Qantas is restoring its pandemic-interrupted direct service between New York and Sydney, but without its previous intermediate stop at Los Angeles. Instead, the flight will make a stop at Auckland, New Zealand. First flights will be next spring.
The routing will allow Qantas to sell seats on the entire flight, or on either the first or last segment. The flights will be bookable with loyalty points from Qantas and its partners. The flight between New York and New Zealand is a so-called ‘Fifth Freedom’ flight, allowing an airline to fly between two points neither of which is its home as part of a route that reaches its home.
The new route will set up a direct competition between Qantas and its neighbor, Air New Zealand, which will resume three times a week non-stop service between New York and Auckland in Septeber
Qantas is still planning ahead toward a nearly-24-hour non-stop itinerary between New York and Sydney late in the decade when it receives specially-modified extra-distance A350-1000s for its Project Sunrise that will also see non-stop flights between Sydney and London. The New York-Auckland-Sydney route will operate with 787-9s, and run three times a week.
