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Qantas Airways plans November restart of flights to London and Los Angeles
October 4th 2021
Qantas Airways has brought forward its planned restart of overseas scheduled flights to November 14 after the Australian government announced international borders will open earlier than expected. Read More » The Australian flag carrier will operate three a week return flights between Sydney and London and the same number on the Sydney-Los Angeles route. Both services will use 787-9 “Dreamliners”. Some flights are already sold out. Qantas originally scheduled the restart for December 18. It added the November timing is subject to government confirmation of an exact date for the border reopening. Under the border plan, the federal government will first lift limits on Australians leaving and returning to the country. Returning vaccinated citizens and permanent residents also will be allowed to isolate at home for seven days rather than endure 14 days in hotel quarantine. All passengers will need to be fully vaccinated and to return a negative PCR COVID test 72 hours before they travel. New South Wales has immediately embraced the changes but Western Australia, Tasmania and Queensland have yet to commit to an opening date. There also is some scepticism among overseas airlines about the practicality of reopening so soon. But Qantas Group CEO, Alan Joyce, welcomed the earlier restart as “fantastic news” for those Australians wanting to travel overseas to be reunited with families and the thousands of citizens waiting to return home. “It also means we can get our people back to work sooner,’’ he said. Virgin Australia, which is looking to start services to Fiji in late December, also welcomed the announcement.
