Australia’s national airline Qantas on Friday announced first direct route between Australia and southern India with non-stop flights between Sydney and Bengaluru from September 14.
The airline will operate four weekly return flights from September with its widebody Airbus A330 flight. These will be the first direct flights between Australia and southern India by any airline, saving customers almost three hours as compared to the current fastest trip between Bengaluru and Sydney available through via flights.
Qantas will continue to operate up to five flights a week between Melbourne and Delhi. The airline had also temporarily launched Sydney-Delhi flights last year in December after the country opened for international flights after a gap of two years. These flights ended in March.
The airline is also in the process of finalising a codeshare agreement with IndiGo which will allow inbound travellers to have access to more than 50 Indian cities the Indian budget airline has presence in, as well as allow outbound passengers easy connections via Bengaluru, Delhi or Singapore into Sydney and Melbourne.
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said 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 to 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.”
Hari Marar, MD & CEO, Bangalore International Airport Ltd said, “Australia is a very important market for South India and Bengaluru in particular, for corporates, students and leisure travellers. The newly announced non-stop Bengaluru-Sydney service will further strengthen the position of Bengaluru Airport as the natural gateway for South and Central India.”
