Qantas has announced a raft of changes to its overseas network, including deploying its Airbus A220s on its first international route, as well as boosting capacity to North America by about 13%.
The airline says its network boost comes as more A220s enter its fleet, coupled with the return to service of its last two A380s. In total, the Oneworld carrier will add around 200,000 international seats across a 12-month period from February 2025.
The airline will launch five weekly flights between Darwin and Singapore with the A220, replacing the Embraer E190s that were originally meant to operate the route. It is also the A220’s first international route since its entry into Qantas’ fleet in February this year.
Qantas was to begin flying from Darwin to Singapore in November, but has pushed back the launch date to March, allowing it to utilise its A220s. Qantas currently has four A220s in its fleet, operating them on domestic and regional routes in Australia.
The airline also expects its remaining two A380s to return to service in 2025 after being parked during the pandemic.
This would allow Qantas to deploy the A380 on flights between Sydney and Dallas Fort-Worth from August 2025, after a hiatus of about five years.
The route is currently flown daily with Boeing 787-9s, and will see a mix of 787 and A380 flights from August next year.
In total, the airline’s North American
Qantas will stop flying between Sydney and Seoul Incheon from mid-June 2025, amid a change in travel demand patterns.
Instead, the airline will transfer operations to its low-cost unit Jetstar, which will increase its frequencies to the South Korean capital from four times a week to daily flights.
Qantas International chief Cam 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.”
OTHER NETWORK CHANGES FROM 2025
- Qantas will return its 787s on the Brisbane-Los Angeles route, operating it alongside the A330s that are currently deployed on the route.
- Flights between Melbourne and Dallas will be increased from three to four times a week from February
- Qantas will cut back on its frequencies between Sydney and New York, which are flown via Auckland currently.
- The 787 will for the first time be introduced on flights between Brisbane and Auckland, adding to a mix of 737s and A330s currently deployed on the route.
- Qantas will launch one weekly flight between Brisbane and Palau, marking its foray into the Pacific island nation. The 737 operations – supported by government funding – will launch “in the coming months”.
- The airline will resume flights to Noumea after suspending it in April, and will deploy the E190s on the twice-weekly operations.
