Qantas and Jetstar to restart regular international flights from October
The announcement is a slight shift on the previous estimate of July, which had been in place since mid-2020.
“Throughout the pandemic, we’ve updated our assumptions on international travel restarting,” Joyce said.
“Since the start of this year, we’ve seen a huge surge in COVID cases around the world, new strains emerging, and a shift from ‘herd immunity’ as the threshold for opening borders to ‘fully vaccinated’.
“As a result, we’re now planning for international travel to restart at the end of October this year, in-line with the date for Australia’s vaccine rollout to be effectively complete,” he said.
Trans-Tasman flights could get re-booted prior to then with a mid-year timetable now targeted.
“We’re still targeting July for a material increase in New Zealand flights,” Joyce said.
“We’re in close consultation with government, and if things change, so will our dates… But with the vaccine rollout already underway, we’re on the right track,” he said.
The date change for Qantas aligns with the expected timeframe for Australia’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout to be effectively complete, according to the carrier.
The airline said capacity will be lower than pre-COVID levels, with frequencies and aircraft type deployed on each route in line with the projected recovery of international flying.
Qantas also said it was planning to resume flights to 22 of its 25 pre-COVID international destinations including Los Angeles, London, Singapore and Johannesburg from 31 October.
“Qantas won’t initially resume direct flights to New York, Santiago and Osaka, but remains committed to flying to these three destinations,” according to the carrier.
On the Jetstar front, the low-cost carrier plans to resume flights to all of its 13 international destinations and frequencies will be adjusted in line with the projected recovery of international flying.
Qantas said it remains in close consultation with the Federal Government around the reopening of international borders and will keep customers updated if further adjustments are required.
The Group said it is assessing the use of digital health pass apps to help support the resumption of COVID-safe international travel. The CommonPass and IATA Travel Pass smartphone apps are being trialled on the airline’s international repatriation flights.