Qantas has announced its first schedule of flights in nearly two years. The airline will resume its most popular flight routes to London, Los Angeles, Vancouver and Singapore from Melbourne and Sydney, from 18 December and is taking bookings now for flights from that date.
On December 19 the flight routes will include Tokyo and Fiji as well as services from Brisbane to Singapore and Los Angeles.
A one-way ticket to London will cost around $2,800.
A statement on the Qantas website says:
We’re preparing for a gradual restart of international flights from mid-December 2021, with plans linked to the vaccination rollout in Australia and key international markets.
On current projections, Australia is expected to reach National Cabinet’s 80% vaccination threshold in December 2021, which would trigger the gradual reopening of international borders.
The website also warns that the planned flights are “subject to government and regulatory approval”. Stephanie Tully, the airline’s chief customer officer, told an Australian Tourism webinar that if a two-week hotel quarantine for vaccinated arrivals to Australia was still required, “we will not get the demand we need to operate”. She said that testing should be sufficient.
Australia’s international travel ban is expected to be lifted the day before the Qantas routes come into place.
The “human biosecurity emergency period”, which prohibits Australians from flying abroad, was due to end on September 17 but will now continue until December 17.
The federal government said the extension is based on medical and epidemiological advice provided by the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee and the Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer.
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has made it clear only fully vaccinated travellers will be able to make the most of the airline’s travel destinations when the borders reopen.
The is the schedule of the proposed flight routes:
December 18 2021
Sydney-London
Melbourne-London
Sydney-Los Angeles
Sydney-Vancouver
Sydney-Singapore
Melbourne-Singapore
December 19 2021
Melbourne-Los Angeles
Brisbane-Los Angeles
Sydney-Honolulu
Brisbane-Singapore
Sydney-Tokyo
Sydney-Fiji