Qantas Expansion Shows Power of Vaccinations in Travel Recovery

After standing down almost all of its entire international network for more than a year, Qantas Airways is coming back with a vengeance. The carrier is adding Delhi to its map, accelerating the return of its Airbus A380s and will resume flights to seven long-haul destinations weeks — and in some cases more than a month — earlier than planned on the back of the success of Australia's Covid-19 vaccination program.

"Australia is en route to be one of the most vaccinated countries in the world," Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday. "And that means planes get back in the sky."

Morrison spoke at a joint event with Qantas during which the airline rolled out its latest schedule expansion. The Oneworld alliance carrier will connect Sydney to Delhi — its first scheduled Indian destination since ending Mumbai flights in 2012 — thrice weekly with an Airbus A330 from December 6 through March, with an eye on extending that further depending on demand. Flights to Bangkok, Fiji, Johannesburg, Phuket, and Singapor