Qantas will launch a new direct flight between Brisbane and Manila in October this year.
The new route is a among a number of changes the national carrier announced today, including the suspension of direct flights to Shanghai out of Sydney.
Qantas International CEO Cam Wallace said the new Brisbane-Manila route would begin operating from October 28, with tickets available to be booked before the end of May.
“The route will operate four days per week with Airbus A330 aircraft, marking the first time the airline has flown between the two cities in more than 10 years,” Mr Wallace said.
“The flights add to Qantas’ existing daily service from Sydney and will add more than 100,000 seats between Australia and the Philippines each year.”
In addition, the Brisbane to Singapore service will increase from seven to nine return flights per week from October 27 and will be timed to improve connectivity with Qantas’ daily service from Singapore to London.
The change will reduce the overall travel time to Heathrow by around four hours.
The Sydney-Shanghai flights were suspended due to low demand and will end on July 28.
Mr Wallace said Qantas resumed its Sydney-Shanghai service in October last year after it was paused during COVID, however demand had not recovered as anticipated.
“Qantas will continue to monitor the Australia-China market closely and will look to return to Shanghai when demand has recovered,” he said.
