With a large amount of activity in the lead up to the peak summer holiday travel period, here is a summary of key service improvements across Qantas and Jetstar rolling out over the next two months.

In that time, the Group expects to carry more than 8 million people, with particularly strong leisure demand.

While capacity growth is temporarily limited by the need for additional operational buffer (including a $200 million investment in standby resources), more aircraft are entering service in the weeks ahead and several new international routes will start before Christmas.

Qantas’ operational performance has continued to be industry leading, ranking as the most on-time domestic airline in October and continuing to outperform our major competitor in November despite extreme weather (storms and strong winds). Jetstar’s domestic and international operational performance has also improved.

Both Qantas and Jetstar have ongoing sale activity, with discounted fares and more frequent flyer seat availability.

Below is a summary of upcoming developments across Qantas and Jetstar’s domestic and international operations.

QANTAS INTERNATIONAL

• Qantas will start three new routes in December:
  • Flights resumed between Brisbane and Tokyo on 1 December, shifting from Narita Airport to the more centrally located Haneda Airport, with three return flights per week using its Airbus A330s.
  • Flights take off for the first time between Melbourne and Dallas Fort Worth on 3 December, with three return flights per week using its Boeing 787s. The new route adds to Qantas’ existing Sydney-Dallas Fort Worth route and offers connections to over 200 cities across North and South America with partner American Airlines.
  • The inaugural Sydney-Seoul flight takes off on 10 December, with four return flights per week using its The new route adds to Jetstar’s new Sydney-Seoul services, which started in November.
• Qantas will welcome its sixth (out of 10) refurbished A380 back from storage, which will return to service from mid-December, providing more operational resilience over the busy Christmas holidays.
• Additional flights are being added across the Tasman, with Sydney-Queenstown increasing from 10 return flights per week to 14 per week from mid-December.
• An additional three return flights per week have been added between Sydney and Fiji for six weeks from mid-December.
• Larger A330s will replace 737s on flights between Sydney and Bali from 5 December until 26 January 2023.

JETSTAR INTERNATIONAL

• Three new Jetstar A321neo LR aircraft will start flying across December this year and January next year, in addition to the first A321neo LR that joined the fleet in August. These aircraft will initially operate on domestic routes and between Australia and Bali.
• Jetstar has announced it will start direct flights between Sydney and Rarotonga in the Cook Islands for the first time. The first flight will take off on 29 June 2023, subject to government and regulatory approvals, with two return flights per week.

DOMESTIC

• Qantas will resume seasonal flights in December to:
  • Adelaide-Hobart
  • Adelaide-Gold Coast
  • Canberra-Sunshine Coast
  • Canberra-Cairns
  • Brisbane-Launceston
  • Melbourne-Merimbula.
• Given the strong demand for flights from Sydney to Cairns over the summer peak, Qantas will use its larger Airbus A330 aircraft on up to 19 return flights per week on the route in December and January, up from 11 per week using a 737 currently – a total increase of more than 11,000 seats over the period.
• Domestically, Group capacity is at 95 per cent of pre-COVID levels for the second quarter.

CUSTOMER SERVICE 

• Qantas will open its refurbished lounge in Honolulu on 16 December, as well as operate an additional two return flights per between Sydney-Honolulu for six weeks over summer.
• Qantas and Jetstar will roll out a number of customer initiatives at airports over the Christmas holidays, with a focus on making journeys easier. More details will be released shortly.
• Qantas Frequent Flyers have snapped up seats on almost 3000 Points Planes. Six weeks of flights across 21 domestic routes were turned into Points Planes in January and February, where every seat, including Business, could be booked as a Classic Flight Reward.
• Qantas is today launching a domestic sale with up to a 30 per cent discount on fares across 100 domestic routes including $109 Melbourne-Launceston, $149 Adelaide-Hobart, $199 Cairns-Sydney and $269 Brisbane-Darwin. Selected travel dates are in June, July, August and September.
• Jetstar’s recent Black Friday sale featured 50,000 seats across 30 domestic and trans-Tasman destinations, with fares starting from $39 (one way). The most popular destinations were Sunshine Coast, Byron Bay and Cairns and Queenstown.
• Additional sale activity is planned in December for travel next year.