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I wrote earlier about how the joint venture between American and Qantas was conditionally approved today. This is something that both airlines hope to get approved for years. The fact that this has finally happened is great news.
However, to justify this joint venture, they had to prove to the Department of Transport that it would be in the interest of consumers. In this context, American and Qantas announced that they would open up to three additional new links between Australia and the United States over the next two years, in addition to increasing the capacity of existing links.
Although these routes have been known for some time, Qantas has now confirmed what they would be.
Qantas to launch non-stop flights from Brisbane to Chicago and San Francisco over the next two years. They say that they will do it once the DOT has given its final approval to the joint venture.
Qantas Business Class 787-9
These two flights are quite important:
- Qantas already operates flights from Melbourne and Sydney to San Francisco. The addition of a third destination in the San Francisco Bay Area is therefore impressive. San Francisco is a huge market and, in addition to that, Qantas has partnered with Alaska, which provides them with information to and from SFO.
- A Brisbane-Chicago flight would cover a distance of nearly 9,000 miles and would be about one hundred miles shorter than the Perth-London flight from Qantas; it would be the fourth longest flight in the world
Both routes would be operated by 787. Qantas currently has eight 787-9 in its fleet, and six more will be delivered in the next few years. Presumably, they would need some extra 787 to launch either of these routes unless they mix their current network.
You may be wondering why Qantas would operate his Chicago flight from Brisbane rather than Sydney. Well, the flight to Sydney will last about 330 miles, and at about 9,230 miles, it's a stretch for the 787-9, especially with the headwinds that we often see across the Pacific.
As for additional routes, Qantas talked about launching nonstop flights to Seattle. Although it was not mentioned this time, I guess it's something they care about.
The premium economy 787-9 of Qantas
Bottom line
While I am generally opposed to the expansion of joint ventures – particularly in markets where competition is already weak – we could see good new connections and increases in capacity.
The question is whether Qantas would have launched these roads otherwise. It can not be denied that the Americans and Qantas have deliberately reduced transpacific flights in order to convince the DOT. Even if they saw a business case for one or other of these non-joint venture routes, they would have absolutely waited.
What do you think of Qantas launching flights between Brisbane and Chicago and San Francisco?
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