On March 26, Qantas restarted flights between Melbourne and Tokyo after a three-year suspension due to the COVID-19 health crisis. The airline connects now the three major Australian cities with the Japanese capital.
Flight QF 79 was operated on Airbus A330 registered VH-QPE and christened «Port Lincoln», which took off from Tullamarine International Airport (MEL) at 12:23 local time and landed at Haneda Airport (HND) at 19:47, after 9 hours and 24 minutes.
«We have seen demand for our flights to Tokyo recover very strongly, and our research shows that it is one of the top tourist destinations Australians plan to visit in the next 12 months«, said Andrew David, CEO of Qantas Domestic and International.
The new route between Melbourne (MEL) and Tokyo -Haneda (HND), replaces the Narita Airport (NRT) service that operated prior to the pandemic. Qantas has daily flights to Sydney (SYD) and three weekly operations to Brisbane (BNE) on its schedule to Tokyo, the airline will offer more than 420,000 seats annually between Australia and Japan with double daily flights to Haneda (HND).
According to data obtained by Aviacionline through the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Cities and Regional Development, 292,186 passengers and 8,460.6 tons of cargo were moved in the June 2018 -2019 period between Melbourne (MEL) and Tokyo (NRT). In addition, Qantas moved 671,019 passengers and 9,205 tonnes of cargo between Australia and Japan in the same timeframe.
«Our customers in Victoria were looking forward to the return of this route, with flights launching in time for travelers to enjoy the cherry blossom season in Japan. Corporate travelers can now also save time on their trip to the airport by flying to or from Haneda«, added David.
Melbourne – Tokyo Haneda flight schedule
- Melbourne – Tokyo/Haneda Flight QF 79 MEL 11:30 – HND 20:00 Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
- Tokyo/Haneda – Melbourne Flight QF 80 HND 21:05 – MEL 09:35+1 Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
The route is operated by Airbus A330-300 aircraft with a capacity of 297 seats in two classes (28 Business Class/269 Economy).
The commencement of operations between Melbourne (MEL) and Haneda (HND) will be complemented by the start of the new route to Jakarta (CGK) from April 16 and the reactivation of service to Hong Kong (HKG) by June 20.
Qantas Group is scheduled to operate 35 weekly operations between Australia and Japan. This includes Qantas flights from Sydney (SYD), Brisbane (BNE) and Melbourne (MEL) to Haneda (HND); and Jetstar’s non-stop services from Cairns (CNS) and Gold Coast (OOL) to Narita (NRT), plus the route between Cairns (CNS) and Osaka – Kansai (KIX).
See also: Project Sunrise: Qantas unveils Airbus A350 premium cabins
