Qantas will bring forward the restart of its international operations to November 1, 2021, due to the announcement by the federal and New South Wales governments that they have confirmed the opening of the borders.
See also: Kangaroo route returns: Qantas resumes flights to London via Darwin
The Australian airline is enthusiastic about the New South Wales government’s decision to remove quarantine for travelers with full vaccination schedules, a trend that has been followed by many countries around the world.
Qantas will restart flights on the two most iconic routes in its entire international network, operating five weekly flights between Sydney (SYD) and London Heathrow (LHR) and four between Sydney and Los Angeles (LAX). The famous kangaroo route will have a stopover via Darwin (DRW) until at least April 2022, due to restrictions in the state of Western Australia, which makes it impossible for the company to operate via Perth (PER). All operations will be carried out with Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. The return of five A380s would be scheduled for mid-2022.
Flights to other international markets, such as Canada, Fiji and Singapore, are still on schedule for December 18, 2021, while others are planned for early 2022, depending on the changing quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated travelers arriving to New South Wales.
«Moving forward with reopening Australia to the world and removing quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated travelers entering New South Wales is a big step towards life as we knew it», said Alan Joyce, Qantas Group CEO
«In just over two weeks, Australians from around the world can fly into Sydney (SYD) and people from all over Australia can leave on trips they have been waiting almost two years for. We expect other states to do the same once they reach the 80% target», he added.
Information for international travelers
All passengers on Qantas international flights (over 12 years of age) must be fully vaccinated with a Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approved vaccine. There are currently three approved vaccines in Australia – AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Moderna.
As part of government requirements, customers on these flights must also have a negative COVID test from an approved PCR test site 72 hours prior to departure.
The New South Wales government will advise on additional testing requirements that will be needed upon arrival in Australia in the coming days.
