The announcements were pouring out of Qantas’ public relations department yesterday, as the group launched a new lounge and unveiled a new Australian regional route.
The Qantas First Lounge opened in Los Angeles this week, with Australian celebrities such as Human Nature in attendance.
Seating roughly 200 customers, the lounge features include Californian Knoll furniture, Tuscan Carrara marbled floors and a 48 foot-long bar.
Similar to the airline’s lounge in Sydney, the new Qantas First Lounge in Los Angeles features a new 74-seat restaurant and bar where customers can dine from a Neil Perry Rockpool designed a la carte menu while enjoying a view of the open-style kitchen.
There’s also a new menu, which will be updated seasonally, and features a mixture of signature Rockpool Bar and Grill dishes including Black Angus minute steak with chipotle butter and lime. And there’s local LA-inspired cuisine including Mexican, Korean and Italian, and favourites from the First Lounges in Sydney and Melbourne such as the Salt and Pepper Squid.
Qantas chief, Alan Joyce, who was also attended the launch, said he believes the lounge will offer the best on-ground first class experience in North America.
He said the new lounge is triple the size of the previous space and its design is equal to that of a five star hotel and restaurant.
“This new lounge is symbolic of our continued investment in our customers and commitment to the US market. We are the only airline to operate non-stop A380 services between Australia and the United States, we’ve recently introduced the A380 on services between Sydney and Dallas/Fort Worth and opened a new Business Lounge in LA in June.”
Alan Joyce, Qantas chief executive
Meanwhile, Qantas’ regional subsidiary, QantasLink has added a new route to its network, with flights to Whyalla from Adelaide starting next year.
QantasLink will offer a double daily service on its 50-seat Q300 aircraft from 13 April. The service will provide 1,300 seats a week, or more than 65,000 seats a year, between Whyalla and Adelaide.
QantasLink Chief Executive Officer John Gissing said the new route will expand business and tourism opportunities for the Whyalla community.
To celebrate the launch the new service QantasLink is offering a launch sale fare of $79 one way on sale until 23 December 15 for travel between 13 April 2015 – 11 October 2015.
