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Qantas reroutes Sydney-Singapore-London flights via Darwin hub
October 11th 2021
Qantas confirmed on Friday it had reached agreement to operate its flagship flights to London through the Northern Territory capital of Darwin rather than Perth or Singapore. Read More » The agreement with the Northern Territory Government and Darwin Airport means the Darwin hub arrangement will be in place from November 14 until at least April 2022 when London flights are due to operate via Perth again. The announcement came with a thinly veiled warning to authorities in Perth about their reluctance to open Western Australia’s borders. “While this is a temporary change to the route, Qantas will watch how it performs and is open-minded about what it could lead to down the track,’’ the airline said. The Sydney-Darwin-London route will begin on November 14 when QF1 is scheduled to start five-times-weekly flights leaving at 6:30pm. The scheduled service will land in Darwin at 9.25pm for a brief refuelling stop ahead of the 13,800km, 17hour 20 minute direct journey to London Heathrow airport. QF1 was previously operated by an A380 that refuelled in Singapore, but the airline is not due to return its first five A380s to service until mid-2022. It is understood the airline plans to resume flying its A380 service via Singapore when that happens. The Melbourne route is scheduled to start on December 18, but the airline said it could start earlier depending on discussions with the Victorian government on shorter quarantine arrangements for returning travellers. All passengers on Qantas international flights will be required to be fully vaccinated with a TGA-approved or recognised vaccine, with some exemptions for medical reasons and children. They also will be required to return a negative PCR COVID test at least 48 hours before departure and home quarantine for seven days on arrival into New South Wales. Qantas Group CEO, Alan Joyce, said Qantas has been flying repatriation services from London to Darwin in the last 12 months and its pilots already have extensive experience operating the route.
