Fiji Airways, Fiji’s National Airline, is proud to announce that New Caledonia’s capital, Noumea is our newest international destination.
The company confirms that Fiji has an existing Air Service Agreement (ASA) which allows Fiji Airways to provide services in French territories.
The first flight to La Tontouta International Airport in Noumea will be on Thursday 30th November and starting 7th December, the national carrier will fly twice weekly, every Monday and Thursday.
Fiji Airways is the perfect hub for guests out of New Caledonia, providing a comprehensive network of onward connections to North America, Asia, as well as other Pacific Island countries.
With the introduction of these new services, Fiji Airways will be flying directly to 26 destinations around the world.
Noumea is the third new market added to our network since international borders opened in December 2021.
The airline brings in 70 percent of all visitor arrivals into Fiji, and is the largest foreign exchange earner for the economy.
Qantas will reignite its love affair with Rome, adding direct flights from Australia to the eternal city from the middle of next year. From 22 June 2022, Qantas will operate the only direct service between Australia and continental Europe, flying three return Sydney-Perth-Rome flights per week to meet demand over the European holiday peak season.
The new flight will cut more than three hours off the current fastest travel time to Rome using the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, with cabins designed specifically for long haul travel.
Customers will be able to combine Qantas’ Rome flights with its double-daily direct flights between Australia and London, meaning they will be able to fly in and out of different cities on one return ticket through to October 2022.
The Rome service will also give customers another option for reaching onward destinations across the Mediterranean and southern Europe through Qantas’ network of partners.
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said strong travel demand since borders re-opened had given the Flying Kangaroo confidence to explore new destinations as travelers look to make up for lost time.
The new route is expected to entice more visitors to Western Australia and Qantas will partner with Tourism Western Australia to boost inbound tourism from Europe into Perth and regional WA, as well as promote Perth as an ideal stopover for Australians travelling to Europe from the east coast.
Qantas recently started new flights from Sydney and Melbourne to Delhi and re-started a number of existing routes from Sydney and Melbourne to destinations including Los Angeles, London and Singapore.
Fares for the new Sydney-Perth-Rome flights go on sale today starting from $1785 return. Qantas will operate two Points Planes (bookable until 21 December 2021) for Frequent Flyers with every seat in every cabin available to book as a reward seat on the inaugural flight to Rome on 22 June and on the first flight departing Rome on 23 June.
The seasonal route will operate from 22 June until 6 October. Qantas will offer connections to 16 destinations in Europe including Athens, Barcelona, Frankfurt, Nice, Madrid and Paris and 15 destinations within Italy including Milan and Venice.
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Qantas will open a temporary lounge to cater for eligible customers travelling between Sydney and London via Darwin from next month.
It follows the recent announcement that Qantas’ flagship Australia to United Kingdom route would operate via Darwin once Australia’s international borders open on 1 November until at least April 2022 due to WA border closures.
Qantas will lease Darwin International Airport’s Catalina lounge, which will have space for approximately 100 guests utilising existing furniture and fittings. The offering will feature:
Service delivered by local Qantas lounge team members, including a signature welcome mocktail (Top End Lemonade) and refreshing cold towels.
Generous lounge and dining areas with a serviced buffet
Tailored menus for time of day, drawing on local culinary influences such as a Darwin markets inspired Asian style soup.
Premium Australian wines, beers and non-alcoholic drinks offered by a dedicated bar attendant
Power points through the space to recharge on the fly
Bathroom facilities
Qantas Group Chief Customer Officer, Stephanie Tully, said the national carrier is delighted to work with Darwin International Airport to ensure a comfortable transit experience for its top tier frequent flyers and customers travelling in Business Class.
Customers eligible to visit the Qantas Darwin International Transit Lounge include:
Platinum One, Platinum, Gold Qantas Frequent Flyers and Qantas Club members
Customers travelling in Business Class
Eligible oneworld partner members
Qantas will also reopen its Sydney International First Lounge from 1 November and its London and Los Angeles lounges in December. In the interim few weeks of operation, eligible Qantas customers will be able to visit the British Airways T3 Lounge at London Heathrow and the Star Alliance Lounge at Tom Bradley International Terminal in LA. Other international lounges will reopen to align with the return of further international routes.
Virgin Australia will introduce two new direct services ahead of the September school holidays as the airline pivots its network schedule to reconnect Australia in new ways.
The new services, focussed on markets with open borders, include the resumption of flights between Adelaide – Darwin from 6 September and the introduction of a brand-new direct service, never before operated in the airline’s 21-year history, between Adelaide – Launceston, commencing on 7 September.
To kickstart the launch of the services, Virgin Australia is offering the following one-way Economy sale fares from today until midnight this Friday 13 August or until sold-out:
Adelaide – Launceston from $59
Adelaide – Darwin from $119
And for customers looking to travel at the pointy end, Virgin Australia will continue to sell their great value Business Class fares on these services:
Adelaide – Launceston from $299
Adelaide – Darwin from $529
Along with checked baggage and seat selection included in all airfares, Virgin Australia is also offering double Velocity Frequent Flyer Status Credits on all new eligible bookings (excluding Getaway fares) made by midnight tomorrow (Tuesday 10 August).
Virgin Australia customers who hold travel credits or Future Flight credits are also encouraged to take advantage of the great value fares which are expected to sell-out quickly.
Queenslanders will have more travel options to the world-famous Whitsundays with QantasLink launching direct flights from Brisbane to the Whitsunday Coast (Proserpine) for the first time in seven years.
From 17 September 2021, QantasLink will operate up to seven weekly return flights between Proserpine and Brisbane with its 74-seat Q400 turboprop aircraft, adding more than 1000 seats on the route each week.
It follows the new routes QantasLink commenced from Brisbane to Albury and Cooma earlier this week. Between Qantas, QantasLink and Jetstar, the Group has now launched more than 45 new routes since international borders closed, around half of which are into Queensland.
QantasLink CEO John Gissing said the new route would create stronger connections to the popular tourism destination.
Special fares on the new route are available from $109 one-way at qantas.com or through Travel Agents, until 10 July 2021, unless sold out prior.
The new Brisbane-Proserpine service will complement Jetstar flights to the Whitsunday Coast from Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
Qantas has recently extended its Fly Flexible policy, offering customers who book flights before 30 September 2021 with unlimited ‘fee free’ date changes when travelling before 28 February 2022. (A fare difference may apply).
Emirates has announced it will restart passenger services to Mauritius this summer with two weekly flights from 15 July, as the island-nation gradually re-opens its borders to international tourists. To serve market demand, the airline has also announced it will deploy its iconic Emirates A380 aircraft to Mauritius starting 1 August. Fully vaccinated travellers can enjoy a relaxing and safe getaway in a list of pre-approved COVID-19 safe resorts across the island.
Emirates’ flights to Mauritius will operate on Thursdays and Saturdays. Starting from 15 July, the route will be served utilising a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, and from 1 August, utilising the Emirates A380 aircraft. Emirates flight EK 701 will depart Dubai 2:35hrs and arrive in Mauritius at 9:10hrs local time. The return flight will operate on Fridays and Sundays. Emirates flight EK 704 will depart Mauritius at 23:10hrs and arrive in Dubai at 5:45hrs local time, the following day.
Emirates flights to Mauritius can be booked on emirates.com, via travel agents or Emirates Sales Office.
The Emirates A380 experience remains a favourite amongst travellers for its spacious and comfortable cabins and the airline will continue to expand its deployment in line with the gradual return in demand. Emirates currently operates the A380 to New York JFK, Los Angeles, Washington D.C, Toronto, Paris, Munich, Vienna, Frankfurt, Moscow, Amman, Cairo, and Guangzhou.
From white sandy beaches, crystal clear water, and luscious landscapes – Mauritius remains one the most popular holiday destinations, attracting travellers across the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East. Emirates passengers can also enjoy other Indian Ocean destinations, as the airline offers 28 weekly flights to Maldives and seven weekly flights to Seychelles.
Travellers can also book with Emirates Holidays and enjoy tailor-made packages at world-class hotels and resorts across the island. For more information, click here
The Qantas Group is preparing for continued growth in domestic travel demand, with additional aircraft to be made available for Qantas and Jetstar flying.
Additional E190’s for QantasLink
The national carrier today announced an expansion of its three-year deal with Alliance Airlines, which provides QantasLink with capacity using Alliance’s Embraer E190 regional jet aircraft and the flexibility to respond to changing market conditions.
The expanded agreement will see the airline increase its options under this deal from 14 jet aircraft to a total of 18. Of this, three are already flying with another five to enter service by October. The E190s will be painted in QantasLink livery and are part of Qantas growing its domestic capacity to at least 107 per cent of pre-COVID levels in FY22.
The first of the 94-seat E190 jets started flying on the QantasLink network last month. The jet’s five-hour range makes it well suited to linking regional centres with smaller capital cities. The introduction of E190s also frees up Qantas’ Boeing 737 aircraft to be redeployed across the domestic network, enabling the airline to launch a number of new routes and add frequencies on existing ones.
Canberra-Adelaide is the latest route to benefit from additional flights made possible by the E190, with frequencies to double from nine per week to 18 per week from mid-July.
Jetstar boosts its Australian-based A320 fleet
Demand for low-cost leisure travel remains strong due to closed international borders and structural changes in Australia’s aviation market. As a result, Jetstar’s Australian domestic network is set to grow to 120 per cent of its pre-COVID schedule in FY22.
To help meet the increased demand, three Airbus A320 aircraft will be temporarily redeployed from Jetstar Asia in Singapore while international travel in the region faces a slower recovery.
These aircraft join the six Airbus A320 aircraft on loan to Jetstar Airways from Jetstar Japan and up to five Boeing 787-8 aircraft set to operate domestically until international travel resumes.
Yesterday’s flight was the last of five Air New Zealand (NZSE: AIR.NZ) services that have transported more than 700 workers from Apia to Auckland over the past six weeks under the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) programme.
The airline has transported workers on three charter and two commercial services between Samoa and New Zealand to support a sustainable seasonal labour force for orchards and vineyards in Hawke’s Bay, Canterbury and the upper South Island. Once the workers have completed two weeks of managed isolation, they will disperse around New Zealand to support the country’s horticulture and viticulture industries for the next seven months.
Air New Zealand’s Country Manager Samoa Karen Gatt says the airline’s team based at Faleolo Airport in Apia was excited to see so many travellers and their families arriving at the terminal again when the RSE programme kicked off in January.
New Zealand High Commissioner to Samoa, HE Dr Trevor Matheson, has worked closely with the RSE industry and Air New Zealand to enable the workers to travel to New Zealand.
Qantas (ASX: QAN.AX) and Jetstar are planning to restart regular international passenger flights to most destinations starting 31 October 2021 – a four month extension from the previous estimate of July, which had been in place since mid-2020.
The date change aligns with the expected timeframe for Australia’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout to be effectively complete.
Capacity will be lower than pre-COVID levels, with frequencies and aircraft type deployed on each route in line with the projected recovery of international flying. International capacity is not expected to fully recover until 2024.
The Group remains in close consultation with the Federal Government around the reopening of international borders and will keep customers updated if further adjustments are required.
Qantas is assessing the use of digital health pass apps to help support the resumption of COVID-safe international travel. The CommonPass and IATA Travel Pass smartphone apps are being trialled on the airline’s international repatriation flights.
Qantas network
Qantas is planning to resume flights to 22 of its 25 pre-COVID international destinations including Los Angeles, London, Singapore and Johannesburg from 31 October 2021.
Qantas won’t initially resume direct flights to New York, Santiago and Osaka, but remains committed to flying to these three destinations. In the meantime, customers will be able to fly to these destinations under codeshare or oneworld arrangements with partner airlines.
Jetstar network
Jetstar plans to resume flights to all of its 13 international destinations. Frequencies will be adjusted in line with the projected recovery of international flying.
Trans-Tasman
Qantas and Jetstar are planning for a significant increase in flights to and from New Zealand from 1 July 2021.
The Group has the ability to respond to travel bubbles that may open.
Additional flexibility and extension of credit vouchers
Qantas has today announced additional flexibility for international bookings to enable customers to book flights with confidence.
Qantas’ updated Fly Flexible policy (previously only available for domestic and Trans Tasman flights) now applies to international flights booked from today until at least the end of April 2021. The flight date can be changed to any available for sale at the time (up to 355 days in advance). Qantas will waive the change fee however a fare difference may apply.
Qantas has also extended credit vouchers to enable travel until 31 December 2023 on domestic or international flights, with Jetstar doing the same for vouchers issued due to COVID-19 disruptions.
Customers with international bookings impacted by cancellations will be contacted directly and offered alternatives.
