Medha.id. Gradual restart planned around National Cabinet’s phased reopening of international borders.
- Current date of December 2021 remains in reach, based on pace of vaccine rollout.
- Plans remain dependent on Government decisions in coming months, including future quarantine requirements.
- Destinations with high vaccination rates are initial focus, including North America, UK, Singapore, Japan.
- Early return of five A380s to meet high demand to Los Angeles and London from mid-2022.
- Total of 10 A380s with upgraded cabins to return to service; two to be retired.
The Qantas Group has today provided more detail on preparations for restarting its international flights, with plans linked to the vaccine rollout in Australia and key overseas markets.
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On current projections Australia is expected to reach National Cabinet’s ‘Phase C’ vaccination threshold of 80 per cent in December 2021, which would trigger the gradual reopening of international borders.
Similarly, key markets like the UK, North America and parts of Asia have high and increasing levels of vaccination. This makes them highly likely to be classed as low risk countries for vaccinated travellers to visit and return from under reduced quarantine requirements, pending decisions by the Australian Government and entry policies of other countries.
This creates a range of potential travel options that Qantas and Jetstar are now preparing for. While COVID has shown that circumstances can change unexpectedly, the long lead times for international readiness means the Group needs to make some reasonable assumptions based on the latest data to make sure it can offer flights to customers as soon as they become feasible.
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Flights to destinations that still have low vaccine rates and high levels of COVID infection will now be pushed out from December 2021 until April 2022 – including Bali, Jakarta, Manila, Bangkok, Phuket, Ho Chi Minh City and Johannesburg. Levels of travel demand – and therefore, capacity levels – will hinge largely on government decisions on alternative requirements to mandatory hotel isolation for fully vaccinated travellers.
Assuming current projections hold and the 80 per cent vaccine threshold is met in December, Qantas and Jetstar plan to trigger a gradual restart as outlined below. If those assumptions change or dates move, the restart plans will adjust accordingly.
