On May 22, Qantas resumed nonstop operations between Sydney and San Francisco, offering a network of four U.S. destinations. The company’s last service in “The Bay Area” was on March 29, 2020, the company provided flights from the three major Australian cities.
Flight QF 73 was operated on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner registered VH-ZND and christened “Emily Kame Kngwarreye,” which took off from Kingsford Smith International Airport (SYD) at 22:10 local time and landed at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) after 12 hours and 56 minutes.
Qantas‘ return to “The Bay Area” marks an important milestone in the recovery of the airline’s long-haul sector following the reopening of borders and the removal of travel restrictions. Currently, the market between Australia and San Francisco is strongly led by United which offers non-stop flights from SFO to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
Qantas flight schedule to San Francisco
- Sydney – San Francisco Flight QF 73 SYD 21:55 – SFO 18:15 Monday, Thursday and Saturday.
- San Francisco – Sydney Flight QF 74 SFO 22:55 – SYD 06:05+2 Monday, Thursday and Saturday.
The route is operated by Boeing 787-9 aircraft with a capacity of 236 seats in three classes (42 Business Class/28 Premium Economy/ 166 Economy) and promotional fares are available from 1,200 one way.
According to information obtained by Aviacionline through the Australian Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Cities and Regional Development, 332,999 passengers and 5,962.9 tons of cargo were moved between Sydney and San Francisco in the June 2018 – June 2019 period.
Qantas for the 2023 austral summer season will have 28,462 seats on offer between the South Pacific and the United States and Canada, this represents an increase of more than 20% in capacity compared to last year. The Australian flag carrier is the second largest airline operator in this market after United.
The carrier’s network in North America and Hawaii has non-stop flights to Los Angeles (LAX), Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), Honolulu (HNL), Vancouver (YVR), San Francisco (SFO) and soon New York (JFK).
Qantas history in San Francisco
The company’s first route connecting Australia to “The Bay Area” was in 1959, the flight made stops in Nadi and Honolulu, and was operated in the airline’s first jet aircraft: Boeing 707. This followed the Lockheed Super Constellation that performed the first transpacific services to the United States five years earlier.
Over the decades, Qantas continued to operate to San Francisco on Boeing 747s on both non-stop and non-stop services. The largest seat and destination capacity offered by the Australian airline in “The Bay Area” was in February 2020, where it came to operate from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to SFO all services were operated on Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.
Ver también: Qantas Boosts Its Global Network: Adds Flights, Aircraft, and New Routes
