Qantas To Reopen Brisbane–Manila Service After 10 Years

Republished By Plato

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A Qantas A330-200 in Brisbane. (Image: Brisbane Airport)

Qantas is set to begin a new service between Brisbane and Manila and expand its flights to Singapore.

The airline will operate four return A330-200 services per week starting 28 October, bringing an estimated 170,000 additional inbound seats to Queensland over three years. It will mark the first time Qantas has flown between Brisbane and Manila in more than a decade.

“The Philippines is currently Brisbane’s 12th biggest inbound tourism market. Qantas will cement it as a top 10 player for Queensland,” said Brisbane Airport CEO Gert-Jan de Graaff.

“The Philippines is one of the world’s fastest-growing economies and a key trading partner for Queensland. With our state home to a vibrant Filipino community, the business and tourism opportunities generated by this expanded connectivity will no doubt be a success.”

Qantas International CEO Cam Wallace said the Flying Kangaroo is “pleased to offer Queenslanders another new international route out of Brisbane”.

“We know large numbers of our customers have been travelling between Manila and Brisbane via our existing Sydney service, which gives us great confidence about how this route will perform when flights start,” he said.

“We’d like to thank the Queensland Government and Brisbane Airport for their support on the launch of this new route.”

Starting 27 October, Qantas will also increase its existing Brisbane–Singapore service from seven to nine return flights per week, with the new flights timed to improve connectivity with the airline’s daily Singapore–London route.

According to de Graaff, the service is already in high demand with Australians bound for the UK and Europe.

“Whether it’s Queenslanders bound for the iconic Marina Bay in Singapore or visitors eager to explore the wonders of Moreton Bay, the additional flights will ease congestion on this popular route,” he said.

The move comes as part of a broader reshuffle of Qantas’ Asian routes which is seeing the Flying Kangaroo axe its Sydney–Shanghai service and expand flights from Sydney to Bengaluru and Singapore.

The carrier says the combined impact of the Sydney and Brisbane expansions will see an extra 2,500 additional seats per week between Australia and Singapore or an increase of around 10 per cent.

Qantas in March announced an extra 35,000 medium-haul international Brisbane seats, while subsidiary Jetstar last year massively increased its international services from the city.

The airline shifted its Tokyo (Narita) service from the Gold Coast to Brisbane, commenced new direct flights from Brisbane to Osaka and Seoul (Incheon), and upped the frequency of its existing flights to Bali and Auckland as well as introducing the Airbus A321neo LR (NEO) on its Bali and Auckland routes.