Qantas: Australian Airline Plans to Resume International Flights Soon

Qantas confirms travel dates to US, UK, Singapore, Japan and Fiji

In recent news, Aussie airline Qantas announced that international flights would continue from the 18th of December 2021 and onwards. Based on reports, Qantas will take 6 international routes, and in the following days, the airline will announce 5 more routes.

So, by December, Aussies will be able to take international flights to Los Angeles, Singapore, Vancouver, and London. Of course, the border restrictions have currently not been lifted, but they are expected to get eased soon.

About a month ago, Alan Joyce, the chief of Qantas stated that the airline was planning to re-open some routes. People had speculated that international flights to Los Angeles and London would be the first ones to open. At the same time, a deal between Japan Airlines and Qantas also added Tokyo into the prospective cities.

Air Canada is also opening international flights from Sydney to Vancouver on the 17th of December. As of now, those willing to take international flights from Melbourne and Sydney to London can book them in advance on the airline’s official website.

With that, tickets for international flights to Singapore and Vancouver are also scheduled. This means that in the last 18 months, Aussies will be able to visit overseas for the first time.

Though, the Government in Australia has not yet made a concrete statement regarding opening international borders. Based on the situation, Aussies might end up in quarantine at home if the situation worsens or if the international borders are not lifted.

Furthermore, it is not yet clear that which countries will allow international flights from Australia first. Because vaccines are rolling out with varying degrees of success, borders might stay closed for some states. This could, of course, harm the travel plans and schedules that Qantas is projecting.

Previously, both Qantas and the Australian Government considered an 80% vaccination rate in Australia a green signal to open international travel. But currently, the rate is falling much shorter.

Things around the globe are not too great either. For instance, the Delta variant is currently raging in the UK with 20K+ cases regularly and 185 deaths.