Qantas hopeful of restarting UK flights this year
James ChappleQantas plans to restart flights to the UK from mid-December, providing Australia meets its target of achieving 80% vaccination against Covid-19 by then.
The carrier on Thursday (26 August) said its projections suggested the country would reach the government’s Phase C vaccination threshold by the festive period, which Qantas believes is likely to trigger a "gradual reopening of international borders".
Moreover, Qantas is confident high levels of vaccination in "key markets" such as the UK, North America and parts of Asia would likely see them classed low-risk by the Australian government.
"This creates a range of potential travel options that Qantas and Jetstar are now preparing for," said the group.
"While Covid has shown circumstances can change unexpectedly, the long lead times for international readiness means the group needs to make some reasonable assumptions based on the latest data to make sure it can offer flights to customers as soon as they become feasible."
Setting out is restart plans, Qantas said from mid-December, flights would restart to what it designates "Covid-safe" destinations. These include the UK, the US, Canada, Japan and Singapore.
Qantas will deploy Boeing 787 and Airbus A330 aircraft on these routes.
Five A380s, meanwhile, will return to service ahead of schedule, flying Sydney-London via Singapore from November 2022, as well as Sydney-Los Angeles from July 2022.
Additionally, Qantas said its ability to fly to London non-stop would likely be in "even higher demand" post-Covid.
It is investigating using Darwin as an additional or alternative transit point to its hub in Perth owing to Western Australia’s "conservative border policies".
Darwin has been Qantas’s main entry for repatriation flights.
Qantas Group chief executive Alan Joyce said the current pace of the vaccine rollout meant Australians "should have a lot more freedom in a few months’ time".
"With Australia on track to meet the 80% trigger agreed by National Cabinet by the end of the year, we need to plan ahead for what is a complex restart process," said Joyce.
He added Qantas was working to integrate Iata’s Travel Pass into its systems to allow passengers to prove their vaccine status. The app recently recognised the NHS Covid Pass.
"Some people might say we’re being too optimistic, but based on the pace of the vaccine rollout, this is within reach and we want to make sure we’re ready," Joyce added.
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