Qantas is set to increase the frequency of its services between Sydney and Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) to daily services from July 1, 2012.
Qantas began flying to DFW in May 2011, giving visitors from across North America unprecedented access to Australia via one of America’s leading hub airports. After launching the route with four flights per week, frequencies were increased to six per week in January – and will now move to daily, reflecting strong demand for the services.
The route is served by a three-class, Boeing 747-400ER aircraft. Outbound services from Australia operate direct from Sydney to DFW, while return services operate via Brisbane.
DFW is home to Qantas’ oneworld partner American Airlines, and the two carriers have established a joint business agreement to deliver lower fares, better connections and other benefits for consumers flying between the United States and Australia and New Zealand.
Qantas’ Executive Manager, Stephen Thompson, said the demand for flights to DFW had been extremely pleasing.
“We are delighted to be offering more frequent flights to Dallas/Fort Worth after a successful first year of operation on the route,” Thompson said.
“This announcement is all about putting our gateway strategy into action and building a stronger Qantas International for our customers.
“As a perfectly located hub airport less than four hours from every major US city, DFW offers excellent connections to Australia for American visitors.
“We codeshare with American Airlines on flights from around 60 destinations into DFW, tapping into an enormous inbound tourism market.
“Since launching our joint business agreement with American Airlines earlier this year, we have worked closely together to maximise tourism and trade between Australia and the United States.
“With additional capacity on the route we look forward to bringing even more US visitors to Australia and onward throughout Qantas’ unmatched Australian domestic network,” he said.
In related news, Qantas has announced it will increase Airbus A330 services on its Perth–Melbourne route from October 15, 2012.
Qantas Domestic Chief Executive Officer Lyell Strambi said the changes were a direct response to the growing demand for premium travel to Perth from both business and leisure passengers.
“Qantas will increase A330 services from 44 services per week to 68 services per week replacing flights currently operated by Boeing 767 aircraft. Services operated by internationally configured Airbus A330s will increase from 12 per week to 37 per week,” Strambi said.
“Qantas’ internationally configured Airbus A330 aircraft offer our award winning Skybed seats in business class and on-demand seat back in-flight entertainment throughout the business and economy cabins.”
Qantas will also reintroduce Boeing 747 services on the Sydney-Perth route from 9 July 2012. The two-class aircraft offers internationally configured business and economy cabins for those travelling on the popular East-West route.
“Using internationally configured aircraft on domestic routes provides increased comfort on the longer routes between the eastern states and Perth and helps to further cement our position as Australia’s leading full service airline,” Strambi said.