An Airbus A380. More of the aircraft will return to service in 2025. Picture: Qantas
Qantas is adding more aircraft, a new destination and schedule changes to meet growing demand in its Asia-Pacific and US markets.
The airline says that from February 2025, it will start adding about 220,000 seats over 12 months due to the launch of a new Brisbane-Palau route, the return of two Airbus A380s and the arrival of more next-generation A220 aircraft for QantasLink.
Qantas says it will boost capacity to the United States by 13 per cent as more A380 Super Jumbos return from next August. The airline will reintroduce its Boeing 787 Dreamliner on its Brisbane to Los Angeles and Auckland services.
Qantas CEO Cam Wallace says the changes are “exciting”.
“We’re also looking forward to seeing more of our A380s return to the skies and offering more premium seats for customers to book to some of our popular international destinations,” he says.
“As part of our historic fleet renewal program, these changes are about having the right aircraft on the right route and responding to growing customer demand.
“One of the benefits of our dual brand strategy is the flexibility we have with our combined Qantas and Jetstar fleets,” Wallace says.
“Qantas launched flights to Seoul after the pandemic, and now that demand has normalised, it’s grown substantially as a leisure market, opening up a great opportunity for Jetstar to increase its frequencies and allow Qantas to redeploy its aircraft to other routes where we are seeing strong demand.”
IN OTHER NEWS:
- Qantas is adding Palau to its network with weekly Boeing 737 flights from Brisbane. The service (the ‘Palau Paradise Express’) has been contracted by the Federal Government. No specific date for the start of the service has been confirmed.
- QantasLink’s new A220 aircraft will make its international debut when flights between Darwin and Singapore starting on March 30, 2025. The 137-seat A220 will operate five times per week; QantasLink has taken delivery of the first four of 29 A220 jet aircraft which are replacing its older Boeing 717s.
- From June 14, 2025, Qantas will stop flying between Sydney and Seoul but Jetstar will increase flights from four per week to daily.
• On the US route, Melbourne-Dallas flights will increase from three to four per week as of February 6, 2025; Sydney-New York (via Auckland) flights to reduce from six to five per week as of February 6, Brisbane-Los Angeles to feature the Boeing 787 Dreamliner as of August 11; Sydney-Dallas to feature the A380 as of August 11;
• On the Pacific route: Brisbane-Auckland will feature a Boeing 787 with a 40 per cent increase in seats as of August 11; Brisbane-Noumea flights will resume from December 14, 2024, and increase from one to two per week using the Embraer E190 aircraft.
