Qantas has announced a restructuring of its Joint Services Agreement with BA, as part of a major new “International Strategy” for the airline.
The carrier says the changes will “consolidate Singapore’s position as the primary hub for the JSA relationship”, with BA swapping its B777 aircraft serving the London-Singapore-Sydney service for a larger B747 jumbo.
Qantas will continue to serve routes from both Melbourne and Sydney to London (via Singapore) with its A380 superjumbo, and also plans to open a new lounge at Changi.
The restructuring will also see the two carriers concentrate on operating JSA services from their respective hubs - BA will stop operating flight sectors between Bangkok and Sydney from early 2012, while Qantas will no longer operate sectors between London and Bangkok/Hong Kong. The move will also see BA increase the frequency of its London-Hong Kong service to 17 per week (from 14).
The changes to the JSA is just one of several announcements being made by Qantas today, with others including:
- The creation of Jetstar Japan – a domestic Japanese low-cost carrier formed between Qantas, JAL and Mitsubishi Corporation
- A $400 million investment in new lounges, inflight entertainment and refurbishment of its B747 aircraft
- The introduction of direct flights between Sydney and Santiago from next year, replacing the carrier’s current service to Buenos Aires
- The purchase of up to 110 new A320 aircraft, the retirement of four B747s, and the deferral of the carrier’s final six A380 aircraft by up to six years
- The loss of around 1,000 jobs as a result of the retirement of older aircraft and network changes. Qantas says it will look to “minimise the number of compulsory redundancies wherever possible”.
For more information visit qantas.com.au.
Report by Mark Caswell
