Qantas is expanding its services to the USA with the announcement of a new Melbourne to Honolulu service. The new thrice weekly service will commence in early May 2025.
The new service will complement the existing 8 services a week that Qantas and Jetstar operate between Sydney and Honolulu. In the case of Melbourne service, however, Jetstar will be discontinuing its current twice a week service. It’s an interesting turn of events – Jetstar giving up a service for Qantas.
The change in carrier brings with it a change in the aircraft operating the sector. While Jetstar has been using its 787-8 aircraft, Qantas will be using an A330 aircraft to operate the service
According to Qantas, this will allow Jetstar to redeploy its 787 to other international services. I guess that means that they have something in mind.
Launch Sale
These flights are available to book from 3 September 2024 and are being launched as Qantas offers a North and South America Red Tail Sale. In the case of Melbourne to Honolulu, fares will start from $1,049 in Economy, ane $5,699 up the front in business.
The current Qantas North and South America Red Tail Sale runs through to midnight on Monday 9 September 2024, unless sold out prior.
Schedule
Looking at the schedule, the flights will operate three times per week out of Melbourne. The schedule, operating on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, will be
- QF105 departs Melbourne 5:05 pm with an arrival into Honolulu at 7:40 am
- QF106 departs Honolulu 9:40 am with an arrival into Melbourne at 5:15 pm
Final Words
It’s interesting to see Jetstar cede a route to Qantas like this. This could be the start of more co-ordination between the activities of the two airlines.
It is also not immediately clear what Jetstar are planning to do with the 787 aircraft that this will free up. I guess we’ll find out over the coming months.
