Queenslanders are set to have more options to visit New Zealand and Samoa with Qantas adding more than 35,000 seats to its international network out of Brisbane each year.

From late October 2024, the Qantas says it will operate larger aircraft and extra frequencies to meet growing demand for business and holiday travel.

Flights between Brisbane and Wellington will move to a larger Boeing 737 aircraft instead of the daily Embraer E190 flights, adding more than 600 seats on the route each week.

Between Brisbane and Apia, Samoa, flights will seasonally increase from three to five per week between mid-December 2024 and mid-January 2025, adding more than 300 seats on the route each week, operated by the 737.

Qantas International CEO, Cam Wallace, said the airline was pleased to be adding seats for the growing numbers of customers travelling between Brisbane and both New Zealand and the Pacific.

“This boost to our Queensland network is about giving our customers more choice on routes where we are seeing strong demand,” he said.

“We’ve had a fantastic response from Queenslanders wanting to travel across the Tasman since our Wellington route first launched late last year.

“The new service also makes it easier for Kiwis to experience the world-famous beaches in Queensland and access the Great Barrier Reef, or connect through Brisbane to our extensive domestic network in the Sunshine State and beyond,” Wallace said.

Qantas operates nonstop flights to 11 international destinations from Brisbane and three of these are routes that have been launched in the past two years.