Qantas may have made a small and subtle step towards launching non-stop flights between Australia and France in the form of an extended codeshare agreement with Air France.
OR we could just be reading a little too far into things, we’ll let you decide…
The Flying Kangaroo renewed and extended its codeshare agreement with Air France this week, less than two months after Qantas’ Chief Executive Alan Joyce told The West Australian that he was evaluating new non-stop routes to Europe, including a potential Perth-Paris service.
Speaking to the publication, he said new direct services to the Old Continent depends on the success of the current Perth-London route, which is achieving record-breaking flight times and”strong” bookings in premium classes.
“The response to the flight has been amazing, both for the attention it’s received and the bookings we’ve seen coming in.”
Alan Joyce, Qantas Chief Executive
It’s all sounding positively Paris!
While we patiently wait to learn where Australia will receive its first non-stop commercial service to France, Qantas and Air France have renewed and extended their current codeshare agreement to include flights to Asia.
From 20 July 2018 (and available for bookings from 5 June), Air France will add its code to Qantas flights between Hong Kong and Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane and between Singapore and Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.
Air France customers will also be able to access codeshare services from Sydney to five cities on the Australian airline’s domestic network including Canberra, Hobart, Adelaide, Cairns and Darwin.
Under the reciprocal deal, Qantas will add its code to flights operated by Air France between Singapore and Hong Kong and Paris-Charles de Gaulle, as a continuation of flights from Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth.
Qantas and Air France agreed that the arrangement will offer flyers “the best possible travel solutions” from single ticket itineraries to through-checked baggage and points.
“The return of this popular codeshare delivers on our strategy of partnering to provide customers with access to an expanded network and more seamless travel experiences wherever they want to fly.”
Alison Webster, Qantas International Chief Executive
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