Flight 3K161 from Changi Airport touched down in Broome shortly before 2:15pm local time on Tuesday after a flight time of around four hours. The return service will operate twice per week until October, resuming in April 2025, and will add around 13,000 seats per year between the two cities.

In a survey of 1,500 people conducted between 31 May and 4 June, 50 per cent said government should support low-cost carriers to “enable a competitive market and to keep air travel accessible to more Australians”, with 27 per cent opposed and 23 per cent undecided.

The mid-life aircraft, to be sourced from an unnamed international carrier, will enter service from the end of the 2024 calendar year, bringing QantasLink’s total Q400 fleet to 45. Each will have 78 seats, compared to 74 for QantasLink’s existing Q400s, 50 on its Q300s and 36 on its Q200s.

Functioning as a tag to the Taiwanese carrier’s existing Melbourne–Taipei service, the A350-900 flights, which will operate every day except Monday and Saturday, are expected to add more than 3,000 seats per week between Melbourne and Auckland in time for the summer holiday period.