(TAN): Qantas will operate its flagship direct route from Australia to London via Darwin when international flights resume in November with the reopening of Australia’s border.
The national carrier has reached an agreement with the Northern Territory Government and Darwin Airport to temporarily reroute its flights from Melbourne and Sydney through Darwin.
The Darwin hub arrangement will be in place in time for borders reopening from November 14 until at least April 2022 when London flights are scheduled to operate via Perth again. While this is a temporary change to the route, Qantas will watch how it performs and is open-minded about what it could lead to down the track.
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The Sydney-Darwin-London route will begin on November 14 while the Melbourne-Darwin-London route is currently scheduled to begin on December 18 but could start earlier depending on discussions with the Victorian Government on shorter quarantine arrangements for returning travellers.
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said the new route via Darwin will be made possible due to the support from the Northern Territory Government who have been instrumental in helping Qantas facilitate the new route in a post COVID-19 operating environment.
