On December 1 Qantas resumed operations between Brisbane and Tokyo, after a suspension of almost 3 years. For the first time the Queensland capital will be connected to Haneda International Airport (HND).
“Since the 1980s, the Japanese market has been important to Queensland. The restart of non-stop flights from Tokyo to Brisbane will once again open this conduit to support jobs and the local tourism industry, with tourists spending across the Sunshine State,” said Gert-Jan de Graaff, CEO of Brisbane Airport Corporation.
Flight QF 61 was operated on an Airbus A330-200 registered VH-EBO and christened “Kimberley”, which took off from Brisbane Airport (BNE) at 12:55 local time and landed at Haneda International Airport (HND) at 20:36, after eight hours and 41 minutes.
This service will complement Qantas‘ daily flights between Sydney (SYD) and Tokyo (HND), the carrier will have a 5,940-seat weekly offering between Australia and Japan according to the Cirium platform. By March 26, 2023, the Australian carrier is scheduled to start operations between Melbourne (MEL) and the Japanese capital with four weekly flights on Airbus A330s.
This route between Brisbane (BNE) and Tokyo (HND) is supported by Queensland’s $200 million Attracting Aviation Fund, which is funded by the state government and local airports.
Flight Itinerary
- Brisbane – Tokyo/Haneda Flight QF 61 BNE 11:50 – HND 20:00 Monday, Thursday and Saturday.
- Tokyo/Haneda – Brisbane Flight QF 62 HND 21:30 – BNE 07:35+1 Monday, Thursday and Saturday.
The route will be operated on Airbus A330-300 aircraft with a capacity of 297 seats in two classes (28 Business Class/269 Economy).
According to data compiled by Aviacionline through the Australian Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Cities and Regional Development, 175,242 passengers and 2,601.3 tons of cargo were moved in the June 2018-2019 period between Tokyo and Brisbane.
“The new flight from Brisbane to Haneda Airport gives our customers much easier and faster access to central Tokyo and one of the world’s most important trading markets, saving more than an hour of transit time to get to the city,” said John Simeone, Qantas regional general manager for Asia.
The last scheduled operation between Brisbane and Tokyo was on March 29, 2022, with a non-stop service between the Queensland capital and Narita International Airport (NRT) with daily flights on Airbus A330s.
