disappointed after I was handed headphones and found out that half the plane had
headphones with the Qantas logo and the other half with the Australian Airlines, this shows to me a
lack of professionalism. I can only conclude by saying that Australian Airlines is an over-priced Ryan Air, and the reason is
that the ticket was bought for the same price as the Qantas domestic. Next time fly the real "flying
kangaroo", get the service, points and to your destination the fastest
Australian Airlines by Bruce Dale
5 March 2004
Delighted by Australian Airlines on recent trip from Cairns to Kota
Kinabalu in Malaysia. Because of the routing via Singapore there and back, we ended up flying 4
sectors on AO with a different crew each time. They were all excellent being both friendly and
efficient. Better still, they chose not to hide in the galley, but get out and interact with the
passengers. Laying a paper table cloth at meal times in economy was a nice, classy touch. They are
the "low cost" international arm of Qantas, but I found the style of cabin crew service to be
superior to Qantas. As mentioned in previous posts, the crew seemed to want to be there. I liked
the choice of tasty hot meal and free drinks. I loved it that every flight operated at least 10
minutes early. Wasn't keen on the limited inflight entertainment, simplified bar selection
and the smaller than average meal portions. I was disappointed by the lack of Qantas Frequent Flyer
recognition and no lounge access. I found the low frills style service to be
friendly and classy.
Australian Airlines by Sasha Nikolas
5 January 2004
Australian Airlines last week to Cairns and Osaka and must commend the airline in providing a genuine service to its passengers. The aircraft was B767-300 and was
basically Qantas
Economy with little adjustments. Staff seemed very warm and welcoming and its true their is some
holiday spirit when flying this airline, I too hope it will sustain it. However
I would like to see
more entertainment options as it is somewhat of a long haul flight, PTV's would be
appreciated.
Australian Airlines by Xuess Wee
10 July 2003
Recently took it to Cairns and was surprised by the good services rendered by this young airline.
Certainly doing much better than it's parent - Qantas. Service was warm and the staff are always
smiling. Food was good (I wasn't expecting a choice), plane was new and clean - there seems to be a
vibrancy with this airline. Hope it will sustain it in the long run. Very pleasant impression.
Australian Airlines by T Highgate
7 February 2003
I
was very dubious about flying Australian Airlines. I have read many reports, good and
bad. For an airline that has only been in operation for 3 months I feel they are on a winner.
I was seated in a window exit row (preferred seat choice), so I was very happy with that. As
soon as all passengers had boarded the Cabin Manager introduced himself. Not so strange, but it was in a tone that made me feel "he" really wanted to be here
as well. Soon after staff approached me, apologised for interrupting me but made me aware of my
situation and responsibilities sitting at an emergency exit.
After take off there was a cold towel and water service, followed by the meal (2 choices, but be quick on the meat). I guess my only complaint
- there was no bar service before the meal, it
all came together, but at least I was offered a drink with my meal. Wine and water was offered again during the meal which was appreciated and the table was cleared in
appropriate time. Ex Australia they lay a table cloth, and place down the pre packaged utensils, salad, bread and main meal. This is actually
comparable to some J classes I have flown. Icecream followed which was very nice, mango or belgian chocolate. The second service however (I think they call refreshment), consisted of a black pre packaged box
containing inedible sushi and a hot curry bread thing. Coming home was a good flight. The service seemed the same but was served on a small tray, instead of table cloth.
Very professional crew, thorough safety, attentive service. Call bells all
attended to in extremely quickly - something rare these days. Only thing I could suggest is more inflight entertainment.
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