I grew up around Coffs Harbour and frequently go back to visit my parents. Coffs Harbour is one of the major airports on the mid-north coast of NSW, so most flights I take there include a mix of locals (past and present), as well as tourists keen to explore the region.
As direct flights from Melbourne are limited to Tigerair, I usually fly with Virgin Australia via Sydney (or occasionally with Qantas on the same two-stop route), which was the case with this trip. What I like about booking with Virgin Australia is that you usually have options for both short or long waiting times in Sydney (in case you want to visit a lounge, for instance). So, in this case, I enjoyed a relatively short stopover of around one hour.
There are only three airlines that offer flights from Melbourne to Coffs Harbour: Qantas, Tigerair and Virgin Australia. I tend to stick with Virgin Australia unless I’m flexible with my schedule and can risk delays by flying direct with Tigerair. Mind you, after hearing that my colleague Angus Kidman’s Tigerair flight to Coffs Harbour was changed to a Virgin Australia one, I am tempted to look at those budget fares again.
If you're flying from another city to Coffs Harbour and have to stop in Sydney, any checked baggage should go straight through from your first departure point (Melbourne in my case). This means you don’t have to collect it in Sydney or deal with security, leaving you with more time to get to your gate and relax in Sydney Airport.
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A smooth flight from start to finish with ample leg room and on-time flights. It was a shame about the breakfast, though.
A smooth, stress-free flight back to Sydney on a Sunday night.
It seems that “happy holidays” is more than just something to say at Christmas, with cheery staff and a quiet flight.
Although I’m a regular flyer on budget airlines, this time I got what I paid for. This Tigerair experience was full of delays and chaos, and was an overall unpleasant experience.
It was all smooth sailing to Melbourne for New Year’s with Tigerair (though the same couldn't be said about the Sydney public transport system).
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