Yahoo Finance UPDATE: Virgin brings forward Fiji date as airlines release flight plans
UPDATE: Tuesday 12 October 2021
Virgin has brought forward its dates international travel plans to Fiji by a week and a half.
Originally scheduled for 23 December, flight routes to Nadi from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane will resume from 16, 17 and 18 December respectively, the airline said.
Tickets start from $289 one way. The flights to Nadi will be the airline's first international service since lockdowns.
"We’re pleased to bring forward the resumption of our Fiji services to better align with the start of the summer holiday period, making it easier for travellers to get to their destination in advance of the festive season," a Virgin spokesperson said.
"We know Australians are excited to finally be able to travel overseas again which is evident by the strong booking demand we’ve experienced for our Fiji flights since the Federal Government announced the roadmap to re-opening Australia to the world earlier this month."
Wednesday 6 October 2021
Book your tickets now: All of Qantas, Virgin, Jetstar’s flight plans so far
London, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Singapore: these are some of the first popular travel destinations that will be available to Aussies once the international travel ban is lifted for good in November.
A handful of airlines have already outlined their flight schedules amid Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s announcement on Friday that borders are set to reopen within weeks.
“It will be time very soon that we will be able to open those international borders again,” Morrison said on Friday.
“That will enable Australians who are fully vaccinated, and [Australian residents] overseas who are fully vaccinated, to be able to travel again, and to be able to lift those caps on our airports in states where they have moved into Phase C of the program.”
NSW and ACT are mere weeks away from hitting the 70 per cent double vaccination target, which would bring them to Phase B, or the “vaccine transition phase”, under National Cabinet’s four-phase plan.
At Phase C, when the 80 per cent target is met, international borders will see a “gradual reopening”, with travel permitted for “safe countries and proportionate quarantine”.
The latest announcement delivers some hope and optimism for holiday-starved Australians, many who have spent months in lockdown. Previous expectations were that international travel would be possible around Christmas or mid-December.
In anticipation of international travel once again becoming a rapidly approaching reality, here are the airlines and the exact flight routes and dates they’ve planned so far so you can get busy planning your next holiday.
WHAT DO WE KNOW SO FAR?
QANTAS: International flights commence 14 November
Yahoo Finance first revealed Qantas’ flight schedule, with the first international flights initially planned to take off on 18 December.
But after Morrison’s announcement, the Flying Kangaroo has brought forward the date of flights to London and Los Angeles to 14 November.
Other than that, the Aussie airline’s flight schedule remains the same. Here’s what we know so far:
14 November 2021
Sydney-London (approx. $3,600 return)
Sydney-Los Angeles (approx. $2,700 return)
18 December 2021
Melbourne-London
Sydney-Vancouver
Sydney-Singapore
Melbourne-Singapore (approx. $1,400 return)
19 December 2021
Melbourne-Los Angeles
Brisbane-Los Angeles
Sydney-Honolulu
Brisbane-Singapore
Sydney-Tokyo (approx. $1,900 return)
Sydney-Fiji
The airline has also announced that flights to Bali, Jakarta, Bangkok, Manila and Johannesburg will start from late March 2022:
Here are those scheduled flights and dates, according to Executive Traveller:
27 March 2022
Sydney-Bali/Denpasar
Sydney-Jakarta
Sydney-Bangkok
Sydney-Manila
Sydney-Johannesburg
28 March 2022
Melbourne-Bali/Denpasar
JETSTAR: Singapore flights to start from 19 December
Aussies will be able to fly from Darwin to Singapore from 20 December Jetstar Asia announced recently, with return tickets priced at roughly $500.
Jetstar will also resume services between Melbourne and Singapore from 19 December.
The plans come two years after Jetstar Asia pulled out of Australia.
Jetstar Asia CEO Bara Pasupathi said Qantas, the parent company of budget airline Jetstar, is “planning to recommence services into Singapore as soon as a travel bubble is formed”.
VIRGIN: Flights to Fiji take 23 December, Bali from March 2022
Australians will be able to fly Virgin to Fiji’s main island of Nadi from 23 December and 24 December, a Virgin spokesperson confirmed with Yahoo Finance:
Sydney-Nadi: 23 December (approx. $640)
Brisbane-Nadi: 23 December
Melbourne-Nadi: 24 December
Tickets for these flights are available on Virgin’s website and fares begin from $289 one way.
Late March 2022 will also see travel to Bali resume via the Australian carrier, according to Simple Flying.
27 March 2022
Sydney-Denpasar
Melbourne-Denpasar (approx. $710 return, lite fare)
Brisbane-Denpasar
“We’ll continue to add flights as demand for travel increases and international travel restrictions begin to ease,” a Virgin spokesperson told Yahoo Finance.
New Zealand services have been scheduled for “early 2022,” the spokesperson added.
AIR CANADA: Fly to Vancouver on 17 December
The Canadian airline has announced its intentions to resume Sydney to Vancouver flights on 17 December, with flights already on sale.
Economy return flights are priced at approximately $2,607.
"As travel restrictions ease across the globe, we are committed to rebuild our international network and continue as a global carrier connecting the world with Canada," said Vic Naughton, general manager of Australia and New Zealand at Air Canada.
AMERICAN AIRLINES: Fly to LA in January 2022
American Airlines has scheduled its Los Angeles-Sydney route for 4 January 2022, according to Executive Traveller.
The flight route will resume after a four-month hiatus when it suspended the flight route at the end of August.
More to come.
Did we miss anything? If you know something we don’t, drop a line to jessica.yun@yahoofinance.com.
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