What an end: how a final Qantas flight's passengers ended up on a bus instead

The last Qantas flight from Melbourne to Albury was cancelled and replaced with a coach service on Sunday, March 1.

A Qantas spokesperson confirmed flight QF2046 was cancelled due to an "engineering issue", and, with no spare aircraft available, passengers were referred to a bus service to Albury instead.

Passenger Elene Di Fiore said, however, she was told she would be returning to Albury on a flight, not a bus.

"I paid for air travel, not a long bus ride," she said.

"This was only revealed after I had already dropped off my hire car and arrived at the airport, there was no clear warning that my only options to get home were by road."

While Qantas told The Border Mail it sent out several alerts to affected travellers, including a text message informing them of the bus replacement, Ms Di Fiore said she was informed via text the flight had been rebooked.

Ms Di Fiore opted to stay the night in Melbourne and fly to Albury via Sydney the following morning, rather than catch the bus replacement service that day as she could not be placed on a flight earlier.

Qantas reimbursed her $200 for accommodation and she was also given $30 in cash gift cards at the service desk to buy something to eat and drink.

Ms Di Fiore said she was out of pocket for her transport to and from the airport, and the accommodation she sourced herself came to more than the $200 reimbursed.

Ms Di Fiore is calling for Qantas to reinstate the direct flight from Melbourne to Albury and compensate customers who were affected.

"This is not so much about me chasing compensation," Ms Di Fiore told The Border Mail.

"This is about chasing something that is fair for our community, which is connectivity and knowing that we have a reliable service.

Border aircraft enthusiast Lyle Taylor said he was "devastated" that the final Q400 route was cancelled, and had planned to catch the flight from Melbourne and back again as a last hurrah with his favourite airline.

"I was up to catch the 4.45am bus to Melbourne for the last flight and I even had a T-shirt made," he said.

Despite being a loyal supporter of the Flying Kangaroo, Mr Taylor opted to fly to Sydney with Virgin Australia despite receiving a refund of $120 and 19,000 Qantas points.

Mr Taylor said the last Qantas flight from Melbourne to Wagga was also cancelled.

Passengers on this flight were told they could either wait in the airport for another flight to become available or catch the bus to Albury and make their own way from there.

A Qantas spokesperson confirmed flight QF2036 to Wagga was cancelled and customers were offered overnight accommodation and a recovery flight via Sydney the following day.

The spokesperson also confirmed some passengers did choose to make their own way home from Albury via the bus service.