Qantas

I was fortunate to be in Sydney shortly after Qantas had taken delivery of its first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and, as Qantas was using its Sydney - Melbourne route to get its crews acquainted with the new aircraft, I burned some Avios and took a ride in the Dreamliner’s Business Class cabin.

Qantas has said that it plans to grow its North America network by starting up two new routes between Australia and the US. Once the DoT gives the formal go-ahead for the American Airlines/Qantas JV (a rubber stamping exercise now that tentative agreement has been given), Qantas will launch non-stop service from Brisbane to Chicago and San Francisco.

Qantas ordered the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner to replace is ageing (and fuel guzzling) Boeing 747s and, since the airline has its first Dreamliner delivered, we've seen a number of 747 routes taken over by the newer aircraft.

Qantas has launched a sale for departures out of the US and, while all cabins are technically on sale, it's the Economy Class fares that are worth a closer look.

Qantas has brought back a promotion I last remember seeing back in 2017 and it's offering travelers a 30% discount on the number of points required for Economy Class 'Classic Fight Rewards'.

Research from the University of Sydney helped influence a number of decisions Qantas took with regards its longest flight (from what food to serve onboard to the facilities offered especially for its ultra long-haul flyers in its new Perth Transit lounge) and now the airline is considering more innovative ideas ahead of its plan to launch even longer flights from the Australian East Coast.

Qantas has announced two changes to its Hong Kong routes that offer positives and negatives to its premium cabin flyers. One of the changes will undoubtedly go down very well while the other, I suspect, will be both loved and hated depending on the nature of the traveler it affects.

Qantas has confirmed that it will be pulling its ageing Boeing 747 aircraft from its Sydney - Los Angeles route in time for the busy period at the end of the year. In a press release put out earlier today the Australian carrier said that its last Boeing 747 service to Los Angeles will take place on 27 November 2018 as the aircraft flys one last time between Sydney and LAX.

Qantas Explorer is a way of saving on airfare if you plan to visit Australia and, while you're there, take a number of domestic flights on Qantas, QantasLink and Jetstar. In addition, because there's no penalty for date changes to the Qantas Explorer part of an itinerary, this can be a flexible way to book domestic Australian flights if your plans are fluid.

Qantas will be launching one of the longest routes in the world when it starts up service between Perth and London on 24 March 2018. The airline is on record as saying that it would like build on this route and go on to use its newly acquired Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners to establish Perth as its gateway to Europe.