Qantas announces major updates and new route to its international network

Qantas has posted major updates and changes to its international routes to the United States, Asia and the Pacific, along with a new route and aircraft announcement.

Additional capacity to US flights

The Australian flag carrier said it will boost capacity to the US by 13%, offering 30% more first and business class seats for customers on long-haul flights with the return of its A380s to the network from August 2025.

New route

Qantas said it will also add Palau to its service for the first time, operating weekly flights from Brisbane Airport (BNE) to Palau International Airport (ROR) with its B737 aircraft. 

The service will be known as the ‘Palau Paradise Express’, and is set to operate as part of a contract awarded to Qantas by the Australian government and will help maintain strong trade and tourism links between Australia and Palau. 

The new route, which is still subject to government approval, is expected to commence in the coming months and flights will go on sale in the next few weeks.

Boosting capacity from Darwin to Singapore with a new aircraft

Qantas will also deploy its A220 fleet on its first international service when the airline begins its flights from Darwin International Airport (DRW) to Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) in March 2025.

The carrier had originally planned for its Embraer E190 to fly the route, but with the bigger A220 aircraft, the service will have capacity for 137 seats, five times per week.

As part of its fleet renewal program, Qantas intends to replace its long-serving fleet of Boeing 717s with the A220. The airline ordered a total of 29 A220 jets, of which it has so far received four. 

“We’re so excited to be offering our customers more than 220,000 additional seats on our network, a new international destination, and our brand-new A220 aircraft for our Singapore – Darwin flights, which will be the first of its kind to operate out of Singapore,” Cam Wallace, Qantas Group International CEO said in a statement.

“We’re also looking forward to seeing more of our A380s return to the skies and offering more premium seats for customers to book to some of our popular international destinations,” Wallace added.

Qantas axing flights to Seoul

Beginning mid-June 2025, Qantas said it will cease flying the Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport (SYD) to Seoul Incheon International Airport (ICN) route. Meanwhile, Jetstar, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Qantas, will increase this route from four times per week to daily flights.

Qantas said the switch will better serve the strong leisure demand for the route.

“Qantas launched flights to Seoul after the pandemic, and now that demand has normalized, it’s grown substantially as a leisure market, opening up a great opportunity for Jetstar to increase its frequencies and allow Qantas to redeploy its aircraft to other routes where we are seeing strong demand,” Wallace said. 

“This growth is good news for our people and also allows us to offer more choice for our customers traveling around the Qantas network,” Wallace added.

Full changes and updates, including schedules, can be seen here:

Our Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners are returning to Brisbane! Today we announced a number of upcoming changes to our international schedule, which include: Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners to begin flying from Brisbane on Los Angeles & Auckland routes in August 2025 Airbus A380 to… pic.twitter.com/TUku2eg9fm— Qantas (@Qantas) October 16, 2024

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