Qantas has unveiled a series of changes to its East Asian network, following the removal of its Kangaroo Route flights from the region.
From 31 March 2013, Qantas will join forces with Emirates and re-route its European flights through Dubai. As a result, the Aussie airline has announced several alterations to its Asian routes, including new timings and frequencies to Singapore and Hong Kong and the expansion of codeshare networks.
“Through a combination of Qantas, Jetstar and our partners we aim to provide the best travel options between Australia and Asia, all linked to one of the world’s leading frequent flyer programmes,” said Simon Hickey, CEO of Qantas International. “Our first step has been to restructure existing services to Asia now that they are no longer tied to onward links to Europe. The number of dedicated seats on Qantas services to Hong Kong and Singapore is increasing significantly, because capacity previously set aside for customers going to Europe via these hubs can be freed up.
“The joint Qantas-Emirates network into Asia gives our customers a fresh set of options, including double daily services to Singapore from Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. The maturing Jetstar network gives travellers another set of alternatives once they land in Asia,” Hickey added.
In the first phase, applicable for travel from 31 March 2013, Qantas will start offering earlier arrival times into Hong Kong, Bangkok and Singapore, with flights brought forward by up to three hours in an effort to increase the number of available onward connections. Qantas will also increase its Brisbane-Hong Kong and Sydney-Singapore frequencies to daily, but will reduce the number of flights on its Perth-Singapore route and completely cease operating its Adelaide-Singapore and Perth-Hong Kong services. The loss-making Frankfurt service will also be cut from 15 April 2013 – six months ahead of schedule.
Qantas will also codeshare on several Emirates services, including Melbourne–Singapore, Brisbane–Singapore, Sydney–Bangkok and Melbourne–Kuala Lumpur.
