The Qantas Group has delayed its international network restart, pushing for a resumption from October 2021.
Qantas Airbus A380 at London Heathrow – Image, Economy Class and Beyond.
With the airline’s international network badly hit due to tight immigration restrictions, both Qantas and Jetstar have been looking for ways to restart their networks. The two airlines are now planning to restart regular international passenger flights to most destinations from 31 October 2021 – a four-month extension from the previous estimate of July, which had been in place since mid-2020.
The new date should tie in with Australia’s COVID-19 vaccination programme to be “effectively complete”.
To aid travellers, Qantas is trialling both The CommonPass and IATA Travel Pass smartphone apps, as part of the use of digital health pass apps to help support the resumption of COVID-safe international travel.
Which network will grow when?
Qantas network
Qantas is planning to resume flights to 22 of its 25 pre-COVID international destinations including Los Angeles, London, Singapore and Johannesburg from 31 October 2021.
Only New York, Santiago and Osaka will not have direct flights in the first instance, with passengers being able to fly to these destinations under codeshare or oneworld arrangements with partner airlines.
Jetstar network
Jetstar plans to resume flights to all of its 13 international destinations. Frequencies will be adjusted in line with the projected recovery of international flying.
Trans-Tasman
Qantas and Jetstar are planning for a significant increase in flights to and from New Zealand from 1 July 2021.
The rise of the 787
When the network restart, the Boeing 787 will take front and centre of its international network whilst the Airbus A380 will have to wait until at least 2024 for traffic to grow to a state where the aircraft can be supported. As such, expect three class operations (business, premium economy and economy class seating), with no sign of first class for a while.
Patience is a virtue
It seems that Qantas Group is prepared to wait for things to improve locally, before ramping services back up. With the Group having the ability to respond to travel bubbles that may open, it’ll be a matter of how quickly – and safely services can resume.
Combined with debates on travel technology to assist passengers through these times, Qantas Group is preparing at its own pace for its network restart.
For now, the group is relying on domestic travel and patience to see it through.
ed to wait for things to improve locally, before ramping services back up. With the Group having the ability to respond to travel bubbles that may open, it’ll be a matter of how quickly – and safely services can resume.
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