SINGAPORE, 24 August 2023: Qantas announced another increase to its international capacity on Monday ahead of additional aircraft returning to its fleet.
Destinations with more capacity include New York, Los Angeles, Johannesburg and Bali.
BALI BENEFITS
Qantas will use larger aircraft to support the strong demand for travel between Bali and Australia.
From late October, larger Airbus A330 aircraft will replace daily Boeing 737 flights with more premium seats and fully-flat beds in business class on flights from Bali to Sydney. Qantas’ A330 aircraft also offer a next-generation economy seat and the latest inflight entertainment technology. Qantas flies from Denpasar (Bali) and Jakarta to both Sydney and Melbourne.
The Qantas Group is currently at around 80% of its pre-Covid international capacity levels, almost doubling in the past year. This is expected to reach 100% by March 2024, with this additional flying taking it beyond that level from July 2024 onwards.
Qantas took delivery of three Boeing 787s in recent months and is gradually able to return more of its Airbus A380s to service as they complete post-storage maintenance, enabling flying levels to steadily increase to meet strong travel demand.
NEW FLYING
The national carrier is adding more than 250,000 seats* to and from Australia.
Sydney-Bali – larger Airbus A330 aircraft will replace daily Boeing 737 flights from October this year with more premium seats and fully-flat beds in Business Class.
Sydney-Auckland-New York – following the successful launch of the new route in June this year, flights will increase from four per week to daily from August 2024.
Sydney-Johannesburg – for the first time, Qantas A380s will operate to South Africa from July 2024, doubling capacity during peak periods.
Melbourne-Los Angeles – capacity will increase by around 20 per cent with more A380 flights from July 2024.
Sydney-Los Angeles – flights will increase from eight to nine per week from July 2024, operated with a mix of 787 and A380 aircraft.
PRESSURE ON FARES
Qantas International CEO Cam Wallace said the additional flying would help support the sustained demand for international travel and boost the tourism industry.
“Hundreds of thousands of extra seats on our network is great news for our customers planning their next overseas trip,” said Wallace.
“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.”
UPCOMING NETWORK CHANGES
This week’s announcement follows an earlier notice that confirmed 1 million seats would be added to the airline’s network over the next year with new routes, larger aircraft and more flights to popular destinations.
Routes starting soon:
Sydney-Shanghai resuming in late October, operating for the first time in more than three years.
Brisbane-Honiara and Brisbane-Wellington launching in late October.
