BENGALURU: In a first, passengers from Bengaluru can now fly directly to Sydney in Australia as Qantas airline has announced four weekly non-stop flights from Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) to Kingsford Smith international airport from September 14, 2022.
A codesharing association is being finalised with India’s private carrier IndiGo airline for the operation which would become the first to directly connect South India to Sydney, Australia.
According to an official statement from IndiGo, Australia’s national airline Qantas will fly non-stop from Bengaluru to Sydney and is in the process of finalising a codeshare partnership with IndiGo.
From September 14, Qantas will operate four weekly return flights between Bengaluru airport and Sydney airport with its widebody Airbus A330 aircraft.
This will be the first direct flight between Australia and South India cutting almost three hours off the current fastest trip between Bengaluru and Sydney. This will benefit the Bengaluru community with strong connections with Australia for both business travel and people visiting friends and relatives.
Sydney to Bengaluru flights go on sale from Friday starting from Rs 78,380 return fares, the release said.
Qantas will continue to operate up to five flights a week between Melbourne and Delhi, making it the only airline offering direct flights between both northern and southern India and Australia.
According to Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce, the demand for direct flights between Australia and India had grown steadily since both countries reopened their borders.
“For the first time, southern India will have a direct connection with Australia, which will make travel between the two countries more convenient and much faster for customers. The signing of the Australia-India free trade agreement will also drive travel demand as trade and investment links expand between Australia and India’s population of more than one billion people. Our new direct flights from Bengaluru to Sydney, combined with the proposed codeshare with IndiGo, have the potential to reshape the way many people travel between Australia and India.” Joyce added.
Qantas on their social media page said Bengaluru-Sydney flights operations will commence from September 14 but are subjected to government and regulatory applications.
