What airlines have in store for Aussie travellers
The national carrier is launching a direct service to Paris in 2024, which looks set to be a big year for domestic and international flyers.
From Qantas’s new Paris route to Air New Zealand’s much anticipated Skynest economy beds, 2024 is shaping up to be a landmark year for aviation. After an often rocky recovery from the grim Covid period, a record 9.4bn passengers are forecast to fly in 2024, eclipsing 2019 figures for the first time. Not even a problematic aircraft supply chain is expected to threaten the long awaited milestone as the appetite for travel continues in ravenous proportions.
In Australia, new A220s are set to make their domestic debut this year, with Qantas planning to put the 137-seat aircraft on Melbourne-Canberra. The narrow bodies will replace QantasLink’s ageing Boeing 717s, and promise a quieter, more environmentally friendly flight than their predecessor.
Qantas has 29 A220s on order from Airbus, seven of which are due for delivery in 2024, opening up a world of new possibilities. With a range of 6300km, the A220s are capable of flying between any city or town in Australia, and could also operate international routes such as Melbourne-Jakarta, Sydney-Bali or Perth-Bangkok.
Later in the year, Qantas is hoping to see the first of its 20 new A321XLRs, which will progressively replace Boeing 737s on domestic and also some international routes. Seating 200 passengers in a two-cabin format, the A321XLRs should make their global debut by mid-year in the Middle East, followed by the US and Australia.
As the “XLR” in the name suggests, the aircraft’s main selling point is its ability to give airlines more flexibility in their network thanks to their extra-long range. Rather than having to fill 300-seats or more in a wide-body aircraft, airlines can instead use the more economical, narrow body A321s for routes such as Sydney-Kuala Lumpur, Brisbane-Bangkok and New York-Rome.
Virgin Australia also plans to make more use of new narrow-body aircraft on overseas flights, with 11 more Boeing 737 Max 8s due to arrive in 2024. With three already delivered, Virgin Australia passengers are fast becoming familiar with the Max 8s’ key features, including significantly larger overhead luggage compartments and a noticeably quieter ride. Currently used on Cairns-Tokyo, Virgin plans to put these on routes to Bali, Samoa and Fiji this year, as well as domestic flights.
It will be one more year until Virgin’s Boeing 737 Max 10s and Qantas’ A350-1000s start to appear in the skies, with deliveries scheduled in late 2025. About the same time, Jetstar will start tearing out the cabins of its Boeing 787-8s for a major makeover, including a bigger business class.
On an international front, all eyes will be on Air New Zealand’s innovative Skynest product – due to make its debut on select long-haul flights in September. Consisting of twin triple-bunk beds, the compact “nest” offers economy class passengers a chance to lie down for up to four hours during their flight. Such a privilege will come at a cost, with Air New Zealand estimating a price tag of $400 to $600 on top of the airfare.
As Australia’s biggest international carrier, after Qantas and Jetstar, Singapore Airlines has plans for an additional 4700 seats into major cities from March. Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Cairns, Adelaide and Darwin will all see more capacity from Singapore Airlines in the form of larger aircraft or greater frequency of flights. A further boost is planned from October, when Singapore Airlines will add a fifth daily flight into Sydney, in step with what the carrier operates to Melbourne, and another three flights a week into Adelaide. A mix of A350s, A380s, 777-300s, 787-10s and 737 Max 8s provides Singapore Airlines’ services to Australia; all are equipped with lie-flat beds in business class.
Although not yet confirmed, more capacity is expected in 2024 from Emirates, which is looking to restart flights to Adelaide for the first time since 2019. Qatar Airways, too, continues to seek a greater presence in Australia.
Turkish Airlines is another carrier keen to start an Australian route, most probably to Melbourne or Sydney via Singapore. Initially using 787s, Turkish hopes to one day operate non-stop flights between Istanbul and Australia’s major cities, providing another gateway to Europe.
Given the popularity of the continent over the northern summer in 2023, travel agents predict idyllic images of Europe will again flood social media mid-year. Webjet managing director John Guscic says forward bookings for Europe are ahead of what they were last year, regardless of geopolitical uncertainties.
“People are still going to take their summer holiday irrespective of what’s happening in the world,” he says.
Helping to feed the demand for Europe, will be Qantas’s much-anticipated Perth-Paris flights, beginning on July 12. Using Boeing 787-9s, the 17-hour flights into Charles de Gaulle Airport will go four times a week to begin with, then three times a week from mid-August. It will be the first time in 20 years Qantas has operated regular flights into Paris, and follows the success of the airline’s Perth-London and seasonal Perth-Rome routes.
Singapore Airlines is also adding a new route into Europe with the commencement of Singapore-Brussels from April 5. Operating four times a week on 253-seat A350s, the flights will take the total number of European destinations served by Singapore to 13.
It’s not only Europe getting airlines’ attention, with Etihad Airways turning its attention to the US, and specifically New York City. From April 22, Etihad will add its much celebrated A380 on Abu Dhabi to JFK, featuring more than 470 seats and the super luxurious three-room Residence. It’s the second route Etihad has graced with its A380 after London, and signals just how far travel has come since the pandemic. At the height of the crisis with flying reduced to a bare minimum, Etihad predicted its A380s would not return to the skies.
What a difference a couple of years make.
