Australia’s flag carrier Qantas on Friday announced its plans to launch a new route from Sydney to Delhi in December with three return flights per week, building to daily flights by end of the year.
The plan is subject to discussions with the Indian authorities to finalise necessary approvals, according to the company’s announcement on Friday.
If approved, it would be the first commercial flight for Qantas between Australia and India in almost a decade, reports xinhua news agency.
The flights would initially operate until at least late March 2022, with a view to continuing if there is sufficient demand.
Flights from Sydney to Delhi would operate via Darwin, while flights from Delhi to Sydney would operate non-stop.
The new route is among an array of movements as Qantas and Jetstar gear up for accelerated border opening.
Qantas flights between Sydney to Singapore will resume on November 23 this year, four weeks earlier than scheduled, operating three days per week.
Jetstar will fly from Melbourne and Darwin to Singapore from December 16 this year.
Qantas flights between Sydney to Fiji will be brought forward to December 7 with four return flights a week. Jetstar flights to Fiji will resume on December 17.
Flights from Sydney to Johannesburg will resume on January 5, 2022, three months earlier than scheduled with three return flights a week.
Flights from Sydney to Bangkok will resume on January 14, 2022, more than two months earlier than scheduled with five return flights a week.
Jetstar will also resume flights from Sydney to Phuket on January 12, 2022, more than two months earlier than scheduled with three return flights a week.
Flights to Honolulu, Vancouver, Tokyo and New Zealand are still scheduled to commence from mid-December this year, with other destinations to restart in the new year.
Due to the current border policy, all these flights are limited to Australian citizens, permanent residents and their immediate families and parents, but Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said he expects tourists from Singapore, South Africa and India to take advantage of these flights once borders reopen to international visitors.
He also hailed the scraping of hotel quarantine for arrived international travellers by the state of New South Wales (NSW).
“The decision by the NSW government to join many cities from around the world by removing quarantine for fully vaccinated travelers means we’re able to add these flights from Sydney much earlier than we would have otherwise,” said Joyce.
For domestic routes, Qantas and Jetstar are also preparing to ramp up capacity between Melbourne and Sydney as quarantine-free travel is set to resume between Australia’s two largest cities.
With all these decisions, the group’s 22,000 employees, who were stood down in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, will be able to return to work in December.
“This is the best news we’ve had in almost two years and it will make a massive difference to thousands of our people who finally get to fly again,” Joyce said.
