Trip Report | Townsville to Palm Island Shuttle Flight | Hinterland Aviation | Cessna 208 Caravan

Welcome to my Flight Review of Hinterland Aviation flying from Townsville to Palm Island, Queensland Australia. On this flight I take a 23minute hop over the Coral Sea off the coast of Townsville to the remote community of Palm Island. This regional flight is flown on a Cessna 208 Caravan aircraft by the friendly team at Hinterland Aviation. I hope you enjoy this flight review and vlog of my travels. Flight: OI725 Date of Travel: May 2021 Airline: Hinterland Aviation Route: Townsville to Palm Island Flight time: 23 minutes Hi and welcome back to the channel. You’re here with Travel with Carl for another flight review. This time I’m flying on a very small airline in far North Queensland, Australia. I’ll be taking Hinterland Aviation on board one of their Cessna 208 Caravan’s from Townsville across to the remote community on Palm Island. Join me as I fly out 60km offshore on this 23 minute flight to Palm Island. The flight with Hinterland aviation starts from their own small terminal within the General Aviation area of Townsville Airport. It’s located right across the road from the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Inside the terminal is a check in counter and a small waiting room and bathrooms where I waited for my flight. Prior to boarding a safety demonstration video is played in the waiting room, which runs the few passengers for our flight through all the necessary safety information of the single engined Cessna 208 Caravan. Once the safety briefing is complete, staff lead us out onto the tarmac for the short walk across to our waiting aircraft. On boarding there is a section at the back of the plane to put all carry on baggage before finding your seat in the cosy cabin of four rows laid out in a 1-2 configuration. The pilot is sitting up front getting the aircraft ready for departure as I board. With only a few people on board we were ready for departure pretty quickly. After the engine started up, the pilot gave the thumbs up to the ground crew who disconnected us from the ground and we made our taxi towards the runway. As we waited for our take off turn an Embraer 170 from Air North landed. Air North is another local airline I’m keen to review soon. Not surprisingly, there is no service on board this 23 minute hop across to Palm Island. Shortly after take off we cross the coast and then cruise pretty much at cloud level for the duration of the flight. We pass Magnetic Island to the right before heading straight for Palm Island. Cruising at about 3,000 ft, nowhere near the service ceiling of 25,000 ft, we aren’t far above the beautiful blue waters of the coral sea. It’s a smooth flight with very few bumps even when we pass through the clouds. Despite being a single engine aircraft, the solo seats are quite comfortable and there is enough legroom to not feel squished in. There is no toilet on board, but for a 23 minute flight, its really not needed. I read the inflight safety card and gaze out the window on what is a very short flight. Hinterland run a shuttle service between Townsville and Palm island each weekday with up to 12 flights a day. There are no weekend flights. It’s not long till we are on approach for landing into the small strip on Palm Island. It’s an amazing view looking over the pilot’s shoulder as the runway nears. On landing it’s a short taxi to the terminal where the aircraft remains running for a quick turnaround for the next flight. The terminal is pretty basic here, but has bathrooms, an open waiting room and staff who greet and send off each flight. As an aviation geek I really enjoyed the flight on such a small aircraft on a short route. On arrival I went for a walk into town along the rural road. There was some amazing viewpoints along the way looking back over the coast. Palm Island is not a tourist destination but I’m glad I visited and got to see the views and experience the community. Later that day I walked back to the airport for an early flight home. The staff were pretty flexible and allowed me to move to an earlier flight back to Townsville as there were open seats available. A one way ticket costs around $89 for a cheap ticket or $144 for flexible fares. On a dollar per km basis that is pretty expensive but when the alternative is a 3hour ferry ride, its pretty convenient. Due to the pandemic, Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council is requesting that all passengers assess their needs to travel to Palm Island unless vaccinated.