[Note: Qantas will be temporarily rerouting QF1/2 to travel between Sydney and London via Perth. Please see this article.]
Singapore will return as the stopover points for QF 1 and 2 as Qantas again rejigs its network. The change, which comes into effect from March 25, 2018, also sees a handful of other network changes.
Taken together with the previous announcement of Melbourne to London rerouting via Perth, it will see Qantas withdraw its own flights to Dubai.
Emirates Partnership
The changes come as Qantas and Emirates are proposing to extend their relationship for another 5 years. Under the extension, they are making changes to reflect market changes, and to build on each others strengths.
As part of the changes, Qantas will no longer fly through Dubai. Qantas will, however, maintain their codeshare services on Emirates. This will provide Qantas customers with their existing codeshare services to various European destinations.
Network Changes
The changes see Qantas continue to redraw ts network map, as it moves capacity around to meet customer demand. In the set of changes announced as part of the Emirate partnership renewal, Qantas will
- reroute its Sydney-London service to travel via Singapore
- upgrade one Melbourne to Singapore service from an A330 to an A380. This will largely account for one of the A380s that have become free from Melbourne to London moving to a 787 service.
Schedule
The schedule for the rerouted QF1 and QF2 services are:
| Flight | Depart | Arrive | Days | Aircraft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QF1 – SYD to SIN | 15:55 | 22:15 | Daily | A380 |
| QF1 – SIN to LHR | 23:55 | 06:50 (+1) | Daily | A380 |
| QF2 – LHR to SIN | 21:15 | 17:25 (+1) | Daily | A380 |
| QF2 – SIN to SYD | 19:30 | 05:10 (+1) | Daily | A380 |
The A380 service replaces the existing QF5/6 A330 service between Sydney and Singapore. The QF81/82 service will remain in place as it is now.
The changes for Melbourne see:
- The daily Qantas QF35/36 Melbourne–Singapore service will be upgraded from an A330 to an A380.
- The three per week QF37/QF38 Melbourne–Singapore service will increase to a daily service
The return of the A380 to routes between Australiia and Singapore also see the return of both First Class and Premiuim Econnomy. Neither of these featured on the smaller 2 class A330 aircraft. Overall, these changes bring more options to travel to Singapore from the East Coast of Australia.
