Qantas was the only airline to be observed during the pandemic, considering the degree of border closure in Australia. While many international airlines (including American ones) continued to operate in Australia with limited cargo and passengers, Qantas more or less stranded its long-haul fleet and cut its long-haul network. What’s the news about this?
Qantas postpones restart of international network to October 2021
In early January, Qantas opened reservations for almost its entire international long-haul network for flights beginning July 1, 2021. This seemed incredibly optimistic, given Australia’s strict border requirements, but the company suggests that this represented your expectation of when international travel would recover.
Unsurprisingly, there has now been an update on this front, as noted by the Executive Traveler – Qantas has now postponed most of its international network restart to October 31, 2021. This is based on the government’s belief that all Australians can be vaccinated by October.
Some short-haul international flights – such as those between Australia and New Zealand – still seem to resume in mid-year, although that may also change.
Qantas now wants to resume most international flights in October
Qantas fleet plan when flights resume
This should come as no surprise, but here’s Qantas’ plan from now on when international long-haul flights are resumed:
- Qantas has three other Boeing 787-9 on order that are ready to be delivered, but the airline will not accept them for now, given their complete lack; the 11 currently in the fleet are sufficient
- The three extra 787s are required for flights to New York, Santiago and Osaka, so those flights will not be resumed even when the rest of Qantas’ international schedule is
- The A380s are unlikely to be reactivated until 2024 based on when Qantas thinks demand will recover, but if it recovers earlier, the planes can be reactivated in three to six months.
- This also means that, for at least the next two years, Qantas will not offer first class, as the 787s will operate previous A380 routes, such as Dallas and Los Angeles to Sydney, Sydney to London via Singapore, etc.
Qantas A380s are unlikely to fly for a few years
Result
Qantas ‘current plan is to resume most long-haul international flights from the end of October 2021. This is based on the country’s hope of vaccinating everyone by then and represents a four-month delay compared to Qantas’ previous schedule. to restart flights in early July.
Even when the airline resumes flights, the outlook is bleak. The airline has 11 Boeing 787s and 12 Airbus A380s, but plans to use the old aircraft for years to come.
Personally, I think Qantas is a little pessimistic here, and I think we’ll see the A380s reactivated a little bit earlier than expected. Qantas’ largest markets are the United States and the United Kingdom, and these are the two countries where widespread vaccination is also expected to be available in the coming months, and I think travel between those countries will return in full force once the borders are fully reopened. .
What do you think of Qantas’ latest plan to resume long-haul flights?