One of the hottest overseas destinations for Aussies has a new link from Australia – and it’s a pretty historic one.
Qantas has connected Melbourne with Tokyo Haneda Airport for the first time, with inaugural flights by any airline between the two major hubs commencing over the weekend.
The service marks the resumption of Qantas flights between Melbourne and Tokyo after the carrier paused its Melbourne-Tokyo Narita services more than three years ago on account of the pandemic.
With the service, passengers will save up to two hours of commuting time thanks to Haneda’s closer proximity to downtown Tokyo than Narita, which lies around 60 kilometres east of central Tokyo.
The service will operate four days per week utilising the Airbus A3300 aircraft.
“We’ve seen the demand for our Tokyo flights bounce back very strongly, and our research shows that it is one of the top tourist destinations that Australians plan on visiting in the next 12 months,” Qantas Domestic and International CEO Andrew David said.
Flowering flights
“Our customers in Victoria have been looking forward to the return of this route, with the flights launching in time for travellers to enjoy the cherry blossom season in Japan.
“Corporate travellers can also now save time on their airport commute by flying into or out of Haneda.”
The new Melbourne service joins nonstop Qantas Sydney and Brisbane-Tokyo Haneda services; together, the three routes will provide over 420,000 seats between Australia and Japan each year.
“We’re pleased we can now offer our customers much easier access to Tokyo city centre and the world’s third-largest economy from three major east coast Australian cities,” David remarked.
“We’d like to thank the Victorian Government and Melbourne Airport for their support on the launch of this route.”
In total, the Qantas Group operates up to 35 return flights per week from Australia to Japan, comprising the Haneda services and also Jetstar flights from Cairns to Narita and Osaka, and Gold Coast to Narita.
Meanwhile, Qantas will also commence the rollout of its massive new menu upgrades across international and domestic services.
