Qantas has unveiled a raft of changes to its international network across Asia-Pacific and North America, including the addition of a new destination, a lot more seats and new aircraft. But it has also announced it will cancel flights to Seoul (Korea).
Starting February 2025, the airline will add about 220,000 seats over 12 months to meet rising demand in APAC and the US.
A new addition to the QF network, Qantas has unveiled its first-ever service to Palau.
Expected to commence in the “coming months”, the Brisbane-Palau service will operate once weekly using the flying kangaroo’s B737 aircraft.
Due to go on sale in the next few weeks, Qantas says the new ‘Palau Paradise Express’ service will operate as part of a government contract awarded to the carrier.
It is anticipated the new route will help boost two-way tourism and trade ties between Australia and Palau.
US rising
Qantas will increase capacity to the US by 30 per cent, offering more premium seats on long-haul flights with two A380s back in service from August.
Brisbane travellers will also see the return of the B787 Dreamliner, providing premium economy and more options for Los Angeles and Auckland routes.
Marking its international debut, QantasLink’s new A220 aircraft will start on the Darwin-Singapore route in March and offer over 70,000 seats annually with five weekly flights.
This larger aircraft replaces the previously planned Embraer E190, marking a new phase in the Qantas fleet renewal program.
According to the airline, the A220 opens “opportunities for new short-haul international routes”, so travellers may see more of these journeys operated by the nimble 220 in the near future.
“We’re so excited to be offering our customers more than 220,000 additional seats on our network, a new international destination, and our brand-new A220 aircraft for our Singapore – Darwin flights, which will be the first of its kind to operate out of Singapore,” Qantas Group International CEO Cam Wallace said.
“We’re also looking forward to seeing more of our A380s return to the skies and offering more premium seats for customers to book to some of our popular international destinations.
“As part of our historic fleet renewal program, these changes are about having the right aircraft on the right route and responding to growing customer demand.”
Seoul stopping
Meanwhile, from mid-June 2025, Qantas will end its Sydney-Seoul route, with Jetstar increasing services to daily (from four per week).
The airline says the swap will result in Qantas Group carriers offering more flights overall between the cities and better service the popular Korea-bound leisure market.
Affected customers will be contacted about schedule changes in the coming days.
“One of the benefits of our dual brand strategy is the flexibility we have with our combined Qantas and Jetstar fleets,” Wallace said.
“Qantas launched flights to Seoul after the pandemic, and now that demand has normalised, it’s grown substantially as a leisure market, opening up a great opportunity for Jetstar to increase its frequencies and allow Qantas to redeploy its aircraft to other routes where we are seeing strong demand.
“This growth is good news for our people and also allows us to offer more choice for our customers travelling around the Qantas network.”
Summary of network changes
| Route | Change | Timing |
| United States | ||
| Melbourne-Dallas | Flights to increase from three to four per week. | 6 February 2025 |
| Sydney-New York (via Auckland) | Flights to reduce from six to five per week. | 6 February 2025 |
| Brisbane-Los Angeles | Boeing 787 Dreamliner to return to the route, more than doubling premium seat capacity and offering customers the additional choice of Premium Economy. Daily flights to be operated by a mix of A330 and 787 aircraft. | 11 August 2025 |
| Sydney-Dallas | A380 to resume on the route for the first time since pre-COVID. Daily flights to be operated by a mix of A380 and 787 aircraft. | 11 August 2025 |
| Asia | ||
| Sydney-Seoul | Qantas to cease flights. Jetstar to increase flights from four per week to daily from June, a 4 per cent increase in seats on the route. | 14 June 2025 |
| Darwin-Singapore | Route to launch with new QantasLink A220 aircraft, operating five days per week. Previously scheduled to be operated by the E190, the aircraft change offers more than 50 additional seats on the route each week. | 30 March 2025 |
| Tasman and the Pacific | ||
| Brisbane-Auckland | 787 to be introduced on the route for the first time, operating alongside 737 and A330 flights, a 40 per cent increase in seats on the route each year. | 11 August 2025 |
| Brisbane-Noumea | Flights to resume after they were temporarily suspended in April, increasing from one to up to two per week, with the Embraer E190 aircraft operating on the route for the first time. | 14 December 2024 |
| Brisbane – Palau | Weekly flights to be operated by Qantas’ B737 aircraft. | Expected to launch in the coming months |
*Subject to government and regulatory approval.
In a major shake-up to travel to Japan, Qantas also recently announced its plan to replace its current Melbourne and Brisbane flights to Tokyo Narita Airport with services to Tokyo Haneda Airport by early 2025.
In September, the airline also unveiled a new Africa route as well as its first-ever A380 flights to the continent.
