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Qantas Confirms International Flights Will Resume in December
By Nick Hall Published:
In a blockbuster announcement, Australian airline Qantas has confirmed that international flights are set to resume on 18 December 2021. According to Yahoo Finance, six international routes will take off from that date, with a further five to launch the following day. Come December, Aussie will be able to travel to London, Los Angeles, Vancouver and Singapore, pending border restrictions lifting.
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Image: Qantas
The announcement comes just one month after Qantas chief Alan Joyce outlined initial plans to reopen some routes. The speculation was that London and Los Angeles would kickstart the reopening, however, a recently signed deal with Japan Airlines threw the prospect of Tokyo into the ring. Further, Air Canada announced on Tuesday that the Sydney-Vancouver route will resume from 17 December.
As of Wednesday, the national airline’s online site is accepting bookings for Sydney and Melbourne to London flights on December 18, with flights also scheduled to Vancouver and Singapore also up for grabs. While it marks the first time in nearly 18 months that Australians have been able to schedule an overseas holiday, the Qantas move does have its caveats.
The Australian Government has yet to make any hard statement over when international borders will open and which countries will be the first to accept Australian travellers. What’s more, there’s been no word yet on whether Aussie holiday goers will need to quarantine on their way back from jet-setting.
Image: Qantas
With the vaccination rollout in varying stages of success across the country, borders could remain closed for certain states, which could pose a threat to Qantas’ ongoing travel plans. The country remains well short of the 80% vaccination rate that both the government and Qantas outlined as a path to international travel, but it apparently isn’t stopping ‘the lying kangaroo’ from preparing to depart.
Overseas, things aren’t much better. The UK is currently grappling with the Delta variant, reporting over 20,000 daily cases and around 185 deaths, with the US pushing 150,000 cases per day. For those willing to make the journey, Qantas has outlined plans to relaunch routes to major hubs London and Los Angeles.
Qantas International Flights Resuming
Qantas is set to resume international flights in December, in line with the Federal Government’s plan to reopen borders on December 17. Here is the full list of routes Qantas will relaunch in December:
December 18
- Sydney-London (December 18)
- Melbourne-London (December 18)
- Sydney-Los Angeles (December 18)
- Sydney-Vancouver (December 18)
- Sydney-Singapore (December 18)
- Melbourne-Singapore (December 18)
December 19
- Melbourne-Los Angeles (December 19)
- Brisbane-Los Angeles (December 19)
- Brisbane-Singapore (December 19)
- Sydney-Tokyo (December 19)
- Sydney-Fiji (December 19)
- Sydney-Honolulu (December 19)
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General FAQs
When are international borders opening?
Australian airline Qantas has opened bookings for international flights to Los Angeles and London starting from 18 December 2021. Further routes to Hawaii, Tokyo, Vancouver, Singapore and Fiji have been slated for later in the month. That being said, the flights are subject to international borders reopening and current government health guidelines.
Where will Qantas first international flights leave from?
Qantas has outlined some international routes to London, Los Angeles, Hawaii, Tokyo, Vancouver, Singapore and Fiji will return in December 2021. Thes flights are slated to leave from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
