Qantas CEO Alan Joyce announces direct Sydney to New York service scrapped
Qantas cancels flight to major airport… but Aussies won’t mind at all: ‘It had a lot of problems’
- Qantas scraps Sydney to LA route for Auckland to LAX
- Alan Joyce said the route will improve connectivity issues
- Aussies fly to NZ and then transfer to a US flight
Qantas is scrapping its route from Sydney to New York via LAX and replacing it with a direct flight from Auckland to the Big Apple, insisting it’s in The interests of Australian travellers.
The layover in Los Angeles has long been fraught with problems, as passengers are forced to collect their luggage and clear customs after their 14-hour journey, before re-boarding a connecting flight to New York.
The national airline believes they will start in New Zealand, skip the hectic west coast airport and fly straight to New York on the Flying Kangaroo’s 787 Dreamliner Fleet, will make the journey easier.
Qantas is scrapping the route from Sydney to New York via LAX and replacing it with a direct flight from Auckland to the Big Apple as it is in the interest of Aussie travelers. Pictured is Alan Joyce, CEO of Qantas
The layover in Los Angeles has long been fraught with delays as passengers are forced after their 14-hour journey to collect their luggage and clear customs before boarding a connecting flight to New York
“Los Angeles had a lot of connectivity issues – you had to pick up your bag, go through customs and immigration and check in again for the Qantas flight going to New York,” Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said before boarding the plane. the inauguration. flight.
The route from Sydney to New York was ditched three years ago during the pandemic and the new route was launched on Wednesday.
This now puts Qantas in direct competition with code-sharing ally Air New Zealand.
“We have always called Air New Zealand our enemy,” outgoing chief executive Alan Joyce told Radio NZ.
“We’re friends on many things… we’re going to be major commercial competitors on this route.”
Both airlines use Boeing 787 Dreamliners on the route.
The flight is the fifth longest in the world, confirming Qantas as a long-haul specialist, operating three of those routes.
The route launch also comes as Qantas dramatically ramps up its trans-Tasman game, opening more routes and increasing frequency to overtake Air New Zealand on most routes.
In October, Qantas will also operate four return flights a week from Auckland to NYC compared to Air NZ’s three, surpassing the Kiwi airline on its flagship route.
The revamped route means Qantas now has three of the five longest flights in the world alongside Perth to London and Dallas to Melbourne
The flight route starts three days a week and is expanded to four days in October
“This will be a lot easier for passengers coming from Australia. We have 11 flights a day from Australia to Auckland. It will connect to this service,’ Mr Joyce told Nine.
Australian travelers remain ‘airside’ throughout the journey, with bags fully checked.
The journey from Auckland to New York’s JFK airport is 14,205 km and takes more than 16 hours.
After years of operations marred by pandemic restrictions, Qantas says it is at about 85 percent of its pre-COVID patronage, which it hopes to match by March next year.