The Qantas Group is currently at around 80 pc of its pre-Covid international capacity levels, which has almost doubled in the past year
Qantas, the flag carrier of Australia, has announced another increase to its international capacity in view of more widebodied aircraft returning to its fleet. In a press statement, Qantas says that it will be plying the new aircraft or adding capacity to destinations including New York, Los Angeles, Johannesburg and Bali.
The Qantas Group is currently at around 80 pc of its pre-Covid international capacity levels, which has almost doubled in the past year. This is expected to reach 100 pc by March 2024, with this additional flying taking it beyond that level from July 2024 onwards.
Qantas says it has received three long-awaited Boeing 787s in recent months and is gradually able to return more of its Airbus A380s to service as they complete post-storage maintenance, which is enabling flying levels to steadily increase to meet strong travel demand.
On Sydney-Bali route, the airline will deploy larger Airbus A330 aircraft to replace daily Boeing 737 flights from October this year with more premium seats and fully-flat beds in Business Class.
On Sydney-Auckland-New York route, following the successful launch of the new route in June this year, flights will increase from four per week to daily from August 2024.
On Sydney-Johannesburg, for the first time Qantas A380s will operate to South Africa from July 2024, nearly doubling capacity during peak periods, while on Melbourne-Los Angeles, capacity will increase by around 20 pc with more A380 flights on the route from July 2024.
On Sydney-Los Angeles route, flights will increase from eight to nine per week from July 2024, operated with a mix of Boeing 787 and A380 aircraft. Tickets will be available to purchase from August 22 on airline website or through travel agents.
Cam Wallace
Qantas International CEO Cam Wallace says that the additional flying would help support the sustained demand for international travel and provide a boost to the tourism industry.
“Hundreds of thousands of extra seats on our network is great news for our customers planning their next overseas trip. We know our customers are looking for great value and this additional capacity will put more downward pressure on fares. The additional capacity will largely be made possible through our final two A380s returning to the Qantas fleet following heavy maintenance and cabin improvements,” says Wallace.
Today’s announcement follows the previously-announced 1 million seats being added to the airline’s network over the next year with new routes, larger aircraft and more flights to popular destinations.
The airline says that customers can use Covid-19 credits when booking Qantas flights. In June, Qantas launched an online ‘Find My Credit’ tool to help reunite customers with bookings dating back to 2020 that were cancelled due to sudden and repeat border closures. The travel expiry date for these credits has been extended, giving customers an extra 12 months to travel provided they book by December 31, 2023.
