Qantas is to introduce daily A380 flights between Melbourne and London by March 2011, increasing frequency from two return services each week.
The carrier will also expand its codeshare on British Airways services between London Heathrow and Europe to include six new destinations, Rome, Milan, Toulouse, Prague, Warsaw and Budapest. These will be on sale from June 14 and for travel from July 21 this year.
Qantas says it will increase services between Melbourne and London to five times a week when it takes delivery of its eighth A380 then will go six times a week after a ninth is delivered. Next March a tenth will arrive, meaning a daily service can commence. The airline plans to operate 20 A380s eventually.
Qantas currently has six A380s in service. It expects to take delivery of its seventh at the end of the year, enabling Sydney-London A380 services to go daily.
Qantas chief executive officer Alan Joyce said: “We are delighted to be making this commitment to introduce daily A380 services on one of our flagship routes. The Qantas A380 first flew between Melbourne and London in January 2010, and we consider it a priority to increase the frequency of those services when the next tranche of A380s begins arriving from late this year. Not only will this benefit customers travelling from Melbourne to London, it will also enable a connection to A380 services for Qantas passengers flying into Singapore from Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.”
