With a large amount of activity in the lead-up to the peak summer holiday travel period, here is a summary of key service improvements across Qantas and Jetstar rolling out over the next two months.
In that time, the Group expects to carry more than 8 million people, with particularly strong leisure demand.
Both Qantas and Jetstar have ongoing sale activity, with discounted fares and more frequent flyer seat availability.
Below is a summary of upcoming developments across Qantas and Jetstar’s domestic and international operations.
QANTAS INTERNATIONAL
Qantas will start three new routes in December:
1. Flights resumed between Brisbane and Tokyo on 1 December, shifting from Narita Airport to the more centrally located Haneda Airport, with three return flights per week using its Airbus A330s.
2. Flights take off for the first time between Melbourne and Dallas Fort Worth on 3 December, with three return flights per week using its Boeing 787s. The new route adds to Qantas’ existing Sydney-Dallas Fort Worth route and offers connections to over 200 cities across North and South America with partner American Airlines.
3. The inaugural Sydney-Seoul flight takes off on 10 December, with four return flights per week using it The new route adds to Jetstar’s new Sydney-Seoul services, which started in November.
Additional flights are being added across the Tasman, with Sydney-Queenstown increasing from 10 return flights per week to 14 per week from mid-December.
An additional three return flights per week have been added between Sydney and Fiji for six weeks from mid-December.
Larger A330s will replace 737s on flights between Sydney and Bali from 5 December until 26 January 2023.
JETSTAR INTERNATIONAL
Three new Jetstar A321neo LR aircraft will start flying across December this year and January next year, in addition to the first A321neo LR that joined the fleet in August. These aircraft will initially operate on domestic routes and between Australia and Bali.
Jetstar has announced it will start direct flights between Sydney and Rarotonga in the Cook Islands for the first time. The first flight will take off on 29 June 2023, subject to government and regulatory approvals, with two return flights per week.
DOMESTIC
Qantas will resume seasonal flights in December to:
Adelaide-Hobart
Adelaide-Gold Coast
Canberra-Sunshine Coast
Canberra-Cairns
Brisbane-Launceston
Melbourne-Merimbula.
Given the strong demand for flights from Sydney to Cairns over the summer peak, Qantas will use its larger Airbus A330 aircraft on up to 19 return flights per week on the route in December and January, up from 11 per week using a 737 currently – a total increase of more than 11,000 seats over the period.
Domestically, Group capacity is at 95 percent of pre-COVID levels for the second quarter.
Qantas is today (Dec 2) launching a domestic sale with up to a 30 percent discount on fares across 100 domestic routes including $109 Melbourne-Launceston, $149 Adelaide-Hobart, $199 Cairns-Sydney and $269 Brisbane-Darwin. Selected travel dates are in June, July, August, and September.
