While the pandemic put a freeze on most flights out of Australia, the vast majority of “paused” routes have since been revived. What’s more, a multitude of brand-new routes has also launched – especially from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
Despite this, there are still some gaps in overseas air travel, when comparing pre- and post-pandemic flights ex-Australia. So what are these unrestored routes?
Fortunately for Australia’s busiest airport, Sydney, virtually every air route has returned.
“All carriers previously flying with SYD have returned post-COVID, excluding Samoa Airways which has ceased flying altogether,” Sydney Airport told Karryon.
“This carrier was previously flying two services per week at Sydney Airport pre-COVID.”
Air Vanuatu also flew to Sydney but went into administration in May this year, with all of its international flights still grounded.
Australia’s busiest 24/7 hub, Melbourne Airport, is still awaiting the return of two routes.
The most significant of these is Air Canada’s Melbourne-Vancouver service, which was suspended in 2020.
In 2023, Tokyo-based Air Canada Senior Director of Sales Asia-Pacific Kiyo Weiss told Karryon she saw a lot of potential in the Melbourne market and would love to see it “return as early as next winter, but no decision has been made”. That’s still the case today.
According to Melbourne Airport, another carrier still missing from MEL is Tianjin Airlines, which operated on average two flights per week between Tullamarine and Chongqing in China.
Queensland’s main gateway, Brisbane Airport, now offers 32 international routes, whereas before the pandemic it boasted 33 overseas destinations.
However, BNE told Karryon there are at least five new destinations it has now that didn’t exist before, including Doha (Qatar Airways), Ho Chih Min City (Vietjet), Osaka (Jetstar), Dallas (American Airlines – commencing 29 October) and Palau (Nauru Airlines).
The routes that haven’t resumed are Abu Dhabi (Etihad), Honolulu (Hawaiian Airlines), Thai Airways (Bangkok), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia Airlines), Shenzhen (Hainan Airlines), Bander Ser Begawan (Royal Brunei) and Dunedin (Virgin Australia).
In WA, the only international airline that hasn’t returned to Perth following the pandemic is China Southern Airlines. But that hole will be filled when CZ returns to WA with Perth-Guangzhou flights in late November.
“We’ve also seen a number of new international airlines commence operations from Perth including the Vietjet and Vietnam Airlines direct services to Ho Chi Minh City,” Perth Airport told Karryon.
In Adelaide, only one international airline has yet to announce its return – Cathay Pacific. So South Australians travelling to Hong Kong still need to hop on two flights to get there.
China Southern has also yet to return to SA, but this week announced it will resume ADL services in December 2024.
Emirates will also restart Adelaide operations in October this year.
Over in the capital, Canberra Airport is still missing flights to Doha (Qatar Airways) and Singapore (Singapore Airlines), but the ACT hub has picked up two brand new routes, Nadi (Fiji Airways) and Bali (Batik Air). In an interview last year, CBR MD Stephen Byron told Karryon he imagined both Qatar and Singapore would return in the near future, but that still hasn’t happened.
Up in the Northern Territory, Darwin Airport has seen almost all of its pre-COVID routes resume, except for Donghai Airlines’ Darwin-Shenzhen service. Jetstar Asia and Qantas have also yet to return their Singapore and Dili flights respectively, but those routes are also operated by Singapore Airlines and Airnorth.
“Prior to COVID-19, Darwin International Airport catered for flights to four international destinations: Singapore, Bali, Shenzhen and Dili,” an airport spokesperson told Karryon.
“DIA continues to work with airlines to help return passenger and flight numbers to pre-COVID-19 levels and is pleased to see flights continue from DIA to Singapore, Bali and Dili.”
