Qantas is celebrating its best first-half year performance in its 95-year history by introducing extra flights, opening a new lounge AND giving its local flyers free inflight Wi-Fi.
Hold on a second, that was almost too much to absorb… did the carrier say free inflight Wi-Fi?
A-mazing!
Let’s start at the beginning. In case you missed it, the Qantas Group’s underlying profit before tax for the first six months of the 2015/16 financial year reached $921 million – up $554 million compared to the same period the prior year.
This underlying result is a record first-half-year performance for the carrier and means Qantas’ 2015 calendar-year performance was the best in its 95-year history.
But the best part of that result is that every part of the Qantas Group contributed strongly, with record underlying profits for Qantas Domestic, the Jetstar Group and Qantas Loyalty.
What’s a carrier to do with all this extra cash ‘flying’ around? Make some new investments in airports, inflight product and services.
Here are four major updates you need to know from Qantas:
1. More flights to Singapore
Qantas will increase capacity to meet demand on this popular Asian route.
Effective 3 July this year, Qantas will operate nine services per week between Perth and Singapore and will further increase to 10 services per week from 19 August.
These new additions will double the capacity on the route since its launch in June 2015 and are the latest in a series of recent capacity increases across Qantas’ Asian network.
2. And New Zealand
Brissie is getting a little more Kiwi lovin’ from the carrier with a third weekly service between Brisbane and Christchurch year-round as well as a fourth weekly service during school holiday peaks.
The additional third service starts from 18 June to meet strong demand from customers on both sides of the Tasman.
The service also allows customers travelling on the airline’s morning Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo Narita services into Brisbane, to connect seamlessly with Qantas’ service into Christchurch.
3. There’s a lounge opening… in Heathrow
First there was a lounge upgrade in LA, a new lounge in Perth and now a completely new space for frequent and high-end flyers to put up their feet before flying in… Heathrow.
London will be the location for Qantas’ next flagship global lounge, with construction of a new, dedicated facility at Heathrow Airport to begin in September 2016.
The premium lounge will occupy a split-level space in Terminal 3 that will have capacity for approximately 230 people and offer views over the Heathrow airfield when it opens in early 2017.
Of course, the new space will have signature features from Qantas’ facilities in other ports (like the Rockpool menu and cocktails) but with a few local touches.
CEO Alan Joyce said London remains one of the carrier’s most important destinations and the lounge at Heathrow will be “something special”.
Among the features inside the Heathrow lounge will be full bathroom facilities including showers; business facilities; plus a children’s zone.
The lounge will be available to Qantas business and first class passengers; Platinum One, Platinum and Gold members of the Qantas Frequent Flyer program; and passengers travelling in tiered cabins on partner airlines with a QF Code.
4. And free inflight Wi-Fi
It has been talked about in the past but it looks like it’s finally happening. Passengers WILL be able to play Candy Crush on their phones while travelling with Qantas around Australia without paying a cent.
The carrier entered a new partnership with global broadband services provider ViaSat to bring fast and free Wi-Fi aboard its aircraft.
The new service will feature speeds up to 10 times faster than conventional on-board wi-fi, giving customers the ability to stream movies, TV shows, the latest news bulletins and live sports on domestic flights via the internet.
In-flight trials are expected to begin with a single Qantas Boeing 737 aircraft in late 2016. A full roll-out across Qantas Domestic’s fleet of A330s and B737s is planned from early 2017.
Joyce said the goal is to make the country home to the world’s best inflight Wi-Fi experience and as a premium carrier it will be delivered to guests free of charge.
“As a premium carrier, delivering value for money to our customers is extremely important to us.”
Alan Joyce, Qantas CEO
“That’s why we’ll be offering access to Wi-Fi for free, on top of all the other things that are included when you fly Qantas.”
Qantas is also examining options for high-speed Wi-Fi across its international and regional fleet.
