Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I last spoke in this chamber on 27 June this year about a very serious issue in my electorate on Lord Howe Island. I spoke about the potential loss of their air service. The people of Lord Howe Island depend on Qantas, their only carrier, to access the mainland for education and health care, and for its main industry, tourism, to continue. Qantas are retiring their smaller turboprop aircraft, which, of course, was a real worry for the people of Lord Howe Island.

The good news for the residents of Lord Howe Island and the 16,000 visitors who travel there every year is that the flights between Sydney and Lord Howe Island will continue as a partnership between Qantas and regional airline Skytrans. The national carrier will retire its Q200 aircraft, which currently operates the route, and Skytrans will take over that licence and run the route exclusively from 26 February 2026. Skytrans is an Australian based passenger airline that has been serving the cape Torres Strait region for more than 30 years. It has extensive experience providing air service to remote communities and islands.

Qantas and Skytrans are finalising a code share agreement that will commence when Skytrans starts operating those flights.

That will mean that both Lord Howe Island locals and tourists will be able to continue to book their flights to and from Lord Howe Island through Qantas. The Lord Howe Island Skytrans flights will continue to operate on the same schedule and frequency as QantasLink's operations have done to date, and Skytrans intends to operate these from the Qantas terminal 3 in Sydney airport, so there will be no impact to existing bookings.

QantasLink CEO Rachel Yangoyan has committed to maintaining services to the island. I very much welcome that commitment, and I will be watching it very closely. Skytrans has been awarded the licence to operate the regulated route until March 2030. The transition timeline means that until 29 March 2025 QantasLink will continue to operate its existing flights under its current licence. In a transitional period between 30 March 2025 and 25 February 2026, QantasLink will operate existing flights, sharing the regulated route with Skytrans. Skytrans pilots and crew might be doing training doing that transition period. From 26 February 2026 to March 2030, Skytrans will operate all the flights under its exclusive licence.