Airnorth launches Australia’s longest one-stop domestic flight from Perth to Cairns

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Airnorth launches Australia’s longest one-stop domestic flight from Perth to Cairns

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Airnorth | Official Website

By Sky Industry News

Apr 24, 2025

The regional airline Airnorth has initiated a new domestic service that spans from Perth to Alice Springs, continuing on to Cairns. This new route marks Australia's longest one-stop, single-flight transcontinental service, utilizing Embraer aircraft, specifically the E190, although the E170 may be substituted on occasion. The journey takes approximately 6 hours and 5 minutes, including a brief stop in Alice Springs.

As per ch-aviation's data, Airnorth operates a fleet of 12 aircraft. The fleet includes four 100-seat E190s, three 76-seat E170s, and five 30-seat E120s. All aircraft are configured for economy class only. The E190s, the newest addition to their fleet, are leased from Alliance Airlines and were originally delivered to different carriers, including JetBlue and Austria's Niki.

The service, inaugurated on April 14, augments Airnorth's existing operations in the Northern Territory, replacing some previously served routes by Qantas until recent years. The Alice Springs to Cairns segment had been unserved since 2020 following QantasLink's withdrawal.

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Flights between the three cities are scheduled on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Passengers from Perth depart for Alice Springs, then proceed to Cairns on flight TL361, with the reverse journey on flight TL362. Specific local departure and arrival times are set to allow for the necessary layovers and aircraft rotations at each location.

This venture is part of a wider list of domestic routes within Australia, including other long flights recorded from May to December according to data from Cirium Diio and OAG. Virgin Australia's charter flight between Brisbane and Karratha currently tops the list, although some may choose to exclude such operations from general lists of longest domestic routes.

Additionally, historical data over the last two decades indicate various other long domestic routes that have been served across Australia, driven largely by the energy and mineral industries. However, these do not surpass certain current routes in distance, highlighting the evolving nature of Australia's domestic flight landscape.