A Two-and-a-Half-Hour Flight in Outback Queensland Now Costs Almost as Much as Flying to Singapore

A return economy flight from Brisbane to Longreach, a two-and-a-half-hour hop within Queensland, is now costing some travellers $1,386 even when booked five days ahead — almost the same as a last-minute Qantas fare to Auckland, and only $450 less than a last-minute budget fare all the way to Singapore. Customers say Qantas isn't being fair dinkum about the price, and the government review that was meant to look at it has just been pushed back a year.

What one outback route is actually costing flyers

The fare that triggered the latest round of complaints is a Brisbane-Longreach return booked five days in advance for $1,386, reported by the ABC on Thursday. That is more than most travellers pay per hour of flight time to cross an ocean. One customer pointed out the number sat almost level with a last-minute QantasLink fare to Auckland, New Zealand, and only about $450 above a last-minute budget-airline fare to Singapore, a journey several times the distance.

Why the fare is this high

Qantas is the only airline flying the Longreach-Brisbane route, and that matters because Queensland's regional network isn't uniformly regulated. QantasLink and Rex operate under government-contracted, fare-capped agreements on some regional Queensland routes, but only seven of the state's more than 40 regional routes, serving 23 towns between them, actually carry a fare subsidy. Longreach-Brisbane sits outside that protected group, which leaves Qantas free to set the price the market will bear on a route where outback residents often have no practical alternative to flying.

What the government promised, and why it's been delayed a year

A review into the contracts covering regional Queensland's air carriers was due to report in November this year. It has now been pushed back a full year, with no new findings expected until November 2027. Passengers and some regional advocates are calling on the state and federal governments to expand the subsidy scheme beyond its current seven routes, or at minimum force Qantas to publish how a fare on an unprotected route like Longreach is actually calculated. Neither has happened yet, and won't be examined again for another twelve months at the earliest.

What this means if you're planning a trip through regional Australia

If your route isn't one of the seven subsidised ones, book as far ahead as the trip allows — the complaint here is about a fare booked only five days out, and outback routes with a single operator rarely get cheaper closer to departure. Weigh the fare against connecting through a regional hub or hiring a car for the final leg; on a monopoly route, the airline has no competitive pressure to keep the walk-up price down. And if you're choosing between a short domestic hop and a longer international trip for a similar price, you're not imagining the gap — the numbers above are real.

When the maths favours the longer trip

We hear a version of this from Australian trekkers every season: once a short domestic flight starts costing close to what a long-haul fare does, some travellers stop comparing distance and start comparing what the trip actually delivers. A Brisbane-Longreach return buys two and a half hours each way over red dirt; similar money gets a long-haul flight most of the way to a country where an entire trek, permits included, can run for a fraction of a second domestic booking. It's not a criticism of outback Queensland — it's the same arithmetic that sends a growing number of Australians looking at Everest Base Camp or Annapurna instead.

Is Longreach the only overpriced outback route in Queensland?

It's the one drawing complaints this week, but it's not unique — of Queensland's 40-plus regional routes, only seven carry a government fare subsidy, so the other 30-plus are priced however the operator running them decides.

Can the government force Qantas to lower the fare?

Not directly under current arrangements. Fare caps only apply on the seven subsidised routes; on the rest, including Longreach-Brisbane, Qantas sets its own price. The delayed review was the mechanism that might have changed that, and it won't report until November 2027.

Does booking further ahead actually help on these routes?

Sometimes, but not reliably — the complaint that triggered this story was about a fare booked five days out, which is earlier than most leisure travellers book. On a single-operator route, there's no guarantee an earlier booking beats a later one the way it usually does on competitive routes.

Cover photo: Alexandra May via Pexels (Pexels License). Section photos: Troy Tumbin via Pexels (Pexels licence); Damien Leyden via Pexels (Pexels licence); Anna Shvets via Pexels (Pexels licence); Tauseef Kazmi via Pexels (Pexels licence); Josh Withers via Pexels (Pexels licence).