Great news from Dow Under!
Qantas will begin direct flights between Sydney and San Francisco six days a week from December under an expanded co-operation agreement with American Airlines.
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce and American Airlines CEO Doug Parker made the announcement in Miami on Tuesday, with Mr Joyce saying the deal was “unbelievably significant” for his airline and for Australian passengers.
Mr Parker said his airline from December 17 would operate a daily non-stop flight between Los Angeles and Sydney, providing a new destination for its customers.
“We are working to significantly expand our joint business to allow us greater commercial operation on trans-Pacific routes between North America and Australia and New Zealand.”
The new Sydney to LA route would be flown by American’s flagship Boeing 777-300ER.
Mr Joyce said the new Pacific routes operating from December were subject to regulatory approval but were part of a plan by the airlines to grow the Pacific market by around nine per cent.
The new direct flight between Sydney and San Francisco on a Qantas Boeing 747 would take around 14 hours.
“This would leave American and Qantas as the biggest players on the Pacific route, taking advantage of the free trade agreement between the two countries,” Mr Joyce said.
“Having American market Australia, as part of their network, will really enhance this going forward.”
Mr Joyce said a lower Australian dollar should lead to significant growth in the number of Americans flying to Australia.
“That’s why we’re very excited at having the American organisation help market this new revenue sharing adventure going forward.
“We think that has the potential of increasing the demand dramatically.”
Mr Joyce said the airline had seen “a little bit of weakness” in the number of Australians going to places like Honolulu “but it’s not dramatic”.
“This partnership is unbelievably significant and these growth opportunities … we’re really excited about”.
Mr Joyce said Qantas had made progress in paying down debt, had achieved record levels of customer satisfaction and was committed to returning money to shareholders.
“We’re on a good path to deliver on that,” he said.
Mr Parker said the expanded partnership deal would mean both airlines would become stronger global competitors and customers would benefit from a more seamless service under the shared arrangement.
He said people travelling from Australia would have easy access to 150 destinations throughout North America on his airline’s domestic network.
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