I welcome everyone who is interested in flying and reading about flights!
Today I will tell you about a short domestic flight in Australia from the main city of Tasmania, Hobart, to the capital of Victoria, Melbourne. It took place just a week ago.
Flight statistics. Virgin Australia flight VA1323. Scheduled departure is 12.35, arrival is 13.55. Aircraft B-737-800. In fact, the departure took place with virtually no delay, the flight took 1 hour 2 minutes.
Background of the flight.
The ticket could be purchased at least six months, at least a week in advance before departure, the price does not change much due to the large selection of both airlines and departure times. I bought the ticket two months before the flight only because I was building a whole chain of flights that took place in August 2024. And if he had chosen the “wrong” time or airline, then in some place the chain would have been destroyed, which would have had very unpleasant consequences. How to choose the “right” time and airline? No way. Just rely on luck and none of the flights (shoulders) will be rescheduled or cancelled. As a result, three flights/legs were nevertheless rescheduled (including this one - the original departure time was 12.40), but the time was not critical (from several minutes to an hour), which did not affect the plans.
Virgin Australia is an Australian low-cost airline, therefore By purchasing only a ticket, I only bought the transfer of my body from point A to point B, which cost me the equivalent of approximately 5,900 rubles. Additional services - for an additional fee:
The same Qantas, the national carrier of Australia, asked for more than twice the amount for “all inclusive” for this flight. But I didn’t have luggage, and I couldn’t count on a full meal during an hour-long flight even from Qantas, so there was no point in overpaying for the brand. The only thing I additionally purchased was a seat. There weren't many remaining options offered on the airline's website. I chose 27A. And please note - this will be important in the future - that the last row on the right is already completely occupied:
After the purchase, my reservation was updated:
In addition, a confirmation email was received. About a month later they sent a notification that, as I wrote above, the departure time had changed by 5 minutes. They asked me to confirm that I agree with the changes and blah blah blah. Confirmed.
What is the departure point like.
As is tradition, I will walk through the departure point. Tasmania is very diverse in its nature and is not at all similar to continental Australia. There is an explanation for this - once upon a time it was part of Antarctica and, having broken away from it, it began to approach another continent. Those. Geologically, Tasmania has Antarctic rather than Australian roots. As a result, it absorbed both the characteristics of the middle zone, say, Russia, both pieces of the tropics, and who knows what else.
The beach at Wineglass buy, where, despite the water temperature at this time of year being 10 degrees Celsius, I still dived . The water is crystal clear and very salty:
Pastures and cultivated land:
Forests indistinguishable from Russian ones:
Coastline in Tasman National Park:
Hobart is a very, very cozy town. People there live a calm and self-sufficient life, and hares run through the streets, just like our cats:
Road to the airport.
In Tasmania in general and in Hobart in particular, I traveled in a rented car, and used it to get to the airport, which is located quite far from the capital of Tasmania. The path from Hobart passes through the Tasman Bridge, an unusually built bridge when viewed from afar and from the side:
Then the road goes along the suburbs of Warrain and Mornington, located to the right of the highway:
The highway is two-lane, allowing high speed traffic, but with warning signs informing about the possible appearance of local fauna on the road. The corpses of crushed Tasmanian devils on local roads are a common sight.
I approach the turnoff to the airport:
I enter the territory airport:
I follow the signs where I need to leave the car:
I leave the car in the parking lot where they accept it from me , and head to the terminal. Rental car parking:
Hobart Airport
Currently, almost the entire area adjacent to the terminal is fenced or for repair or reconstruction:
Then the path to the terminal runs along the perimeter of the fenced space:
From public transport, the airport and the city are connected by a high-speed bus called SkyBus:
Even on the trash cans there is a reminder to instead of taking a detour, reduce speed when marsupials appear on the roads :
Entrance to the departure hall:
The terminal building is one-story:
I enter the terminal. Looking to the left - the side empty of passengers. Here are the windows of car rental offices, a toilet, kiosks for purchasing tickets for a high-speed bus, a baggage claim area, and also, judging by the information board, the arrivals area. But I’ll tell you a secret - there is no arrivals area on this side; in fact, it is located on the right side and mixed with the departures area, separated from each other immediately before the exit to the terminal by a glass partition. The design of the benches looked like an interesting solution - a huge mass of wood, in which concavities corresponding to the outline of the body were hollowed out for the back seat:
On these benches there are some where representatives of the local animal world perched forever:
In addition, they occupied a luggage cart, looting suitcases and bags:
This installation, like the massive benches, was installed on small wheels - for a reason unknown to me. Possibly to reinstall the scenery and refresh the design of the terminal.
SkyBus ticketing area:
Toilets:
Car rental offices:
But all these benches, toilets and offices were not particularly in demand. But on the right, real life was in full swing. Here there were check-in counters and self-check-in kiosks - for those who needed them:
First there were Virgin Australia counters, then Jetstar, and the Qantas counter completed the row:
I registered on the site in about a day, I uploaded my boarding pass to Vallet phone number:
But since I love all kinds of confirmation papers, I decided to get a paper boarding pass. First I went to the front desk. But since there was no luggage, I was sent to the self-check-in kiosk. I printed out my ticket:
I arrived about four hours in advance, allowing time for possible traffic jams, returning the car, and procedures at the airport. But these procedures at Australian airports regarding domestic flights are carried out quickly and you can safely appear at the airport an hour before departure. On the board for the near future there were flights to only three cities, but each with 3-4 flights:
There was nothing else to do in this hall, to go outside because I didn’t want the weather, so I headed to the departure area for inspection:
At the exit from the inspection area there was a box with questionnaires for tourists. Standing on another glass box filled with Tasmanian apples:
Eh, about the quality and taste of food in Australia. They are divine there! As for Tasmania, they are doubly divine. There is no industry on the island at all - only agriculture, shipping and small-scale production of clothing and footwear, which makes the ecology of the island ideal. If Australia proudly declares on every product package that it is “made from ... percent of ingredients grown/produced in Australia,” then Tasmania writes the same, but instead of Australia it includes itself.
The departure hall was full of passengers:
Wherever you visit Australian airports (and I have been to Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and Hobart), all departure areas are arranged approximately the same - it is one continuous food court. By and large, passengers do not need to bother themselves with eating before leaving home or taking food with them, which is typical at Russian airports, where lunch for a family can cover a quarter of the expenses of the entire vacation. In Australia, prices at airports are the same as in the city. And for Australian salaries, this is not only affordable, it is the norm.
There was even a bar available. Before the flight, you can drink not only beer, but also something stronger. But it’s clear that in the morning hours it was not in demand:
We ate not only at the tables but also on the seats:
I would have eaten too, but my hotel included a rich breakfast and my body had not yet shown new demands for food. Looked around:
In addition to the traditional seats in the waiting room, there were those of an original design, made of tree:
Looked around the shops. I noticed how much emphasis is placed on pride in local production, from chocolate and booze to clothing:
I found a place where I could charge my phone and sat down at the counter facing the window:
Charging him properly, moved to the first row of seats by the windows and watched the sad picture behind him. The term "dreary" refers to the weather - the rain has become heavier, the clouds have become extremely low. This suggested that after takeoff there would be no chance to view Tasmania from above through the window.
The number of passengers either decreased or increased, which depended on the arrival and departure of flights. For example, a Qantas B-737 arrived. There are no boarding bridges at Hobart Airport, and passengers ascend/descend not via a gangplank, but via a mobile installation in the form of a winding ramp. Do you think where these arriving passengers will go as they get off the plane:
They will go to the departure area and mingle with the departing passengers. Anyone who needs to exit will go through a special passage and exit to the registration area. By and large, a departing passenger can also take advantage of this privilege if, for example, he forgot something. But then he will have to go through inspection again to return to the gate area. The last crew to leave the plane was on board, and they were met on the ground by another - who would lead and service the plane on the return flight. I filmed their greetings and a short conversation:
Qantas took the passengers who arrived at the airport after me and flew away, while I was still waiting for my flight:
If the picture outside the window changed, it was of the same type - mostly Virgin Australia or Qantas planes arrived and departed. There was also a postal airbus:
I visited the toilet. At many airports in Australia I have encountered a contactless system for supplying water, soap and drying. It was the same in Hobart. It’s very convenient: you put your hands to the bottom edge of the mirror and from there, depending on the pictogram, it either pours, drips, or sprays a stream of air:
My plane landed at 11:58, arriving from Melbourne. I tracked its flight using flytradar, and came to the conclusion that my flight on it would probably take off without delay. The arriving passengers got out and a few minutes later they announced boarding for those departing. Queued up to board:
Boarding was carried out by scanning the boarding pass, without checking personal documents. This applies to domestic flights in Australia (when they do not require you to show your passport or ID - they are not looked at anywhere at all, the main document is your boarding pass). This logic allows us to conclude that any person can fly on the boarding pass, the main thing is that the name matches the gender, so as not to arouse suspicion. So, for some reason, the scan of my boarding pass on my phone didn’t work. I took out my paper boarding pass and applied it to the scanner - again it was rejected. Then the employee asked for my passport, scanned it in some machine and a new boarding pass was printed out for me, which worked. I'm boarding:
If the seats are located in the front part of the cabin, then you need to go along the ramp to the front door, if in the back, then to the back door of the plane and go up a small ramp , which I did, knowing that my seat was 27A:
On board, flight.
Climbing board, looked at the new boarding plane - just a minute! They changed my place! But I paid for it! Now my seat was seat 30F:
This was the last row, the same one for which seats were not available when purchasing a ticket. One good thing was that the new place was also by the window, but on the other side. I was one of the last passengers to board; the plane was already full. I noticed that someone was already sitting in my previously purchased, “legal” seat. But he did not find out and seek the truth for the sake of such a trifle - he sat down in a new place. Photo from the window of the last row:
By the way, an interesting solution for the control tower (it can be seen in the picture above) - it is not very high, but it was built on a natural hill.
Another Virgin Boeing arrived and parked to the right of ours:
The landing ended, the plane was pulled out of the parking lot by a tractor and turned left. During the pull-out, disembarkation from the neighboring Boeing was temporarily suspended - an employee in a yellow vest closed the exit with tape, then again allowed passengers to descend from the ramp. The suspension of disembarkation affected only the rear ramp; passengers continued to exit from the front ramp:
Let's taxi to the start. An interesting detail - at Hobart airport the taxiway goes only to the middle of the runway, then the plane taxis to the beginning of the runway along it:
We turn around at the beginning of the runway for the takeoff run:
Takeoff:
After takeoff, we fell into cumulus clouds, through the gaps of which the ground began to be visible. But on top there was a second layer of clouds - a solid white veil, which was broken through by the second stage:
The earth became completely invisible, so it was time to explore the space that surrounded the Virgin Australia passenger. The distance between the seats, of course, leaves much to be desired. The back of the seat in front screamed in its simplicity:
In the seat pocket there were safety instructions and an on-board menu. Prices for food are adequate:
If anyone -I wonder what the belt buckle looked like, I’ll answer - it looked standard. The photo is proof of this:
The panel above the head also looked normal:
The flight attendants left before they had even finished climbing with a cart to try to sell as much food as possible to passengers on a short flight:
Just before the descent, the continuous cover of clouds dissipated and the surface of the planet became visible. At this moment, the plane was approaching the continent - a small island, Mount Rodondo, and the land of Gippsland, where the southernmost point of mainland Australia is located, South Point - Cape Wilson, were visible:
Then they began to fly along the coast, not far from which windmills were visible, and then went deeper into the continent:
In During the descent, my gaze fell on the suburbs of Melbourne. If they hadn't changed my seat, I could have seen the center of Melbourne, which is worth visiting because of the many skyscrapers.
We sat down and taxied to the parking lot. As we turned, the skyscrapers of the central part of Melbourne appeared in the distance:
We approach the Virgin Australia terminal parking lot and stop. The weather in Melbourne, unlike Tasmania, is wonderful:
Behind our plane is the international departures terminal, where Qantas wide-body aircraft were parked and Jetstar:
After the flight
I leave the plane through the back door, along with other passengers I walk towards terminal:
I go inside the terminal, turn left and find myself in a mixed area - everything is the same as at Hobart airport - arriving and departing passengers are not separated:
Then I walk along the corridor past the shops and gates:
Turn the corridor to the right, then go down the escalator:
On the lower level is the baggage claim area, which I don't need, and the exit from the terminal:
Here I buy a ticket for SkyBus (fare to Southern Cross station is 23 AUD), leave the terminal and make it to the departing bus:
Ñ from the moment you get off the plane until the moment you go “free”, i.e. It only took 5 minutes to get out of the terminal and onto the bus. There were no delays anywhere, the signs were perfectly oriented, the logistics of movement, despite the mixing of passengers, were simple and clear.
On the road to the center of Melbourne:
Conclusion
Virgin Australia airline amazes with the efficiency of its actions, primarily in the organization of passenger boarding/disembarkation. And also - the absence of any delays, hiccups and other moments when from the outside it seems that nothing is happening and passengers are waiting for something. At Virgin, after the last passenger boards, the doors close and the plane begins to move. This was my third flight with this airline (I also plan to write a review about the first two) and on each of these flights the efficiency of the actions was striking.
Below is a screenshot of my flight trajectory:
P.S. After the flight, I received a standard mailing letter from the airline asking me to rate their services. This reminded me of the situation with the sudden replacement of my paid place and I decided to voice this situation to them. I wrote an email about this fact. A day later they answered me and promised to return 9 dollars to the card:
Thanks for reading and see you on new destinations, of which I had plenty in August of this year!
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