Qantas is in the news again today because the airline has announced that it will recommence flights to New York “with a new service from Australia to the Big Apple via Auckland from 14 June next year.”
New York City has been off the national airline carrier’s list of destinations for the past three years thanks to a Covid-induced hiatus. However, the flying kangaroo will be crisscrossing the Pacific three days a week (to begin with) thanks to three new Boeing 787 Dreamliners. That’s the same Dreamliner that’s flying direct to Rome from Perth.
“Customer feedback on our direct London and Rome services show how well suited our Dreamliner cabins are to longer international flights like these, which is helped by the fact we designed them with more room and fewer seats than most of our competitors,” said Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce.
A bit of extra room is very-much welcome on a 16-hour flight. And for those who’ve racked up points, you might be thrilled to find out that there will be two Points Planes available in the first week of the new service. The media statement also mentioned that “Points Plane connections will also be available for Frequent Flyers based in Brisbane and Melbourne to use Classic Rewards for their trans-Tasman flights.”
For those without any points or Classic Rewards, you’re going to have to get yourself a seat on one of the 11 daily flights that will be departing Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne for Auckland. (Currently, there are only six daily flights from these locations.) Sydney to New York via Auckland flights are now on sale.
Earlier in the year, Qantas announced that they are planning direct flights to New York and London from Australia. They’re set to be the longest flights in the world when they begin with flight times of around 20 hours. These, however, are expected to depart in 2025. Until then, it’s via Auckland for flights to New York.