All Qantas and Jetstar staff to return to work, new Delhi route and A380s to re-enter service in April.
Qantas has just released details of an accelerated return to service, bringing forward the restart of more international flights from Sydney and announcing the introduction of non-stop services to India.
Two A380s will return to flying earlier than planned, with QF also in discusion with Boeing about accelerating the delivery of three brand new 787s which have been in storage for most of the pandemic.
The ramp-up follows confirmation from the Federal and NSW Governments that international borders will reopen from 01 November, and the NSW decision to remove quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated arrivals, which significantly increases travel demand.
All Qantas and Jetstar workers based in Australia and New Zealand who are currently stood down will return to work by early December.
An updated international schedule will see Sydney-Delhi flights debut on 06 December with three return A330 frequencies per week, building to daily by the end of the year. Flight from Sydney to Singapore will resume on 23 November, a month earlier than scheduled, while Qantas flights to Fiji will be brought forward to 07 December.
Qantas will also resume Sydney-Johannesburg on 05 January, Sydney-Bangkok on 14 January and Jetstar’s Sydney-Phuket flights will resume on 12 January.
QF Group CEO Alan Joyce said the rapid vaccination rollout had enabled the carrier’s planes and people to get back to work much earlier than expected.
“This is the best news we’ve had in almost two years and it will make a massive difference to thousands of our people who finally get to fly again,” he said.
More details in today’s issue of Travel Daily.