Qantas Airways to Restart International Flights from October

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Qantas Airlines plans to restart all international routes by October, 2021. Qantas Airways Ltd. laid out an ambitious plan to restart its hitherto abandoned routes by late October this year, by betting on the vaccine distribution drives, which are expected to improve the health crisis and boost travel.

The Revised Plan of Action

In an announcement made by the company, it was revealed that Qantas aims to restart 22 of its 25 overseas routes to cities including Los Angeles, London and Johannesburg from October 31^st. Low-cost arm Jetstar will restart all its 13 international routes at the same time. However, this planned resumption of global travel routes by the company remains 4 months later than its predicted timeline last year. Much like the other global airline services, the company’s efforts to start limited schedule flights have been thwarted due to sudden boarder closures both inside Australia and around the world. The industry’s previous hopes for a vaccine-inspired travel recovery were dashed late last year as super-infectious coronavirus variants triggered tougher quarantines for passengers. So far, the aviation industry’s proposal for test or vaccine certificates to replace mandatory isolations hasn’t gained broad traction with governments.

Anticipating a Long Awaited Win

Moreover, Qantas also anticipates a ‘material increase’ in flights in the Australia-New Zealand corridor by July, 2021. But the airline needs the Australian government to fully open the country’s international border before it can freely fly offshore. The spokesperson for the company also stated that the initial capacity on international flights in October will be limited, and a full overseas recovery is not expected until 2024.

Alan Joyce, Chief Executive Officer for Qantas Airways spoke about the reopening plans and stated, “The vaccine changes everything, with the vaccine rollout already underway, we’re on the right track.” He also pointed out that the airline’s revenue losses due to the pandemic in 2020 were about A$11 billion ($8.8 billion) — more than half its normal annual sales. Qantas expects its domestic network — long the company’s profit engine — to reach 60% capacity this quarter and 80% in the following three months.