Qantas and Jetstar are gearing up for accelerated border openings and all employees will return to work by December 2021. Qantas will also launch new service between Sydney and Delhi, and resume flights to Singapore, Bangkok, Phuket, Johannesburg and Fiji.
On Friday (October 22, 2021), the Qantas Group announced that Qantas and Jetstar will ramp up operations as border openings accelerate. All employees of both carriers will return to work by December 2021, and Qantas will launch new service between Sydney and Delhi before Christmas, for the first time in nearly a decade (pending government approval). Flights from Sydney to Singapore, Bangkok, Phuket, Johannesburg and Fiji will resume ahead of schedule and Qantas will bring back two Airbus A380s earlier than planned. Additionally, the carrier is in discussions with Boeing to accelerate the delivery of three new Boeing 787 Dreamliners, which have been in storage for most of the pandemic.
In Friday’s announcement, Qantas Group’s CEO, Alan Joyce, said,
“Australians rolling up their sleeves means our planes and our people are getting back to work much earlier than we expected. This is the best news we’ve had in almost two years and it will make a massive difference to thousands of our people who finally get to fly again. We know that Australians are keen to get overseas and see friends and family or have a long awaited holiday, so bringing forward the restart of flights to these popular international destinations will give customers even more options to travel this summer.
“We’ve said for months that the key factor in ramping up international flying would be the quarantine requirement. The decision by the NSW Government to join many cities from around the world by removing quarantine for fully vaccinated travellers means we’re able to add these flights from Sydney much earlier than we would have otherwise. We hope that as vaccination rates in other states and territories increase, we’ll be able to restart more international flights out of their capital cities. In the meantime, Sydney is our gateway to the rest of the world.
“In recent weeks, sales on international flights to and from Sydney have outstripped sales on domestic flights, which shows how important certainty is to people when making travel plans. While these flights will initially be for Australians and their families, we expect tourists from Singapore, South Africa and India to take advantage of these flights once borders reopen to international visitors, which is great news for the industry. Given the strong ties between Australia and India, flights between Sydney and Delhi have been on our radar for some time, and we think there will be strong demand from family and friends wanting to reconnect once borders open.
“Our customers and crew love flying on our flagship A380s, so news that they are will be back flying to Los Angeles again from April next year will be very welcome. The Federal Government’s support to ensure our aircraft and people are ready to resume once borders reopen has been critical.”
The ramp up of operations follows the Federal and New South Wales governments confirmation that international borders would reopen from November 1st, 2021, and the decision by the NSW Government to remove quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated travelers. As previously mentioned, Qantas and Jetstar will bring back all team members in Australia and New Zealand who are currently stood down, including approximately 5,000 employees linked to domestic flying and 6,000 associated with international flying. By December, the Group’s 22,000 member workforce will return to work, which wasn’t expected until June 2022.
Qantas’ new service between Sydney and Delhi is scheduled to start on December 6, 2021, with three weekly A330 flights, increasing to daily service by the end of the year. Flights will initially operate until at least late March, as the carrier evaluates demand. Sydney-Delhi flights will operate via Darwin, with the return service from Delhi to Sydney operating directly. Today’s route announcement is in addition to routes currently on sale from Sydney to London and Los Angeles. Flights to Honolulu, Vancouver, Tokyo and new Zealand are still scheduled to start from mid-December, with additional destinations restarting in the new year.
Although Qantas expected their A380s to remain in long-term storage in the California desert until the end of 2023, two aircraft will be returned to service and will be deployed on the Los Angeles route from April 2022. One of the aircraft may arrive by the end of this year to assist with crew training ahead of the return to service. Three additional A380s are scheduled to return from mid-November 2022, with the remaining five to return by early 2024. Jetstar will also bring the remaining five of 11 Boeing 787-8s out of storage in Alice Springs over the coming months.
Domestically, Qantas and Jetstar are preparing to ramp up capacity between Melbourne and Sydney, and when the Victorian and NSW borders reopen, the carriers will operate up to 18 daily return flights, increasing to 37 by Christmas. Additional capacity will also be added on other routes to and from Sydney and Melbourne.
Source: Qantas