Sydney, May 14: Qantas has announced the suspension of its Sydney-Shanghai flights starting July 28, due to low passenger numbers.
The service had resumed in October last year following a hiatus during the COVID pandemic, but has not seen the expected recovery in demand.
The airline plans to closely monitor the market conditions between Australia and China and intends to resume the Shanghai service when demand improves.
In the meantime, Qantas customers can still reach Shanghai via connecting flights through Hong Kong, serviced by partner airlines, where Qantas Points can still be earned and redeemed.
Affected passengers booked on Shanghai flights from the mentioned date will be contacted for a full refund, or they may opt to rebook through Qantas or their travel agents for alternative flights.
The aircraft previously deployed on the Shanghai route will now be used to increase services to other Asian destinations experiencing higher demand or new tourism opportunities.
Additionally, starting Oct 28, Qantas will launch a new route from Brisbane to Manila, marking the first such connection in over a decade. This route will be serviced four times a week using Airbus A330s.
Qantas is also set to expand its services to Singapore and India.
The Sydney to Singapore route will see an increase from 14 to 17 return flights weekly starting 11 December 2024, and the Brisbane to Singapore service will grow from seven to nine weekly return flights from Oct 27 .
These adjustments are aimed at improving connection times for the daily Singapore to London service, effectively reducing the overall travel time to Heathrow.
The Sydney to Bengaluru route will increase from five to daily flights during the peak holiday season, from mid-December 2024 to late March 2025, adding over 12,000 seats across the period.
Tickets for these additional flights are now available on the Qantas website and through travel agents. Booking for the new Brisbane to Manila flights will open shortly.
Qantas International CEO Cam Wallace commented on the changes: “We’re always looking to ensure that we have the right aircraft, on the right routes and at the right time of year to best meet the needs of our customers. Since COVID, the demand for travel between Australia and China has not recovered as strongly as expected. In some months, our flights to and from Shanghai have been operating around half full. That’s why we’ve decided to suspend this route and boost flying to other popular destinations with a new route from Brisbane to Manila and additional flights to Singapore and Bengaluru. This will create more choice for our corporate and leisure customers and make it even easier for them to access the places they need to travel to in Asia. We’ll continue to maintain a presence in China through our partners and our existing flights to Hong Kong and look to return to Shanghai in the future.”
All route additions and adjustments are subject to government and regulatory approval.
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